US Youth Soccer’s Far West regionals came to an end Sunday in Hawaii.

Oregon didn’t win a regional title, but there were lots of nice tournament runs from some of Oregon’s high-school aged teams.

FC Portland’s U-19 girls team reached the finals of the tournament, only to fall to Slammers FC out of southern California. Meanwhile, FC Portland’s U-19 boys team lost in the semis.

U-17B Westside Metro Internationals and U-18B Westside Metro Gunners both lost in the semifinals of their respective brackets.

Scan the rest of the results here.

If you weren’t paying attention to Oregon’s youth soccer State Cup last month, Westside Metros had a mighty strong showing — especially at the high-school aged level.

On the boys side, WSM picked up titles in the U-18, U-17 and U-15 age groups. The WSM Galaxy also won the U-18 girls title.

The club’s Web site recently posted a list of players headed on to play college ball. It’s a lengthy list.

Good luck to all the college-bound players.

U17 Boys — Westside Metros International
Nicky Lorenz - University of Vermont D1
Tim Kagey- Oregon State D1
Danny Mwanga- Oregon State D1
Ivan Sanchez- Chemeketa Community College

U18 Girls — Westside Metros Galaxy
Kristen Connell-Air Force D1
Ashley Sikora-Air Force D1
Amber Sikora- Air Force D1
Lacy Krebs- Oregon State D1
Ashley Seal- Oregon State D1
Ashley Chambers-Oregon State D1
Brittany Sheffield- Oregon State D1
Melinda Ingalls-Western Oregon D2
Brooke Cole- O.I.T. NAIA
Maile Cobb-O.I.T. NAIA
Jessica Kuehlwein-Southern Oregon University NAIA
Chelsea Giesen-Lake Erie College D2
Denise Powell- Southern Oregon University NAIA
Taylor Wehring-Academy of Arts D2
Olivia Dupon-Academy of Arts D2
Rachel Bunting- Claremont Scripps D3
Danielle Hayward-University of Idaho D1
Eva Decesaro- Fordham D1
Corin Kruse- George Fox D3

U18 Boys — Westside Metros Gunners
Demitri Abraham - San Diego State - Div 1
Miguel Benavides - Grand Canyon - Div 2
Randy Breiland - Clark CC
Facundo Dipascuale – Concordia - NAIA
Richie Evoy - U of P - Div 1
Jace Green - BYU - PDL
Andy Hackbarth - Yale - Div 1
Brandon Kuenzi - Fort Lewis - Div 2
Zach Madison – Concordia - NAIA
Casey McCool - U of W - Div 1
James Partee - Gonzaga - Div 1
John Swenson - OSU - Div 1
Israel Vega - Yavapi - CC
Kyle Wallace - Linfield - Div 3
Nic Watson - Air Force - Div 1
Drew Williams - SPU - Div 2

U18 Boys — Westside Metros Alliance
Turner Bloom – Concordia - NAIA

Good news: there’s another non-USL opponent lined up for the Portland Timbers.

On Thursday July 3, Portland will host Monarcas Morelia of Mexico’s Primera Division.

Tickets go on sale next week.

The Monarcas have three current Mexican national team players: Moises Munoz, Omar Trujillo and Adrian Aldrete.

Hopefully, there’s a good showing at this match from the Portland area’s Mexican community.

The draw for the 2008 U.S. Open Cup has matched the Portland Timbers with Hollywood United, a Los Angeles-based amateur club with some significant celebrity ties.

Take a look at some of the names on the roster for Hollywood United’s over-30 team: Eric Wynalda, Allen Hopkins (ESPN), Frank LeBoeuf (Chelsea), Alexi Lalas, Vivian Campbell (Def Leppard) and some other celebrities I’ve never heard of. In the past, Jason Statham (The Transporter) and Richard Gough (Rangers FC) have suited up too.

We likely won’t be seeing those players when Hollywood visits Portland on June 10, but they should bring a decent team with lots of former MLS and A-League players.

I think the U.S. Open Cup, although largely ignored by even ardent American soccer supporters, should be priority No. 1 for the Timbers. The chance to play — and beat — MLS teams in the tournament is huge. Gavin Wilkinson should rest his top players against the Whitecaps on June 7 in preparation for Hollywood.

A loss in the U.S. Open Cup opener is very possible — it’s my belief that the gap between top-tier amateur teams and USL teams is not wide. Show up June 10 at PGE Park to see how this one unfolds, and to see if Vinnie Jones from “Snatch” turns out for Hollywood.



Related links:

Timbers At The Offside

Portland Timbers Official Site

Yahoo! Sports feature on Hollywood United

Calling all soccer players. There’s a big Adidas sale over the next few days. It’s at the Portland Expo Center.

I have no idea what type of stuff they’ll have there, they may have no soccer stuff at all. Or maybe I’ll strike gold and find some of these for $50:


The sale is:

5/23: 10am - 8pm
5/24: 10am - 8pm
5/25: 10am - 8pm
5/26: 10am - 5pm


Saturday, May 24 update:
I hit the sale Friday evening. If you’re putting together a Run DMC costume for next Halloween, I highly recommend this sale. If you’re looking for drop-dead deals on soccer apparel and shoes, you probably won’t find much.


If you’re a Liverpool fan, they do have a bunch of 07/08 away shirts for just $10 a shirt. I picked up Marseille’s shirt for the same price: