San Francisco Vikings Soccer Club

2012-13 age group: U11

Fall 2012 playing league: CCSL Coast Gold

The Girls 01 Ravens Red finished a successful pre-season two tournament schedule, winning their second pre-season tournament championship in as many attempts, taking the Premier/Gold Division Championship of the Santa Rosa United Nike Academy Cup over Labor Day Weekend.  In a 5 team Premier/Gold division with a 4 game round robin format with the winner being the team with the most points at the conclusion of the round robin, the Ravens Red took an almost unsurmountable lead in the standings after 3 games with successive 4-1 wins over The American River FC Freedom, the host Santa Rosa United Seismic Waves, and the Tri-Valley SC Pride.  With 27 points after 3 games and the nearest competitor, Mill Valley Rockers, the Ravens final opponent, having only 18 points after 3 games, the Ravens could clinch the championship with a win, a tie, a 1-0 loss, or any other loss of any magnitude so long as the team scored at least one goal in defeat.  Only a 2-0 shutout or better would give Mill Valley the title.  Between being far too over-confident, thinking more about the trophy than the game, and playing their second game of the day in 90 degree heat, the Ravens played listlessly in the first half without the same level of teamwork and intensity they had shown in the first three games.  Realizing at half-time that a 2-0 loss was a real risk they way they were playing, the girls went out strong to start the second half and scored a goal within the first 5 minutes to take a 1-0 lead and clinch the championship, then held on in the heat for a 1-1 tie, winning the Championship trophy with 31 points to 22 each for Mill Valley and host Santa Rosa.

The Girls 01 Ravens Red team won the Gold/Silver Woodland Sunshine Classic Championship with a thrilling 3-2 win over the Inter Rage Academy Magic in the championship game. 

The Ravens Red earned a spot in the final by going 2-1 in group play and winning the group with 19 points compared to 18 points each for the other two 2-1 teams.  In the final, played in 100 degree heat, much to the disadvantage of the fog city girls from San Francisco, the Ravens took a 1-0 lead early in the game only to see the game tied on a penalty kick late in the first half by the Magic.  The Magic took a 2-1 lead midway through the second half before the Ravens launched their comeback, scoring the tying goal with only 5 minutes left to play on a through pass to a Ravens forward who gained a one stride lead on a Magic defender and calmly slotted the ball on the ground into the far corner of then net with the keeper.  With less than 2 minutes to play, the Ravens scored the winning goal on a beautifully struck half-volley off of a corner kick into the corner of the net.

The Girls 01 Ravens Red & White teams went to the Santa Cruz Pro Am Beach Soccer Championships on June 9-10 with the Red team taking 2nd place.  Both the Ravens Red and White teams had 2 wins and 1 tie in group play in opposite groups to tie for 1st in their groups.  Tie breaker rules put Ravens Red as the top seed in its group and Ravens White as the 2nd seed in its group, which resulted in Ravens Red playing Ravens White in the semi-final, guaranteeing the Vikings Club a spot in the final.  Red earned the trip to the final before falling to a team from San Ramon, the 2nd ranked NorCal Gold team from the East Bay (NorCal Regions 3-4) in a tough assignment with the final being the 3rd game of the day and starting less than an hour after the semi-final.  A great time was had by both teams both on the pitch and at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk!

A group of 9 members of the Ravens Red entered the US Futsal Northwest Regional Championships, which were held March 10th & 11th.  The Ravens went undefeated in group play, beating Diablo FC 4-3 in a hard fought, tight match decided on a goal scored by the Ravens in the final minute, beating Futsal 415 by a 7-1 score and beating Milpitas FC by a 3-1 score. 

