The Elm Grove Elite, EGSC's U11A Girls select soccer team, brought home the first place trophy from the 2003 Rockford Watermelon Tournament, played June 21/22 in Rockford, Illinois. The girls went undefeated in the tournament with five wins. The tournament championship was their fourth of the Spring 2003 season, following wins in the Reddan Spring Shootout in Madison, the MK A/B Select Tournament in Milwaukee, and the Memorial Day Tournament in Elm Grove.
Saturday got off to a good start with shutout wins over the Rockford Sirens and Elgin Outlander Wolves by 3-0 and 10-0 scores, respectively. The Elite played two solid games, dominating play, and again shutting out their opponents. The two wins put the girls in good shape to win their bracket with a win in third pool game and advance into Sunday's semi-final game, and hopefully to the tournament championship.
Sunday was also a fine day. The final pool game in the morning was a tough match against a talented St. Charles EuroWest team. The girls emerged with a 3-1 victory to win their bracket, and move on to the semi-finals. In the semi, the Elite faced the winners of the "B" bracket, the Freeport Fire. The Fire did not prove to be much of a challenge as the Elite jumped out to a quick lead and coasted to an 8-0 victory, advancing the team into the championship game.
For the championship, the Elite faced the Lindenhurst Rockets, a team they had played last fall in the Racine Lighthouse Tournament. Strangely enough, the result this time was exactly as the last time, a 4-2 victory for the Elite. The girls jumped out to a quick lead with a score inthe first minute and added another for a 2-0 lead at the half. Two more scores pushed the margin to 4-0 mid-way through the second half. Similar to the Racine tournament game, Lindenhurst didn't give up and fought their way to two late goals, ending the game with a more respectable 4-2 score. The win gave the Elite the Watermelon Tournament championship. The girls will wear their championship T-shirts with pride. Well done girls!
The five wins complete the Elite's spring season, having compiled a wonderful 24-1 record, with 21 shutouts and a 108-8 scoring margin over their opponents. The girls were 6-1 in WCGSL league play to capture second place, and 18-0 with four championships in tournament play. Congratulations on a great season girls!!
Click here to visit their team website.