Road to the Cup 2008 Blog

2 Diablo FC Teams Score Convincing Regional Championship Game Victories in Boise

Tuesday, July 8

Diablo FC won its second and third Regional championships in less than a month today when the U12 and U13 boys each scored 6-1 victories in the championship games of the US Club Soccer Region G Super Group finals in Boise, Idaho. Coach Marquis White`s Diablo FC 94 team defeated Northern California rival Napa Arsenal in the U13 finals while Coach John Badger`s Diablo FC 95 boys were just as dominating in dispatching Washington's Eastside Red 94 in the U12 title game.

It has been quite a year already for coach Badger. During CYSA State Cup, his DVSC Black 95 made it all the way to the U12 boys Cup semi-finals before losing. In the quarterfinals they edged MDSL Azzurri 1-0. Following the merger of DVSC and MDSL those two teams combined forces to form Diablo FC 95. This new team then roared through four opponents (three from Washington and one from Oregon) in the USCS Regional in Boise, outscoring their opponents 15-1 to claim the championship.

Badger also saw his Diablo FC Black Pearl 90 U17 boys win their third straight State Cup this spring and recently they went on to capture the club's first ever USYSA Far West Regional championship in Hawaii. The U17 boys are ranked #3 in the USA entering the National Championships in North Little Rock, Ark. July 23-27.
Diablo FC 95's roster for the Regionals included Jordan Anderson, John Ballard, Joey Brauer, Alex Clewis, Edgar Damian Ramirez, Isaiah Dargan, Samuel Giambalvo, Michael Guerrero, John Luna Lima, Israel Murguia, Jose Robledo, Raul Sepulveda, Juan Velazquez and Derek Wilcox. Because two 95 players were not available for the Regionals Kash Choudhary and Kevin Neys from Diablo FC 95 Blue played on the team.

"The players were exceptional" is Badger's simple statement in describing his team's first tournament against their own age group. Diablo FC 95 has been playing against older teams in Super Y-League this spring and summer, in the same age group as Diablo FC 94. "Even though our team is small among its own age group and many of the teams in Boise were much larger than us, the experience the boys have had playing up in Super Y helped tremendously at Regionals." Badger looked back and then ahead when he said, "I was very pleased with Efrain's play, and the team was successful because all the boys played positive soccer. The challenge will be to continue improving and not become satisfied."

While the Diablo FC 95 boys are small and very skilled, Marquis White says his Diablo FC 94 U13 players are strong and physical. His roster for Boise included Carlos Aldana, Andy Altamirano, Nick Bob, Sergio De La Mora, Robert Hines, Jose Navarro, Elisama Padilla, Tyler Sylvia, Mateo Palacios, Conrad Rowling, Kellen Simons, Travis Volpe, Sean Walker and Andrew Zuniga. Supplementing the regular Diablo FC 94 players in Boise were classmates Carlos Garcia, Eric and Brad Alman and Austin Gamm.

For White, who serves as technical director of the local club and was instrumental in the merger of DVSC and MDSL in January, it's also been busy and successful during 2008. His Diablo FC Black Pearl 89 boys made it to the U18 State Cup finals in May before losing 3-2 in the championship game. The team had reached State Cup semi-finals three consecutive years before bursting through to make it to the title game this year.
The Diablo FC 94 boys are also a combination from 2008 tryouts of DVSC Black 94 and MDSL Azzurri teams who took part in U13 play this past season. The team faced two Washington and a hometown Boise team in pool play before beating Boise Nationals Premier in the semi-finals and meeting a fellow NorCal team in the finale.

By virtue of their Regional championship Diablo FC 94 U13 boys qualified for National Cup VII late this month in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The team didn’t have enough time to plan and fund raise for the expensive cross country trip. However they anticipate winning the Pacific Northern California Super Y-League championship and will go to the 10th anniversary North American Super Y-League Finals this Nov. in Tampa, Florida as one of 140 teams between U13 and U17 who will qualify from around the USA and Canada. There will be 16 boys teams in the U13 North American finals.

White explained his team's Regional title run as an "entire team effort and every kid on the trip contributed to capturing the trophy. The biggest accomplish of the tournament was in the final game of pool play when we went down to 10 players just five minutes into the game because of a red card. The boys went on to dominate a very impressive Washington team, which was tied with us in points. We needed a result and, for me, this 2-0 victory showed the character of this team. I was very proud of the boys."

