Albany Area YMCA Soccer: News

The 95 Girls (U-14) began tournament play Saturday morning with a 6-0 victory over Georgia United.  They then fell 4-2 to the Tifton Tigers.  The girls bounced back Sunday morning with a victory over the Albany Y Crusaders earning them a rematch with the Tifton Tigers in the championship match.  Hotspur netted a early goal in the opening minutes of play to take a 1-0 lead.  Tifton scored an equalizing goal on a penalty kick midway through the first half.  Neither team could find the back of the net for the remainder of the match or overtime.  Tifton triumphed 2-1 in penalty kicks to earn the championship. 

Congratulations to the following teams:

U-10 Boys
Champion - Knights Hanson
Runner Up - Fire 

U-10 Girls
Champion - Knights Reeder
Runner Up - Angels

U-13 Girls
Champion - Eagles
Runner Up - Flames

U-13 Boys
Champion - Knights Brown 
Runner Up - Crusaders

Five Hotspur teams traveled to Panama City on September 12-13 to participate in the Endless Summer Soccer Tournament.  The U-10 Girls finished 4-0-0 and brought home the championship, the U-19 Girls finished 3-1-0 as runner up, and the U-17 and U-13 Boys both had good showings losing in the semifinals.  The U-12 Girls played well, but were unable to get a result.

The 00 (U-10) Girls opened play Saturday with a impressive 6-0 victory over Bay County.  They then defeated Bay United 5-3.  They followed up on Sunday with a 3-1 victory over Bay County and a 4-2 victory over Bay United to claim the championship.

The 91 (U-19) Girls notched 2-1 victories over both Dothan United and Top of Florida on Saturday.  They then lost a hard fought match to Bay United early Sunday morning.  They finished strong defeating Emerald Coast 2-0 to claim the runner up trophy.

Congratulations to all the teams for a well played weekend of soccer.

The 97 Boys traveled to Gainesville on May 16-17 to participate in the Georgia Soccer Academy Cup.  They opened play Saturday with a 2-1 victory over the Decatur Dekalb YMCA Wolves and followed up with a 3-0 victory against Forsyth Fusion Blue.  On Sunday they drew 1-1 with Harris County Excalibur.  This earned them a spot in the championship match against the Central GA Strikers Navy.  The boys saved their best game for last netting 4 goals in a 4-1 win.

Congratulations to the Hotspur 95 Girls.  They defended last Spring's Southern Soccer League U13/14 Girls championship.  The girls participated in 2 playdates in Dothan & Enterprise, Alabama and finished with a 3-0-1 record scoring 18 goals and only giving up 5. 

The U-10 Girls traveled to Thomasville to participate in the Rose City Invitational on April 18-19.   They started play a bit slow losing their opening match 3-2 to the Thomas Area Raiders.  They bounced back Saturday afternoon with a 2-1 victory over Tallahassee United.  They entered Sunday play needing a win over Albany White to advance to the finals.  The girls came through earning a rematch with the TASA Raiders in the championship.  The girls left no doubts in the final netting 6 goals in route to a 6-1 victory and the championship.

Kendall Couch signed a letter of intent on Thursday, February 2 at the Tift County High School library to play soccer at Lander University in Greenwood, South Carolina next Fall.  Kendall currently plays for the Albany YMCA Hotspur 91 Girls and has played in the Hotspur program for the past 3 years.  Kendall plays high school soccer at Tift County High School.

Becky Brown signed a letter of intent at the Albany YMCA on December 23 to play soccer at Darton College next Fall.  At her side at the signing were her parents, Greg & Susie Brown and her club coach, Troy Puckett.  Becky currently plays for the Albany YMCA Hotspur 91 Girls and has played in the Hotspur program since the age of 10.  Her Hotspur teams have won 11 tournament championships. 

Becky plays high school soccer at Westover High School where she has helped to lead the team to two Region Championships and a Region Runner Up.  Becky has been named 1st Team All Region in each of the previous three years.  She was the Region Player of the Year her Sophomore year. 

Four Hotspur teams went a combined 14-0-2 in route to three championships and one runner up at the 2008 Flint River Fall Finale held November 22-23 at the Albany YMCA Sports Park.  The U-19 Girls, Under-16 Boys & Under-12 Boys all finished the tournament at 4-0-0 as tournament champions.  The U-12 Girls (a combo team made up of several younger players from the U-13 team and players from the U-10 team) finished 2-0-2 as runner up.

