The Fredericksburg Gunners came out of nowhere in 2007, qualifying their U16 girls soccer team for the North American Finals.
In Year 2, the club is sending two teams to the annual event Nov. 20-25 in Tampa, Fla.
The Gunners' U15 boys and U16 girls qualified with first-place finishes in their respective South Atlantic Division Y League. The boys team, coached by Cristian Neagu, posted a 9-1-1 record.
The U16 girls followed a more difficult path. Mired in last place, the Jerry Austin-coached club won its final four games over a six-day stretch to finish on top with a 6-2-3 mark.
Sixteen teams in each age division qualified for the Florida tournament. Each team will play three games in its bracket with the four bracket winners advancing to the semifinal round. Fox Soccer Channel will provide coverage of the tournament.
Neagu, a native of Romania, likes his team's chances. All but five of the players were with the Gunners in their first year of competition.
"They've really come together as a team," said the Virginia Commonwealth University graduate, who played professionally for the Richmond Kickers, the Syracuse A league team and the Baltimore Blast indoor team. "Without a doubt, we're going down there and be competitive.
"I'm confident the boys don't want to be a number. They're going to be competitive and pull some surprises."
The Gunners' confidence level increased with regular-season victories (7-1 and 2-1) over the Northern Virginia Royals, the runners-up in last year's North American finals.
The U15 boys will be tested early, with scheduled games against a talented Player Development Academy team as well as the undefeated Vancouver Whitecaps.
The U15 boys and U16 girls teams are composed primarily of players from Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania and Stafford. There are a handful of players from Richmond as well.
Teams rosters:
U15 Boys: Thomas Adams, Eric Boggs, Dan Blake, Tony Chiesa, David Furness, Jordan Grant, Robert Holladay, Julian Khalili, Christopher McClafferty, Bryan Musante, John Phillips, David Salazar, Richard Seipp, Trevor Sherwin, Blake Tomasco, Dylan Yeargin and Ryan Zinkham.
U16 Girls: Kelly Clark, Ashley Dubeck, Sarah Epling, Joy Glove, Alex Gogolin, Amanda Gogolin, Kisha Gresham, Judy Ingold, Brooke Kirchmier, Geneva Little, Kathleen MacKnight, Nicole Martinez, Rebecca Monteith, Jessica Natkin, Shawnee Nicholas, Bre Roper, Madeline Schuster, Caroline Schieber, Alexis Strahlman, Megan Stapp, Brittany Webster and Catherine Whited.
COURT WINS A PAIR
King's Court of Fredericksburg went 2-3 in round-robin play at the World Team Tennis championships played last weekend at Indian Wells, Calif.
The team competed in the 4.0 rec division league where Beauties & the Beasts of Tarzana, Calif., claimed the title with a 5-0 mark.
FALCONS WIN AWARDS
Quarterback Darren Baker and cornerback Mike Howard of the Fredericksburg Falcons captured the north division's Most Valuable Player awards following Saturday's Mason-Dixon Football League all-star game at Yorktown.
Despite the presence of 12 Falcon players, the north all-stars lost to the south, 10-3. The Falcons' James Hobbs served as the team's head coach.
Fredericksburg (9-4) is finished with MDFL play and now awaits word on its opening-game opponent in the Eastern Football Alliance tournament. Hobbs said the Prince William Monarchs are a likely foe.
RESCH MAKES A SPLASH
Robert Resch will represent the Sharks Swim Team at next week's USA Swimming Grand Prix at the University of Minnesota.
The 16-year-old North Stafford sophomore qualified in both the 1,000 and 1,650 freestyles (10:09.84 and 17:03.35) and was awarded four bonus events--the 200 and 500 free and the 100 and 200 back.
"The big key for Robert was his hard work and commitment to swimming and his goals," Sharks head coach R. Stuart Faux said. "After getting better, he realized how good he could be and gave up some things. He practices before and after school and on weekends."
The team numbers roughly 150 swimmers and divides its practices between the Woodlands pool in Garrisonville and Ramer Hall at Quantico.
GORHAM ROLLS 300
Lottie Gorham of Spotsylvania County recently had one of her best nights of bowling. Competing in the merchants mixed league at AMF Fredericksburg, she had a three-game set of 701 which included a perfect game of 300.
Kurt Nicoll: 540/374-5441
Email: knicoll@freelancestar.com