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MSC United Wins The World’s Greatest Youth Soccer Festival
By Malcolm Lawrence
When the referee blew the final whistle to signal the end of the 1998 Gothia World Youth Cup game played in Gothenburg, Sweden, Montgomery Soccer, Inc’s own - MSC United, the Montgomery Soccer Club’s U-16 Washington Area Girls Soccer League Divison I team, playing in an age group two years above their own - were proclaimed champions in a presentation ceremony following the game. The Gothia Cup trophy, along with other trophies won by MSC United and other MSI Traveling Club teams is on display in the MSI office.
Playing 7 games in 5 days MSC United, led by team captains Valerie Lawrence, Jessica Marmor and Kelley Tinsley, advanced to the final game. United faced tough competition throughout the tournament. All the games, except the final, were played in a torrential downpour. In all, United scored 27 goals. The opponents were able to score only 4 goals against United in regulation play. Midfield play by Allyson Myers, Melissa Blum, Deanna McCullough, Melissa Atchley, Sarah Erdtmann, Melissa Gagnier and Anne McCormick served the game well in attack and defense. Kelley Tinsley, Jessica Marmor, Emily Terry, Laurie Wheeler and Debbie Leach anchored the back line with Christina Theoharis playing extremely well in goal throughout the competition. Because of the weather and field conditions the quarterfinal and semifinal games were played on gravel fields. This was a very new experience for United. They persevered, winning both of those contests, as well as the final match by penalty kick shootouts.
Their championship victory was set up by a tying goal scored with less than 20 seconds left to go in regulation time. Behind by a goal with the seconds ticking off the clock, Becca Quinn gained a corner kick for United. Valerie Lawrence snatched the ball and raced to the corner for one last attempt at goal. She delivered a real scorcher toward the far post where Kelley Smullen, who along with Valerie, played the entire tournament with a phenomenal work rate, headed it home for the all-important tying goal with one second to go in regulation time. The team was very confident going into the penalty shoot-out. Christina Theoharis, as in the previous two penalty shoot-out games, made the save to give the players the chance they needed to win. Debbie Leach, Valerie Lawrence, Jessica Marmor, Deanna McCullough and finally, Laurie Wheeler were the players selected by the captains to win the game. They did so in world class style to secure United’s first international championship.
The team’s steady development has produced some exciting performances and results over the years. Most recently, United became Division I Champions in the highly competitive Washington Area Girls Soccer League. They are no stranger to final games. MSC United has earned the distinction of being one of the two top club teams in the U-16 age group in the state of Maryland as finalists in the Maryland State Cup Tournament for the last two years. Malcolm Lawrence has coached the team since it was formed when the girls were 10 years old. Malcolm also serves as the Director of Coaching for Montgomery Soccer, Inc. the largest sports organization in Maryland or the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area, serving over 15,000 children.
The Gothia Cup soccer tournament is the largest youth-soccer tournament in the world and is played in Gothenburg, Sweden in July every year. Since the first tournament in 1975 a total of over 400,000 players representing almost 14,000 teams from over 100 nations have participated in the cup. This year some 1,500 teams from 63 countries competed.
United’s “experience of a lifetime” began with a swim in the world-famous Blue Lagoon lake in Reykjavik, Iceland. Their journey continued with a four day homestay in Copenhagen, Denmark, where they won all three games in a tune-up tournament: United vs Great Lake Waves 2 to 0, United vs FC Oregon 3 to 0, United vs Denmark 3 to 2. Next, a six day boarding experience in a single classroom setting at a school in the beautiful city of Gothenburg, Sweden. The result of the players’ spending so much game and leisure time together was an ever stronger sense of one another and the team. United is already talking about fund-raisers for their return to Scandinavia next year.