Updated on June 7th
Three AFC Lightning teams recorded State Cup Championships on Sunday.
It has been eight years since the Georgia Soccer State Cup has been held in the Metro Atlanta area. This year semifinal and final games were hosted by the Fayette County Youth Soccer League at the McCurry Park soccer fields and the AFC Lightning teams made the best use of playing at home. The Lightning 96 Girls Elite came away as under 14 girls’ champions; the Lightning 92 White won under 18 girls and the Lightning 91 Elite won under19 boys.
The under 14 girls won all of their games in group play, beating the Coweta Lady Cannons 3-0, Concorde Fire Elite 1-0 and North Atlanta SA Premier 4-1. They faced a very tough opponent, Atlanta Fire United 96 Elite, in the semifinal. This was the team they had lost to the previous year at the same stage of the competition. The last two encounters between these teams both ended in ties.
No goals were scored during the game, sending the teams into overtime. With seven minutes remaining in the second OT half, AFC Lightning’s Abbey Reddig ran on to a loose ball in the penalty area, poking it over the onrushing goal keeper to give her team a 1-0 win. The under 14 final was against the North Atlanta SA 96 Elite. Nikki Brantley did the honors this time with a first half goal that stood up for the rest of the game.
The girls on this team dedicated their championship run to the memory of Lt. Brian Mahaffey of the Rockdale Sheriffs Department who was tragically killed in the line of duty a few weeks ago. He was the older brother of their coach, Chris Mahaffey.
Though the under 18 Lightning 92 White is respected as being the best team in the state in their age group, they have never managed to win a state championship before this one. Coached by Andy Thompson, they set about this year’s competition with a certain determination, winning their first two games against Concorde Fire Elite and Concorde Fire South Elite by identical scores of 6-0. There was a slight bump in the road when the Atlanta Fire United 92 Elite played for and got a 0-0 tie, but the Lightning girls still won the group by beating AFU 4-3 on penalties.
For the semifinals it was back to business as usual with a 6-0 demolition of North Atlanta SA 10 Elite. One of the goals was scored by goalkeeper Nikki Atkinson who was allowed a little time on the field for a change.
The final was a very tense game against Gwinnett SA 92 Phoenix Red, the other top team in their age group. The 0-0 deadlock was broken late in the second half when Carli Shultis’ cross was accidentally knocked into the GSA goal by one of their own defenders. GSA threw everything into the attack after the goal, but were thwarted several times in the last few minutes by goalkeeper Kaitlyn Stroud and the Lightning defense.
The under 19 boys had a similar ride to the under 18’s in their group games. They beat Columbus FC Red Star 4-0 and Lanier Sharks 3-0, but tied North Atlanta SA 09 Premier 0-0. Despite the tie, they still won their group on tiebreakers. In the semifinals they beat 91 Norcross Fury Gold 4-0 before meeting North Atlanta again in the final. This time, back to back goals by Nicky McCain and Caleb Keman and a shutout by goalkeeper Tyler Beadle gave AFC Lightning all it needed for a 2-0 win.
As state champions, all three teams will be representing Georgia in the US Youth Soccer Region III Championships on June 17th to 23rd in Baton Rouge, LA. Region winners go on to the National Championships in July.
Congratulations to our ’96 Girls Elite, ’92 Girls White, and ’91 Boys Elite AFC Lightning teams on winning the 2010 Georgia State Cup Championship and best of luck to them all at the Region III Tournament in Baton Rouge!
