Sunrise went to the tournament with just twelve players but only eleven
players were available for the first game. Eleven turned to ten a few
minutes into the first contest when forward Haleigh Stremanos went down with
an ankle injury that would sideline her for the entire tournament. Ten soon
turned into nine when Erica Wilner was injured. Nine, however, was just
enough, as Sunrise won 2-1 over Kentucky United International. UI is ranked
no. 3 in Kentucky. Goals were scored by guest player Alec Spivak (Kendall),
and Tatiana Penagos.
Next up was Georgia Cannons Gold. Gold is ranked no. 16 in Georgia. Wilner
was back for this game so the team now had eleven players. Georgia started
the game strong but Sunrise came away with a 1-0 win. Jennifer Torres made a
beautiful pass to Melisa Camacho for the winning goal.
The 3-0 mark in bracket play put the team in the championship against
Georgia Roswell Santos Blue, ranked no. 10 in Georgia. By this point, the
Sunrise girls were completely exhausted having played the entire tournament
with no subs, and it showed on the field, as Roswell controlled the entire
first half and took a 1-0 lead on a free kick. Late in the second half,
Sunrise turned the game around. Tatiana Penagos out ran the defense and took
the ball past the goalkeeper to make it 1-1. Then, less than two minutes
later, Danielle Ngyun beat multiple defenders on the right side of the box
and finished to give Sunrise the 2-1 lead and the championship.
In addition to the Vulcan Cup win, Sunrise has also won the FLUGSA and Gator
Showcase championships in recent weeks.