Goal! Local soccer club wins national championship

They started the summer ranked No. 4 in Washington and 81st in the nation. After Monday, a group of budding soccer stars from the Tri-Cities stands alone as national champions.

The Academy of Soccer Excellence ’01 Girls Emerald team beat the SoCal Rush 3-2 to win the U-16 National Premier Cup in Westfield, Ind. McKenna Martinez scored two goals, and Maddie Morgan connected on the game winner with less than a minute left in injury time.

“They didn’t want a tie,” coach Kody Wintrode said Tuesday, a day removed from a harrowing return home that included delayed flights at every turn and last-second gate arrivals.

“It was 2-2, and we scored in the last minute of injury time. Everybody just went real crazy.”

The ASE club went unbeaten over four days and carried the top seed into the title game. SoCal was ranked No. 2, having lost 2-1 to ASE earlier in the tournament.

The National Premier Cup is the top prize for U.S. Club Soccer, and it’s a real benchmark for the ASE program as it strives to keep the top talent here in the Tri-Cities. Traditionally, the best players from the area have traveled over the mountains to play club ball on Seattle-area teams.

Wintrode said that with the exception of a couple younger players added this summer, this group of girls has been playing together for at least two and as many as eight years. He noted they have lost just one match over the past two years. The group qualified for the national tournament last year but didn’t have enough time to raise money for the trip.

“The girls put it all on the line,” he said. “They just wanted to lay it all out there, playing against the top talent in the country. It was the most focused I’ve ever seen them.”

The team is composed of some of the top young talent from Tri-Cities high schools. Morgan was a Herald All-Area honorable mention from Richland, and midfielder Kari Ward was a second-team pick at Kamiakin. The rest of the team: Mia Becho, Avery Bond, Avery Campbell, Elisabeth Cole, Campbelle Hunt, Carlee Johnson, Andrea Martell, Isabela Nicacio, Julia Patterson, Allie Pearson, Spencer Seabaugh, Kyah Weikum and Keana Wintrode.

This story was originally published July 25, 2017 at 3:27 PM with the headline "Goal! Local soccer club wins national championship."