Kansas City youth soccer teams win regional crowns

Five youth Kansas City soccer teams won their respective regional crowns Wednesday at the U.S. Youth Soccer Region II (Midwest) Championships in Fox Cities, Wis.

The winners of the region advance to the National Championships from July 21-26 in Tulsa, Okla.

The Futura soccer club had two winners on the girls side. The U-15 Futura Pink Panthers won their crown and the U-16 Futura Academy Forte Elite won its age group’s title.

The Pink Panthers defended their title with a 2-0 win over Cleveland FC, and Forte Elite defeated Lou Fusz (Wipke, Mo.) 4-0 in the final. Forte Elite didn’t concede a goal in all five of their tournament matches.

Sporting KC Academy completed a local sweep of the U-15 group, as the boys won their regional final match 3-1 over DM Menace Red (Iowa). Sporting KC got out to a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute and never looked back.

Area teams also swept the U-18 age group, as the KC Metro Dynamos won the girls’ side and Kansas Rush Academy Blue (96/97) won the boys’ bracket.

After falling in last year’s regional final, the Dynamos went undefeated in this year’s tournament on their way to capturing the division’s crown. Two late goals in the 73rd and 84th minute propelled them to a 3-1 win over Strike FC Premier 1 (Wis.).

It took penalty kicks for the Blue to take down reigning regional champs Chicago Fire Raiders Elite, but Kansas Rush Academy would prevail, sending them to Tulsa.

Kansas City-area teams’ five titles was by far the most by one area in the Midwest. Other Missouri teams won three crowns while Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Nebraska won one.

This story was originally published June 25, 2015 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Kansas City youth soccer teams win regional crowns."