The FC Moab middle school boys soccer team won gold in the 2005 Silver division at the Larry H. Miller Utah Summer Games in Cedar City, competing over three days from Thursday, June 13, through Saturday, June 15, going 4-0-1, including their 7-0 win in the title match.
FC Moab began the tournament Thursday morning with an 8-3 victory over Heat FC, then beat Spartan FC, from Emery County, by a 2-1 score Thursday afternoon.
On Friday, FC Moab trounced Manti United No. 5 by an 8-0 score in the morning, then tied Rage FC 2-2 in the afternoon, advancing to the gold medal match, where this time, they handled Spartan FC 7-0.
The team is completely run by volunteers and devoted parents, Sarah Barstow said, giving fifth- through eighth-graders a chance to play competitive traveling soccer, especially for the middle school students, who don’t have another city rec program option.
The group of coaches for the traveling soccer teams are Dan Phillips, Jason Turner, Ashley Korenblat, and newcomer Austin Marques, who Korenblat and Barstow said has greatly improved the level of play since he joined in the spring.
“(Marques’s) extensive soccer experience, including training with the Major League Soccer team: LA Galaxy, and playing on both the California State and USA National Team, has greatly improved our level of coaching,” Korenblat said.
Korenblat noted several standout performances over the course of the tournament. In the tie against Rage FC, Nixon Curtis was named Man of the Match for his effort at right defensive back in preventing any more goals from the opponent. Other key defenders from the tournament included Michael Johnson, Rayce Paxman, Liam Knowles and Rowan Phillips.
Strikers and midfielders who worked together to score goals for FC Moab included Samuel Camey, Nemi Martinez, Kip Sevenoff and Rayce Walling, as well as Silver Turner and Lucas Caylor. The goalkeeper for FC Moab was Chris Tavares.
Moab also had teams in two other divisions, taking silver in the girls high school division, and taking fourth in the boys high school division. In the boys high school division, FC Moab went 1-2-2, falling 3-2 to Cedar 02 in the bronze medal match on Saturday, June 15. In prior matches, they beat Cedar 02 by 3-2 score on Thursday, June 13; tied Delta Outlaws 3-3 and lost to eventual champ Millard 2-0 on Friday, June 14; and tied Black Nation 1-1 on Saturday, June 15.
Traveling youth soccer team goes undefeated in Cedar City
“(Marques’s) extensive soccer experience, including training with the Major League Soccer team: LA Galaxy, and playing on both the California State and USA National Team, has greatly improved our level of coaching.”
