The Crossfire Premier Girls Under-15 Elite Club National League team earned a trip to the Gothia Cup in Sweden after recently winning the Manchester United Premier Cup at the Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Ore.
The U15 team, coached by Tim Reynolds and Arby Busey, went 3-1 in pool play and then advanced to the semifinals with a 1-0 win against Real Colorado in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, the girls battled Arsenal (Calif.) to a 0-0 tie after regulation before outscoring Arsenal, 3-1 in the penalty-kick shootout to advance to the finals.
Crossfire Premier, a Redmond-based soccer club, then blanked San Diego Surf, 1-0 — the team’s fourth shutout of the tournament — to win the championship. The girls had beat San Diego in pool play, 3-2, before beating them again in the title match.
“Everything just fell into place. They knew they were going to win it,” Reynolds said of his players. “They were extremely confident.”
Crossfire Premier is the only club in the United States to have won the Manchester United Premier Cup on both the girls’ and the boys’ side. The Crossfire Premier boys won the tournament in 2005 and went on to the World Finals in Hong Kong, where they finished 7th in the world.
Reynolds said his team will fly to Sweden July 14 and a grand opening ceremony for the Gothia Cup is scheduled for July 16.
