Maryland Rush Participates in the 2014 Liverpool Knowsley Cup Tour Organized By: Excel International Sports
August 3, 2014. Liverpool, England. The rising U15 Maryland Rush girls opened their England tour with wins over Manchester City (3-2) and Magull FC (5-1) in friendlies on July 31 and August 1 as part of their preparation to play in the Liverpool Knowsley Cup in Liverpool, England on Aug. 2-3.
At the LK Cup, the Rush girls opened preliminary round play against the Central Girls Football Academy from Falkirk, Scotland unaware that two weeks earlier the Falkirk girls had been crowned UK Champions by winning the All Cities Elite Shield Tournament in Leicester, England. The Scots caught the Rush girls off-guard and handed them a 6-0 drubbing in the opening match. Following the game, the Rush girls vowed to fight their way back to the championship for a chance at a rematch with the Scots. Tour Organized By: Excel International Sports www.EuroSoccerTours.net 410-489-2287
In their second game, the Rush girls rebounded against the Woolton FC girls with a solid game of possession from midfielders Rylan Sweitzer, Ashley Clifford, Ella Bateman and Elsa Flynn and came away with a 4-1 win with three goals from Sarah DeWitt and a fourth from Chloe Macdonald. In their third game, the Rush girls prevailed 4-2 against a spirited Mossley Hill FC team to earn a spot in the semi-finals. The Rush girls again had three goals from Sarah and one from Chloe. With the Rush and the Scots staying in the same dorm at the University of Liverpool, the teams became fast friends, spending the evening teaching each other club cheers and generally raising a raucous. The new friendship made the Rush girls more determined to earn a rematch. On Sunday morning, the Rush girls faced a tough Birkdale FC team in the semi-finals. The Rush girls took control early on a goal from Sarah. Ten minutes later, Birkdale drew even on a penalty kick. Not to be deterred, the Rush girls scored again off a goal from Sarah to lead 2-1 at the half. Early in the second half, the Rush girls turned up the heat, peppering the Birkdale keeper with shots. Sarah succceded in putting one in the net to give the Rush girls the a 3-1 lead. With a series of near misses from Shelby Cavey, Elsa Flynn and Chloe Macdonald, the Rush girls threatened turn the game into a route. The Birkdale girls, however, held on and rallied to score near the end of regulation, but it proved to be too little too late and the Rush girls moved on to the championship game with a 3-2 semi-final win.
Tour Organized By: Excel International Sports www.EuroSoccerTours.net 410-489-2287
Between the semi-finals and final the Rush and Falkirk teams continued building their friendships by exchanging jerseys and cheering on a Dallas-based American boys team from FC Liverpool America in a consolation match.
Throughout the break between the semi-final games and the championship game mixed groups of players with the gray Rush uniforms and the orange Falkirk uniforms could be seen wondering through the field complex.
With the Scots outscoring their opponents in the preliminaries and the semi-finals 25-0 and the Rush girls scrapping their way into the finals, no one other than the Rush girls, their coaches and their parents expected the championship game to be anything other than another drubbing. In each prior game the Scots scored twice in the first ten minutes of regulation, so the crowd anticipated early domination by the Scots. The Rush girls, however, came out ready to play and earn the respect not only of their new Scottish friends but also of the many English players, coaches, families and fans that came out to watch the game including the Lord Mayor and Mayoress of Knowsley and several Knowsley council members The Rush girls opened the game strong with the back line of Gracie Burns, Delaney May, Alexis Heverly and Mara Torres defending fiercely and attacking with speed on the flanks. Ten minutes into the game, when the Rush had outshot the Scots 4-2, the crowd could sense the Scots' frustration building and the Rush girls confidence growing with each passing minute. The teams battled throughout the first half, but neither team could find the net so the half ended 0-0. The teams played evenly throughout the second half with both teams creating opportunities but both keepers proving too skilled to allow a goal. Throughout the half, more teams and fans from other fields at the complex joined the crowd to watch extraordinarily exciting game and chants of "Go Rush" could be heard coming from the English fans as the Rush girls won over the crowd. Regulation time ended with the teams locked in a 0-0 draw, so the teams proceeded to PK's. Tour Organized By: Excel International Sports www.EuroSoccerTours.net 410-489-2287
The shootout proved to be every bit as much of a nail biter as the regulation match and opened in controversy. After the Fallkirk girls scored on their first PK, Rush's Chloe Macdonald hit the left post with her PK, causing the ball to roll across the front of the goal on the goal line. The Rush players thought the ball crossed the goal line, but the officials indicated no goal. When Falkirk's second kick also scored, the shootout looked bleak for the Rush. The Rush girls, however, narrowed the gap to 1-2 with a goal from Sarah DeWitt, and then to 2-2 with a block by Rush keeper Madison Scott and another goal from Rush's Mara Torres. Falkirk then went ahead 3-2 with a score on their fourth PK and remained ahead 3-2 going into the final kick after Rush's Shelby Cavey's PK veered wide. On their fifth kick, Madison Scott again blocked Falkirk's PK to keep the Rush in the game. With the game on the line, Elsa Flynn proceeded to drill the Rush's fifth kick into the lower right corner to force the shootout into the 6th kick. The 6th kick, however, proved to be too much for the Rush when Falkirk scored with a low shot to the right post and then a brilliant save by the Falkirk keeper on Gracie Bruns PK for the Rush. While the loss in the PK shootout stung, the Rush girls had won over the English crowd, earnign their respect and friendship. The award ceremony proved to be a "win" for the Rush with Rush players taking the top honors for individual players. Rush's Madison Scott won the Top Keeper award, which was given based on voting by coaches from all of the teams participating in the tournament. Rush striker Sarah DeWitt then won the Golden Boot award for the top scorer in the tournament with 9 goals in 5 games. LK Cup Top Keeper Winner
LK Cup Golden Boot Winner
Madison Scott
Sarah DeWitt
Tour Organized By: Excel International Sports www.EuroSoccerTours.net 410-489-2287
The trip turned out to be a great tune-up for the girls leading into their high school tryouts as freshman. We have three that made varsity at South River HS (Alexis, Delaney and Madison), one at St. Mary’s HS (Sarah), two at Annapolis HS (Elsa and Rylan) and one at Severna Park HS (Chloe). The rest made their respective JV teams.
Tour Organized By: Excel International Sports www.EuroSoccerTours.net 410-489-2287