Sunrise Fire advances to final four

April 27, 2008 - The Sunrise Fire 15 girls’ team is heading to Pensacola for the 2008 Florida State Cup final four. Having missed the final four by just one game each of the last two years, the girls made sure there would be no near miss this time around.

The core of this team has been together since they were 9 years old. They have a tremendous amount of skill and they seem to know where each other are at all times. There have been a few girls added over the years and this group has grown and matured every year. Coach Gus Camacho and trainer Julio Alvarez have watched these kids grown into young adults. “We push these kids every practice” says, Julio Alvarez, and they respond with great results. We never taught this team to play kick ball, since the beginning we have stressed ball control and foot skills, says Coach Camacho.

This weekend Sweet Sixteen started vs. Space Coast. Sunrise knew they would be a very tough challenge as they just eliminated the State Champions in the earlier round. Down 2-1 with minutes left, winger Jenny Peterson found Tatiana Penagos in front of the net and she scored the equalizer sending the match into overtime. In the overtime, Sunrise played their best soccer with Lauriell Young adding 2 goals, giving her 3 total and the Sunrise Fire a 4-2 victory.

Our final eight match up was Boca-Navy, another excellent team, which many had favored to win. Boca scored first in the early morning on a wet ball that slipped through the keeper’s hands. Sunrise then ran off 4 straight goals by Haleigh Stremanos, Tatiana Penagos, and Lauriell Young (2). Boca scored late to make it 4-2 and earning the Sunrise Fire a trip to the Final four. This team is 17 strong, with everyone contributing all year. Sarah Motta, Melisa Camacho seemed to control the middle. Kaitlyn Manning, Tyler Rosemellia, Anastasia Mesa, Erica Wilner, Danelle Nguyen and Becca Rogers controlled the defense. Danielle Grossman, Jenny Peterson, Jessica Bello, Madison Lee, Kathleen Keenan, Jennifer Torres seemed to be a never ending set of fresh legs playing the wings.

This team has many stars, 17 to be exact.