The team made it to the championship game by beating the Little Cosmos 4-3 in the semi-finals.  Meanwhile, after the opening loss to the Ravens, Diablo FC earned its way to a rematch in the championship game by going undefeated in its remaining games.  In the final, the Ravens took a 1-0 lead, only to see Diablo tie the game before halftime.  The second half was a hard fought, tense affair with Diablo taking a 2-1 lead and the Ravens evening the match 2-2 minutes later.   The game was still tied 2-2 with 3 minutes left when Diablo scored on a direct free kick into the top of the net from just outside the penalty arc.  The Ravens called timeout and went into an attacking, pressing formation trying to tie the score before time ran out.  Less than a minute later, the Ravens earned a direct free kick from just outside the penalty arc and nailed the shot to tie the game.  Two more Ravens chances in the final minute, including one with 10 seconds to play were parried away on diving saves by the Diablo keeper, sending the game into two 5 minute overtimes.  In the first overtime, the Ravens had two shots bounce off the posts, first the right post, then the left post, within 30 seconds of each other.  With 90 seconds to play in the final overtime, Diablo took a 4-3 lead on another direct free kicked placed beautifully into the top of the net.  The Ravens again pressed the attack, finally scoring the equalizer with only 7 seconds to play to send the game into penalty kicks.  The Ravens luck ran out in the penalty kick shootout with the first shot being saved by the Diablo keeper and the fourth shot hitting the left post.  Diablo scored on all 4 of its kicks to take the shootout 4-2.  The Ravens burst into tears as the emotion of a hard fought, penalty kick loss overcame them.  Here are the teary-eyed Ravens trying their best to smile with their silver medals in the post-game medal ceremony. 

The team intends to attend the US Futsal National Championships in Anaheim in July.

The Vikings Club U10 Girls (G01) Ravens are currently three teams (Red, White & Black) with players grouped by like skill/ability with the strongest playing on the Red travel team (playing CCSL Silver) and the White and Black teams playing in the Vikings League Upper House.

In the recently completed fall season, the Red team finished 3rd in CCSL Silver, made the championship games of two tournaments and made the semi-finals at CYSA Association Cup before losing to the CYSA champion. 

Vikings Club coaches are all professional, highly certified, and committed to player development using a rigorous curriculum overseen by the Club's Director of Coaching, Jeff Wilson.  One head coach, Jim Feuille, orchestrates the training and development of all players in this age bracket and is Head Coach for the Red team. Jim is assisted by additional, dedicated team coaches for the White and Black teams.

The depth of the Club program enables players to move up and down in the system based on their individual growth.   For next fall's U11 teams the Red team will be playing CCSL Silver.  

If there is sufficient interest, a fourth Vikings Club U11 team will also be formed for next year.  Four U11 teams (48-52 players) will position the teams to consolidate to three teams (48-54 players) at U12 when rosters expand for 11v11 soccer.  

Practices will be 2/week for each team. One practice a week is generally collaborative allowing the girls to play with and against players from other teams in the age group. Red practices Tuesday & Friday.  Positions on all teams are open as players are selected each year based on skill.  Players interested in taking their skills to a higher level and being part of a program providing opportunities to advance to stronger teams and higher levels of competition should try out for the Vikings Club teams.

The Vikings Club newly formed U10 Girls travel team played their first games together as a team at the Central Marin Premier Challenge tournament on August 27-28.  

The team handily won its bracket with 29 points, scoring identical 3-0 victories over two NorCal Silver Elite level teams (Bay Oaks Blue Bombers and Mill Valley Rockers) along with a 7-1 win over a CCSL Bronze team (Juventus Eclipse).  

The team finally succumbed to a NorCal Gold level team, the Bay Oaks Gold Bombers (15th ranked in NorCal), in the Championship game but had the distinction of being the only team in the tournament to score a goal against the Gold Bombers.  

All in all, a great start to a new season for our newly formed Vikings Club U10 Girls travel team playing their first games ever.

The U11 Girls Ravens Red team won the Gold/Silver Woodland Sunshine Classic Championship with a thrilling 3-2 win over the Inter Rage Academy Magic in the championship game. 

The Ravens Red earned a spot in the final by going 2-1 in group play and winning the group with 19 points compared to 18 points each for the other two 2-1 teams.  In the final, played in 100 degree heat, much to the disadvantage of the fog city girls from San Francisco, the Ravens took a 1-0 lead early in the game only to see the game tied on a penalty kick late in the first half by the Magic.  The Magic took a 2-1 lead midway through the second half before the Ravens launched their comeback, scoring the tying goal with only 5 minutes left to play on a through pass to a Ravens forward who gained a one stride lead on a Magic defender and calmly slotted the ball on the ground into the far corner of then net with the keeper.  With less than 2 minutes to play, the Ravens scored the winning goal on a beautifully struck half-volley off of a corner kick into the corner of the net.

To see more photos, please visit the Ravens Red team page