             Diablo FC 94 U13 Regional Champions                Diablo FC 95 U12 Regional Champions 

Tuesday, July 8

Boise, Idaho-The Idaho Regional is complete and 25 more teams have been invited to the National Cup Finals in Virgina Beach, VA. The Diablo Futbol Club, Spokane Elite Soccer Club, Leis Bois Soccer club, Crossfire Premier and River City Soccer Club earned special recognition for hosting several region champion teams! Congratulations to all of today`s winners, we look forward to seeing you in Virginia! Here are all of today`s winners:

Boys Super Group
U11 Boys- Juventus Sport Elite (CA)
U12 Boys- Diablo FC 95 (CA)
U13 Boys- Diablo FC 94 (CA)
U14 Boys- Los Alamitos (CA)
U15 Boys- Blue Knights (UT)
U16 Boys- Eastside United (OR)
U17 Boys- Crossfire (WA)

Girls Super Group
U12 Girls- Crossfire Premier (WA)
U13 Girls- Federal Way (WA)
U14 Girls- Dosveedanya (WA)
U15 Girls- Bridlemile Daredevils (OR)
U16 Girls- Les Bois (ID)
U17 Girls- Les Bois (ID)

Tuesday, July 8, 2008, 1 am MT- Boise, Idaho-
The great weather continues here in Idaho as all teams are battling for the regional champion title. Several regional champs have already been crowned! Congratulations to all the Idaho regional victors so far!

2 Diablo FC Teams vie for USCS Regional Titles Tuesday

Monday, July 7

The U12 and U13 Diablo FC boys teams are playing in the US Club Soccer Region G championship games Tuesday morning in Boise, Idaho. A victory by Diablo FC 94 coached by Marquis White will earn the U13 boys team a berth in the National Cup VII super group finals July 26-29 in Virginia Beach, VA. U12 Diablo FC 95 coached by John Badger is going for a Regional title Tuesday but will not move on as U11 and U12 age groups stop competing at the Regional level.


The U13 boys play Napa FC Arsenal in an all-Northern California final. Coach White`s team has won four straight games in the Regionals, including a 5-3 victory over host Boise Nationals Premier Monday night. In round-robin play Diablo FC 94 opened with a win over Boise Capitals 94-95 Premier 5-0 and then beat a pair of Washington teams, Whatcom FC Rangers Gold 3-1 and NW National 94 Red 2-0. Napa won two games and drew one in round robin play and defeated NW National 94 Red 2-1 in the other Monday semi-final.

The U12 Diablo FC 95 boys have rung up three consecutive shutouts to earn a berth in the finals against Eastside FC 95 Red of Washington, which is also undefeated in three games. Diablo FC blanked Columbia (WA) Premier Timbers 95 Red, Washington Premier 95 Black and Eastside United FC Pumas of Oregon.

Both the Diablo FC 94 and 95 boys teams are the result of the recent club tryouts with each team comprised of a large share of former MDSL and DVSC players forming these new Diablo FC teams that are enjoying immediate positive results from the merger.

Three other Diablo FC teams competed in the Boise Regionals.

The U16 girls, Diablo FC Black Pearl 92 tied for second in their Super Group bracket with a 1-1-1 record. The Diablo FC U16 boys were in the Premier bracket and landed in a tie for first in their bracket with a 2-1 record but they lost the tiebreaker and did not advance to the finals.

In the U15 boys Super Group, Diablo FC 92 was in a three-way tie for first with a 2-1 record but their loss in the final round-robin game cost them a chance of advancing to the semi-finals.

The Boise Regionals follow Modesto's Region H in June where three Diablo FC girls teams took part. Diablo FC 94 U13 won two and drew one to tie for first in their bracket. They lost the tiebreaker to advance. The Diablo FC 93 U14 girls won one and tied two while Diablo FC Black Pearl 90 U17 girls were 1-1-1.

Overall, 8 Diablo FC teams (4 boys and 4 girls) took part in the 2008 US Club Soccer Regionals, 7 of those 8 in the top Super Group. Diablo FC teams lost only 4 of their 25 Regional games entering Tuesday`s two championship game appearances by the U12 and U13 boys.

Clayton Pioneer story about Regional Champions pages 12 & 15.