In its first tournament back after its summer training/competition in Brazil, the Galaxy B92 Premier won the top B16 bracket at the Nike Barcelona Cup over the Labor Day weekend. The team was undefeated and untied as it advanced through the brackets, beating a game and talented LB Supreme Squad 2-1 in the finale. Supreme had just knocked off Premier teams Arsenal and Canyon PSA in recent tournaments, and although the Galaxy created numerous first-half scoring opportunities, it was Supreme that took a 1-0 lead on an opportunistic header as the first half ended. But the Galaxy was more than equal to the task, and it claimed the Championship trophy with some beautiful team soccer and two superb Mariano Guerineau goals in the second half.

Congratulations to the boys, who played with skill and heart, and to coaches Beto Dos Santos and Mark Shanley, who somehow managed to integrate four new players and 12 returnees into a unified and inspired team in such a short period of time.

The BU14 Galaxy Alliance Vapor had a terrific run of games over Labor Day weekend in preparation for their upcoming Coast Soccer League season. The Vapor squad coached by Christian Chambers went 2-0-1 in their three game pool play to qualify for the quarterfinals in the prestigious NHB Cup tournament. In their quarterfinal game versus the host NHB squad, the Vapor came back late in the second half from a 1-0 deficit to tie the game. The Vapor then won 3-2 in penalty kicks to move on to the semifinals on Monday. In the semifinals, the Vapor beat its upcoming 2008 Silver North opponent Crown City 3-2.  The Vapor’s championship game was vs YGFC Alliance, a solid squad who play in a gold bracket up in northern California.  The Vapor pressed until the end but came up with the silver trophies in the championship game. The Vapor’s flight in the 30 year old NHB Cup had 16 teams starting the tournament. The Vapor played six games over the three day Labor Day weekend and look forward to CSL action next.