Quarterfinal matches against teams from Utah and Nevada are up next for the Santa Barbara Soccer Club’s boys Under-18 and U16 teams at the U.S. Youth Soccer Far West Regionals on Friday in Albuquerque, N.M.
The teams had an off day on Thursday after three straight days of group-play matches.
The two-time defending national champion U16s will play Las Vegas SA at 10 a.m. on Friday. Las Vegas went 1-1-1 in pool play, scoring four goals and allowing five. Santa Barbara went 2-0-1 in winning Group D and outscored its opponents 8-3. Brandon Sanchez has scored three goals to lead the team.
The SBSC U18s play at 8 a.m. Friday against La Rocca of Utah. La Rocca went 1-1-1 and finished second in Group A. It outscored its opponents 7-5. Santa Barbara dominated pool play, outscoring its three opponents 9-2. Geoffrey Acheampong has four goals and Miguel Padron has three.
“We are very pleased with both teams playing very solid on both sides of the ball with an attacking style of futbol,” said coach Rudy Ybarra. “We’ve been solid in our transition and beating the opponents to the ball with good solid defensive play.”
