Chantilly Storm began their U15 year in style, finishing as Champions and Finalists in their two preseason tournaments.  The team won their first tournament, the Sun Cup hosted by Beach FC August 16-17, and finished 2nd after a penalty kick tiebreaker in the Elite bracket of the OBGC Capital Cup over Labor Day.

 

New players quickly gelled with returning members of the Storm to get the group off to a flying start at the Sun Cup.  Facing ODSC Breakers in their first game, the offense generated numerous chances and cruised to a 7-0 victory.  Goals continued to come in the afternoon match versus OBX Storm, with the game finishing with a 5-0 score line.

 

Sunday morning’s group stage finale saw Storm play against Beach FC Red 00, a team that had also won both of their games the previous day by similar scores.  Knowing that win would guarantee their place in the championship that afternoon, the group began with great intensity and focus.  Beach produced the toughest test of the group stage but Storm’s composure with their pressure and ability to deal with their defense resulted in a couple of early goals and the match finished at 4-1.  In the Championship match, Storm squared off against fellow Northern Virginia team Leesburg Tornado and cruised to a 4-0 win. 

After a weekend off, Storm regrouped to compete in the Elite bracket of the OBGC Capital Cup.  After jumping out to an early 2-0 lead against BRYC Elite in the tournament opener, sluggish and sloppy play saw the score get to 2-2 by the halftime break.  The 2nd half showed improvement, and Storm capitalized on a chance to take a 3-2 win.  Things would prove more decisive in the second match of group play versus SYA.  The team was eager to make up for it’s play the game before and raced out to an early 3-0 lead.  The game would finish as a 5-1 victory for the group.

 

Those two wins had the team mathematically clinched for the championship by the time they played their final group match, versus OBGC Galaxy.  The girls still put in a good shift and came away with a 2-0 win that they controlled throughout.  The Championship match would see them face FASA, who had knocked the team out of State Cup in the Spring with a 3-0 win.  Storm applied excellent pressure throughout the game and took a 1-0 lead into the break.  More scoring chances and possession continued throughout the second half, but the team let FASA hang around.  With only a few minutes on the clock, the Impact equalized and the game went directly to a PK shootout.  FASA would emerge victorious, but the Storm had greatly improved on their play from the previous time playing them.

 

Two tournaments with two solid results is a great start to the season and congratulations to the group for performing so well!