YOUTH SCENE: Region 86 crowns more champs

Laguna Beach AYSO Region 86 crowned its champions Saturday on the final weekend of a postseason tournament that began earlier this month.

? Girls’ Under-12 division

The most exciting final of the day saw That Blue Team meet up with the Purple Galaxy.

That Blue Team jumped out to an early, 2-0 lead, and ended the first half with a 4-2 advantage. But the Purple Galaxy fought back to tie the score at 4 in the final minutes of regulation play. The teams then headed into a California Style Shoot-out. After each five-minute overtime period is completed, two players from each team are removed until there remains a four-on-four situation on the field.

It took That Blue Team only four minutes of the overtime session to score the winning goal for a title-clinching, 5-4 victory.

? Boys’ Under-12 division

The final pitted Men in Black against Quick Silver, where Men in Black emerged as division champion by virtue of a 4-2 victory.

The teams were tied at 2 at the half. Men in Black pulled ahead when Trenton Caserio was fouled in the penalty area and Alex DiGenova buried the penalty kick into the right-side of the goal to make it a 3-2 game.

? Girls’ Under-14 division

Laguna Beach Fire needed to score only three goals in two games to claim the championship. They won the title by splitting two games (a 5-2 win and 5-3 loss).

? Boys’ Under-14 division

The Tropic Smurfs took over the top spot and eventual division title by defeating Beach, 3-2. The win, combined with Cobalt’s 3-1 win over Gang Green, allowed Tropic Smurfs to take the title. Cobalt finished in second place.

? Under-10 division

On Nov. 15, the boys’ and girls’ champions were crowned. The Silver Spartans, coached by Scott Tenney, and the Jolly Ranchers will represent Laguna Beach in the Area 11L tournament at San Juan Sports Park on Dec. 6-7.

The winners of the Area 11L tournament will represent Southern Orange County at the Sectional tournament in February in San Marcos.

Blue Tidal Waves win shoot-out: Although it did not advance to the girls’ title game, the Blue Tidal Waves did capture first-place in the division’s shoot-out playoffs on Nov. 1. With a grand total of 32 points, the Waves netted 11 more points than their next competitor.

The team opened the shoot-out playoffs with three wins, capped by a 6-5 win over the Jolly Ranchers. After winning the girls’ championship shoot-out match, the Waves went on to compete against the Black Knights, the boys’ Under-10 champion.

The Blue Tidal Waves emerged with a 5-3 victory to win the overall shoot-out title in the division.