The Santa Barbara Soccer Club Girls White 2005 Team (SBSC G05) had a rough start in the fall 2016 soccer season with numerous team injuries and a change in coaching staff. As a result, they ended their fall season with a few wins and some players leaving the team. Entering the Cal South State Cup was a chance to see how this newly formed team would play together. No one knew how they would do; it was a mystery to all. This was a new beginning, new start for this new team.
On the first day of the tournament on February 4, 2017 at the San Diego Polo Club, from the very beginning, this team demonstrated their incredible teamwork with a win of 2-0 over the CDA Slammers FC from Huntington Beach.
The next day, on February 5, 2017, they played against the Matrix from San Marcos ending the game with a tie 1-1 with this being the only goal scored against the SBSC G05 team throughout the entire tournament, an unfortunate own-goal. None of the teams in the tournament were able to score any goals against the SBSC GO5. Their defensive back line proved to be too strong for any of them.
On the same day, February 5, 2017, SBSC G05 played against VC Fusion from Ventura County and ended with a final score of 2-0 solidifying the team’s position in the next round of competition comprising of 64 teams.
The SBSC GO5 continued their winning streak with no goals scored against them on February 11, 2017 winning their game 2-0 against Futbol Foundation of Santa Clarita Girls 2005 team in Lancaster. This team now had an unbeatable momentum and drive to win this tournament. Everyone now realized this team had the potential to be the champions.
On February 12, 2017, the SBSC G05 scored with seconds to spare against Murrieta Surf GO5 Blue team from Murrietta ending the game with a 1-0 win. This game was one of the toughest yet, but the girls wanted it badly and played hard until the final whistle.
Later in the day, the SBSC G05 won against Express Select from Encinitas with a 2-0 score line. The team was ready now with a total of 5 wins and 1 tie (OG) to play in the quarterfinals among the remaining 8 teams in their division.
In the quarterfinals, in Escondido on February 25, 2017, the team won 1-0 playing the Central Coast Condors from Arroyo Grande, again not allowing any goals being scored against them.
The SBSC GO5 were now among the last 4 teams remaining playing in semi-finals. No one on the team has ever made it this far and no girls team from SBSC has ever won this championship.
On Sunday, February 26, 2017, the opposing team, West Coast FC from San Juan Capistrano, could not handle SBSC G05’s offensive line up with an unbelievable win of 4-0, which secured the team moving on to the finals playing against AV SC Storm from Apple Valley.
On March 4, 2017, in Temecula, the SBSC G05 beat the AV SC Storm from Apple Valley with a tied game and overtime period, but then securing their win during the PK period ending with a score of 5-4. This was an exhausting game for everyone and a real tribute to the girls who were truly motivated and driven to win this tournament. Also, a big thank you goes out to Coach Waid Ibrahim, a special coach who connected with this newly formed team early on and inspired them to be the best they could be.
In summary, the SBSC White G05 played 9 games from February 4, 2017 to March 5, 2017 to secure this championship. Out of the 9 games, this team scored 15 goals and only had 1 goal against them, which they accidently scored themselves. Hence, their overall record was 8-0-1, which is 1.67 goal for us and .11 for our opponents. This team also had 8 shutouts for the 9 games they played.
The SBSC White GO5 team is coached by Waid Ibrahim. Players are Lily Blankenhorn, Caitlyn Early, Izzy Garofalo, Camila Jeronimo, Jenna and Sadie Johnson, Maya Klanfer, Eden Lazarus, Izzy Romero, Zoe Thomas, Siena Urzua, Gabi Wilcox, and Kasia Wolf.
SBSC White GO5 – You are the Cal South State Cup Governors Youngers Division Champions! Congratulations!