Tracy Press

- David Sanchez (left) and teammate Dilan Alcala, both of the Tracy Raiders varsity team, tackle each other during practice Wednesday.

For at least a year, Northern California will hold exclusive soccer bragging rights — all thanks to little old Tracy.

The Tracy Assault 18-and-under soccer team took first place in the annual U.S. Club Soccer North vs. South Tournament in San Luis Obispo this past weekend.

The Assault — made of players from Tracy, West, Manteca and East Union high schools — compiled a perfect 4-0 record over the weekend and sealed the championship with a 2-1 victory over the Fremont Rangers on Sunday.

Justin Bradbury, Danny Bourassa, Kyle Mudd, Stevie Morrison and Adiel Medel scored two goals apiece for the Assualt during the course of the tournament.

Coach Harry Bourassa said the efforts of co-coach and trainer Avtar Sohal were instrumental in the win.

“He brings in conditioning and English soccer philosophy,” Bourassa said of Sohal, a native of the United Kingdom. “He’s taken these kids to a level that’s really unbelievable to see."

Prior to heading south for the statewide contest, the Assault competed in the Beaverton Cup in Beaverton, Ore., the weekend of July 22 through 24."

The tournament attracted State Cup — U.S. club soccer’s highest level of play in each state — champions from Oregon, Washington and Montana. Suffering through the same heat wave that plagued the whole West Coast, the Assault managed to take second place in the tournament after compiling a 4-1-1 record in three days of play, including wins over the Montana and Washington State Cup champs.

The team advanced to the Sunday afternoon championship game after a win in the morning, but faced a fresh Sacramento team that had yet to play that day and lost 7-0.

“Our kids were tired — it was 100 degrees out,” Bourassa said. “They were the better team, but if we were fresh it would have been a very close final."

Bourassa, Bradbury, Mudd and Morrison all scored goals in Oregon.

Both tournaments attracted college coaches from up and down the West Coast.

The Assault will wrap up its summer tournament schedule this weekend at the Sacramento Suntan Classic on Cherry Island. The team will take a three-month break to allow its players to play for their high schools before resuming play in San Diego during Thanksgiving weekend in the prestigious Nomads Tournament."

The Tracy Cyclones 19-and-under girls team, a Tracy United Competitive Soccer club organization, took second place in the Tracy Girls Invitational last weekend at Plascensia Fields.

The Cyclones edged the Anderson Coyotes, 4-0, and the East Diablo Youth Soccer League Fusion, 1-0, on Saturday. Natalie Shaw, Whitney LeBlanc, Caitlin Poff and Brittany Bean provided the goals against the Coyotes, while Shaw scored the winner against the Fusion. Melissa Brannen and Poff teamed up in goal to record the shutouts.

On Sunday, the Cyclones beat the Manteca Blackhawks, 3-1, before falling to the Mustang X’Plosion in the tournament title game.

In the first Sunday contest, LeBlanc scored twice after Chantal Genest opened the scoring with a first-half header.

LeBlanc recorded Tracy’s lone goal in the title game, a 2-1 loss that hinged on a Mustang penalty kick.

The Cyclones will travel to the Kickin’ Chicken Petaluma Soccerfest on Saturday."

n Got a team to talk about? A special player or event? Contact Sports Editor Christopher H. Roberts at 830-4267 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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