 The 91 Girls (U-19) defeated the TASA Raiders 2-0 and the Top of Florida Dragons 4-0 on Saturday earning a spot in the championship match with a game still to play.  On Sunday morning they defeated Valdosta/Lowndes SC 6-0.  The championship match was a rematch of Saturday mornings match against TASA.  Hotspur prevailed 3-0 claiming the championship.

The 94 Boys (U-16) defeated Birmingham United 7-0 and the TASA Raiders 2-1 on Saturday.  They had also earned a spot in the final with a game still to play.  They defeated Effingham County 4-0 on Sunday morning.  Their championship match was also a rematch with TASA.  Hotspur came away with a 2-0 victory.

The 97 Boys (U-12) defeated Moultrie YMCA 14-0 and the Valdosta/Lowndes SC 7-0 on Saturday.  They faced off against a familar foe Sunday morning in the TASA Raiders, both teams having already earned a birth in the final.  Hotspur triumphed 2-0 in the first match and 4-1 in the final.

The 97 Girls (U-12) opened play with a 6-3 victory against Bayside.  They then drew 2-2 with the TASA Raiders, who went on to win the tournament championship.  On Sunday the girls defeated the Capital City Streaks 5-3 and then drew 2-2 with the River City Rangers.  

Other tournament medalists were as follows: U-19 Boys: 1st-River Region Rapids, 2nd-North GA Mountains YMCA and U-14 Boys: 1st-Valdosta/Lowndes SC, 2nd-Millidgeville Predators.  Thank you to all the volunteers and sponsors that made this event a success.

The Hotspur 99 Girls and 97 Boys traveled to Thomasville on September 27 & 28 to participate in the Rose City Invitational.  Both returned as tournament champions.  The 99 Girls Blue began play Saturday with a 2-1 victory over Tallahassee United.  They followed this up with a 8-0 victory over Valdosta/Lowndes.  Their play Saturday earned them a spot in the final with a game still to play Sunday against Hotspur 99 White who despite losing both games Saturday put 6 goals in the back of the net.  The Blue team came away victorious advancing to the final for a rematch with Tallahassee United.  Both teams played well but Hotspur came away with a 4-2 victory and the championship.  

 The 97 Boys put together an impressive set of games Saturday posting two shutouts on the way to 7-0 and 8-0 victories over Valdosta/Lowndes and Moultrie YMCA earning them a spot in the final with a game still to play.  Sunday morning's match pitted the boys against the Thomas Area Raiders who had also secured a spot in the final.  The teams fought to a draw.  The championship match also ended tied at the end of regulation, but Hotspur was able to find the back of the net in the 2nd overtime to bring home the championship.  Congratulations to both teams.

Five Hotspur teams traveled to Thomasville on April 19-20 to participate in the Rose City Invitational.  The Hotspur 95 Girls and Hotspur 97 Boys brought home 1st place honors.

The 95 Girls started a bit slow Saturday morning giving up an early goal to FC Santa Rosa.  The defense held solid as Hotspur outscored their opponents 12-0 the rest of the tournament.  The girls drew 1-1 with FC Santa Rosa.  They then took on Top of Florida U-14 defeating them 3-0.  The girls entered Sunday morning play in a virtual three way tie with only the top two teams making the championship match.  The girls answered the call scoring 5 first half goals to defeat Thomas Area SA U-14 6-0 earning them a rematch with FC Santa Rosa in the final.  Hotspur netted a goal in each half in route to a 2-0 victory.

 The 97 Boys opened play with a hard fought 1-0 victory against Thomas Area SA.  They followed this up Saturday afternoon with a very impressive 5-0 victory against River City virtually assuring them a spot in the championship match with a game still to play.  There was no let down Sunday morning as the boys defeated Alabama Alliance 4-2.  The championship match was a rematch with Saturday afternoon's foe River City.  The final proved to be a bit closer than the previous match.  The teams exchanged goals in the first half before Hotspur went ahead for good with a goal in the second earning a 2-1 victory.

The 97 Boys traveled to Columbus on February 24-25 to participate in the Columbus Spring Kickoff.  In their opening match the boys defeated the Shooters 2-0.  They followed up Saturday afternoon with a 1-1 draw with the River City Rangers.  On Sunday morning the boys defeated the Auburn Thunder 3-0.  In their final match of the tournament Hotspur took on the only other undefeated team in the tournament, Macon United.  Both teams fought hard to a 2-2 draw.  Macon edged the boys out on points to earn the championship.