In a rematch of last year’s Under-14 national championship, the Santa Barbara Soccer Club and Sunrise Elite of Florida played to a scoreless draw in the opening group-play match in the boys under-15 division at the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships on Tuesday in Overland Park, Kan.
Santa Barbara, which beat Sunrise Elite in a shootout for the U-14 title, had a chance to break the 0-0 deadlock in the final two minutes of the game when a Sunrise defender took down Lucky Puengrod in the penalty area, resulting in a penalty kick.
Unfortunately for Santa Barbara, the Sunrise Elite goalkeeper came up big and stopped the PK attempt by team captain Tim Heiduk.
Santa Barbara created some good scoring chances in the first half. Puengrod had a shot go just wide of the far post in the first minutes of the game. Later, he received a beautiful through ball from Brandon Sanchez in the attacking third, but the Sunrise goalkeeper pounced on the ball after Puengrod’s first touch.
The result gives both teams a point in the standings
In the other group match, Vardar of Michigan earned three points with a 1-0 win over GSA Phoenix Red of Georgia.
Santa Barbara plays GSA Phoenix Red on Wednesday.
