Little Panthers Advance to Finals in Top Tournament

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The MESA Panthers had a great run in the 2008 Louisville Cup in Kentucky. The tournament consisted of teams that are ranked among the best in their states. The Panthers defeated the seventh ranked Noblesville and the twelfth ranked Fishers which were both from Indiana. The panthers then played another great opponent in Javanon, the second ranked team in Kentucky. The game was a hard fought match that ended in a draw. The Panthers advanced to the finals where they fell to a familiar foe in the Indy Burn, the second ranked team out of Indianapolis.
"We beat each other in Indiana and it was a dogfight. Today was their day," said coach Mark Burke. "I can’t say enough about our girls. It was the most challenging tournament yet. They competed against great teams and won. We just fell short of winning the cup."

Excellent play in tournaments, league play and the MSYSA friendlies this fall has earned The MESA Little Panthers some new recognition. They now find themselves listed on another top 10 list. Congratulations!!

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Congratuations to the Little Panthers as they finished first in the U12 Girls top division of the Mid-Michigan Youth Soccer League. This marks the girl's 6th league championship. The Little Panthers finished with a league record of 11-0-1.

Great job on a superb fall season.

The little Panthers had a very successful weekend under some unfavorable circumstances at the Fishers Halloween Classic in Fishers Indiana.

The Little Panthers won their first Three games to advance to the finals. Their first victory was against Livonia United from Michigan and were victorious by a score of 3-0. Their second game was against Carmel United Premier and they came out on top 2 - 0. The third game which earned them a trip to the finals was against Evansville Elite. Evansville gave them a tough battle and the winner would go to the finals. The Little Panthers tied up the score after a 1 - 0 and 2 - 1 Evansville lead. The Little Panthers then they put the game away scoring a late goal making the final score Little Panthers 3 Evansville 2

The field conditions were horrible with ankle twisting clumps of grass and uneven ground that  made it impossible for even the simplest ground pass to lay flat on the ground. This took away much of the possession stlye of play that they are so accustomed to. The 30 mile an hour wind did not help either.

They met the winner of the other bracket, The Fishers Lightning in the finals. They dominated play and took a 2 - 0 lead with only five minutes left in the game. The opposing team came back to score a late goal, then was credited for a controversial goal as time ran out that was said to have never crossed the line.

Overtime was played to a scoreless match and a shootout ensued. with a 2 -2 deadlock. They gave it a valiant effort, but lost in the shootout 4 goals to 3. The team was disappointed, but they did get nice runner-up trophies to take home.

The MESA Little Panthers U-12 girls competed in the 2007 preliminary this fall in Saginaw and Farmington Hills. The tournament had many of the top U-12 teams throughout the state.

The Little Panthers won their division and finished with a record of 4-0. They defeated the Genesee Stars, 4-2, and Carpathia of Sterling Heights, 7-0. They then played WAZA East of Rochester.

Goalkeeper Alayna Hilgendorf made a great save with two minutes to preserve a 2-1 victory.

Alyssa Burke scored both goals in the match and the game winner with 10 minutes remaining.

For their final game, they defeated Ann Arbor United, 4-1.

The Panthers, along with the Michigan Gators, Novi Jaguars, and the Alliance Soccer Club of Grand Rapids, were bracket winners and went undefeated in the tournament.

"We are proud to finish among the top, that’s for sure," said coach Mark Burke. "The girls preformed remarkably well on a big stage. The amazing thing about these girls is their willingness to compete at the highest level. We have six girls that are playing up a year and that’s a very tall task. They fight right through it."

BY MONICA DUFOUR
Staff Writer, The Davison Index

The MESA U12 Little Panthers won the 2007 Genesee Cup Tournament in Grand Blanc.

The Panthers lost a hard fought game in their opener 1-0 to the Genesee Stars.

"We felt like we played well enough to win, but we came up short," said coach Mark Burke.

The Panthers later defeated the Bluewater Lakers (Port Huron) 8-1, and the Jackson Raptors, 6-0, to advance to the finals, where they faced the Stars in a rematch.

The Stars jumped to a 1-0 lead, but Allison Cialkoszewski evened the score 1-1. The Stars jumped to score again to take a 2-1 halftime lead.

In the second half, the Panthers stormed back as Jessie Magalski scored on a corner kick from Sammy Chouinard to knot the score at 2-2.

The game went back and forth as both teams applied heavy pressure, but the Panthers struck again when Allison Cialkoszewski scored her second goal of the game to propel the Little Panthers to a 3-2 victory.

"The girls were motivated and wanted to redeem themselves," said Burke. "It was a fabulous game."

The MESA U-11 girls Little Panthers won the 14th annual 2007 7-Eleven Saginaw Classic.

The Little Panthers defeated the Saginaw Hotshots, West Michigan Fire (Holland) and Mt. Pleasant, Midland to advance to the finals.

There they wasted little time in the finals as they scored first and often to roll past Saginaw Sparks 10-1 to claim their eighth tournament championship.

"Winning our bracket was a tougher challenge particularly because Mt. Pleasant and Midland combined players and really came after us," said coach Mark Burke.

"The girls play for each other and it’s fun to be a part of it," Burke added.