2015 Sports Authority State Cup Governors Division Champion: AC Brea Red
When is enough not enough? When your team still hasn’t won a Sports Authority State Cup championship trophy.
At least, that’s the way it must have seemed for head coach Marius Rus’ AC Brea B06 Red team as they prepared for their finals match in this year’s Boys Under-9 Mayors Division competition at the IE Surf Soccer Complex on February 7 in San Bernardino.
This is after an immense year in which they had already finished first in the regular season, and also carried off trophies from Spring Cup (playing a year up), the Brea Classic, and the OC Tournament of Champions.
The truest test in State Cup for AC Brea Red came in their Round of 16 match against Milan SC Red on February 1 at Rancho Capistrano. The game ended scoreless after regulation and overtime, and then went into penalty kicks, where AC Brea prevailed, 5-4.
“We beat a strong team on penalty kicks,” said Rus. “We always felt we can win it all but after that game, we believed it even more.”
Two more victories against Arsenal FC and Rebels SC in the quarters and semis found AC Brea in the finals against Albion SC White. Rus told his team “that we have one game left, and if we win, then we are the best team in the state. I believe this motivated them even more.”
The motivation must have worked wonders, as AC Brea cruised to a 5-1 victory and became a case of “third time’s a charm” for Coach Rus. “I had two other teams that played in State Cup in the last two years, and unfortunately, both lost in the semifinals. So, it was great to win it with this team!”
“When you make it that far and play against some very good teams, and then you’re in the final, that makes it very enjoyable to watch and be part of,” said Rus. “I also loved the way our team responded after [Albion] scored a goal to make it 2-1. Instead of putting their heads down, they responded strongly, scoring two goals very quickly. And of course, I enjoyed their happiness and to see how excited they were.”
In the end, Rus says it comes down to a team effort. “Every single player on the team made it possible for us to win State Cup,” Rus added. “We don’t focus on only a few players but on the whole team, and that’s why they have been successfully. The involvement of our parents was also very important, as they all took commitments to be at every game and mostly every practice. They’ve been great.”
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