Four local soccer teams were among the champions in the Atlanta Cup this month.
Strictly Soccer Select claimed the under-12 and under-14 boys titles, as did the St. Pete Raiders under-11 boys and Countryside Lightning under-16 girls.
"We won five games in the Atlanta Cup with a combined score of 22-4," said coach Gary McMath of the under-12 Strictly Soccer team. "In the semifinal, we beat the North Carolina state champion 5-1 and beat a top-ranked team from Georgia 2-1 in the final."
Andrew Goffe played goalie and was supported by defenders Brendan Gibbons, Nick Jones, Bobby Schmitz, Elliott Krueger and Zack MacMath. Kory Veeder was the leading scorer and was joined offensively and defensively by midfielders Evan Berggren, Sean Rafferty, Jake Bennett, Cameron Hawkins, Spencer Muratides, Shaun Salamanca and Mike Pallardy.
Strictly Soccer's under-14 team won its second Atlanta Cup.
After losing its first game, the under-14 squad won four shutouts. In the semifinal, Devin Perkins and Chris Castellano combined to feed the ball to Ryley Delgado, who scored in the last minute for a 1-0 victory.
"In the championship game against Roswell Blue, we jumped out to a 2-0 lead pretty early in the game and held on," coach Hans Burt said. "Our back four - Matt Stewart, Sterling Birdsong, Philip Blitz and James DeConinck - plus goalie Jeff Hoyle played extremely well."
Rounding out the under-14 team are midfielders Phililp Vestergaard, Patrick Crowe, Israel Lopez, Aaron Thomas and Michael Ulm and forward Anthony Harris.
After winning two games and tying another, the Raiders under-11 team advanced to the semifinal. Max Thuriere and Raeshaun Washington scored for a 2-0 win and a berth in the championship. Goals from Washington and Rheese Wiltshire resulted in another 2-0 win.
Cameron Wheeler and Warren Simmons play goalie and are joined by sweeper Dylan Wolfinger; stopper Philip Vitrano; midfielders Lucas Villarreal, Matt Gaskins, Matt Reese and Richie Parrey; forward Kyle Eichof; and Parker Wolfinger and Robert Menke.
Countryside beat AFC Lightning 1-0 to finish first in its 40-team under-16 girls division.
MORE SOCCER: The Azalea FC under-17 boys won the Tampa Bay Labor Day Classic. To reach the final with Brandon, Azalea was 3-1 in bracket competition.
Team members include goalie Carson Mullins; defenders Josh Black, Kevin Bartkovsky, Adama Bocanegra, Craig Love, Brandon Phan and Jon Runyon; midfielders Ryan Armes, Ryan Falk, Kyle Jenrette, Tim Kolb, P.J. McKelvey and Carlos Pineros. Forwards are Kallinka Pitt, Spencer Porter, Brad Hartley and Wade Duquette.
The St. Pete Raiders claimed titles in the under-10 division of the Pinellas Park Labor Day Tournament; under-14 and under-16 girls in the Kissimmee St. Cloud Tournament; and, under-15 boys in the West Pasco Labor Day Tournament.
The Thunder under-12 girls won the GotMilk 3-on-3 Regional championship last month in Orlando. Team players were Nastassja Saitta, Casey McKeon, Kaley Blades, Madison Hansen and Amber Famiglietti.
GYMNASTICS: Tampa Bay Turners kicked off its compulsory season in the Aloha Meet in Tampa. Level 6, led by Ashtyn Morgan (first all-around), Aramis Andreatas (first), Katie Harbin (second), Mariah Broughton (second), Kaitlin Griffith (second) and Alexia Perry (third), won the large-team competition.
Morgan received the Judge's Choice award for balance beam; Perry, floor exercise; Griffith, bars.
TB Turners was second in Level 5 large-team competition on the performances of Kylie Moran (first), McKenzie Smith (first), Kim Messier (first), Jillian Root (second), Sara McCammack (second), Nicole Baisden (third) and Kirsten Montanari (third).
Judges awards went to Moran (beam), Smith (vault), Nikki Brown (beam), McCammack (bars), Messier (bars) and Montanari (floor).
In Level 4, Tayor Salazar received the Judge's Choice award in floor, Christina Phiel bars, Melissa Tobin beam and Ivy Hussung vault.
Salazar was first all-around, as were Danielle Brown and Nathania Beltran. Cortni Claar, Therese Byrne and Pheil were second and Hussung, Mansie Hough and Alex Johnston placed third.
