MARATHON -- Key West Strikers AYSO Travel Teams had a strong showing last weekend in Marathon at the Conch Cup Classic with all five of their teams finishing in the top three or better in their respective divisions. Strikers took top honors in the U10 Girls division, second in the U10 Boys, U12 Girls and U12 Boys divisions and also finished third in the U12 Boys and U14 Boys divisions.

The competition heated up this year with 24 teams competing -- the most ever -- in the annual tournament for AYSO Area J which includes the entire Florida Keys and Homestead. All players and coaches owe a huge thank you to Chris Bull, the AYSO Region 705 Commissioner, for organizing and hosting the Conch Cup at Marathon Community Park. The next Key West Strikers' tournament action will take place at the AYSO State Games on January 17th in Wellington.

U10 GIRLS QUEEN CONCH DIVISION

KEY WEST 4, UPPER KEYS 2

The Key West Strikers outplayed the Upper Keys Weevils in the only matchup of this division. An exciting 4-2 overtime victory for Key West earned them the Queen Conch U10 title.

U10 BOYS SPIDER CONCH DIVISION

KEY WEST 7, HOMESTEAD 0

KEY WEST 3, UPPER KEYS 0

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME:

MARATHON 2, KEY WEST 0

The Key West Strikers earned the top seed in the Spider Conch division with a perfect 2-0 record. On Saturday, the U10 boys blew out Homestead 7-0 sparked by Robbie Feldman's hat trick and goals by Tomas Hrabec and tough corner kick goals by Marcus Sanger. Goalkeeper Dylan Spencer remained untouchable on Sunday as he earned back-to-back shutouts in a 3-0 win against Upper Keys. Defense held strong as Frankie Cohen, Danny Galvan and Tomasz Walsh didn't let anything past them. Aaron Peterson, Anthony Cabrera and Harrison Dudley played aggressively and kept the ball on their end.

The U10 Boys Championship match paired the Strikers against Marathon who were undefeated in the U10 Boys Fighting Conch division. Marathon jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the first half which proved to be all they needed to take first place over the Strikers, despite a well-balanced effort from the young team. "For our first tournament with a fairly new team, I think we had a great outcome," commented Coach Alex Cabrera. "I am proud of the boys. We are continuing our training and hope to have a great showing at state games."

U12 GIRLS QUEEN CONCH DIVISION

KEY WEST 4, UPPER KEYS 2

KEY WEST 7, SUNSET PARK 0

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME:

MARATHON 4, KEY WEST 0

A competitive U12 Lady Strikers team dominated the action against Upper Keys in their Saturday matchup. Rea Sanger and Jordan Roney both found the net for a pair of goals, assisted by Ashley Martin and Angela Niles. Strong defensive play helped preserve a 4-2 Key West victory. On Sunday, Key West shut out Sunset Park 7-0 with an overall team effort that included a deuce by Angela Niles and goals by Rea Sanger, Jordan Roney, Sophie Kuntzmann, and Alana Estenoz. Jordan Roney, Ashley Martin, and Sydney Gallagher also pitched in with assists for a decisive win that earned the Lady Strikers a berth in the Championship Game against Marathon who was also undefeated in early matchups. The reigning champs proved too much for the Strikers as Marathon shut them out 4-0 to take top honors in the Queen Conch U12 division with the Strikers placing second.

U12 BOYS DIVISION

The seven-team U12 Boys Division was split into two unbalanced brackets: the Fighting Conch Division with four teams and the Spider Conch Division with three teams. The older U12 Strikers team, coached by Michael Behmke, drew the tougher seed in the Fighting Conch Divison while the younger U11 Strikers, coached by Tom Coward, landed in the Spider Conch bracket.

U12 BOYS FIGHTING CONCH DIVISION

HOMESTEAD (TROVATO) 3, KEY WEST 0

KEY WEST 6, MARATHON 0

KEY WEST 8, BIG PINE KEY 1

KEY WEST 5, HOMESTEAD (CAMPBELL) 1

A tough team from Homestead shut out Behmke's Strikers 3-0 in their first game on Saturday. They rebounded in their second matchup with an impressive 6-0 victory against Marathon. The Strikers' well-balanced scoring attack featured two goals each from Alex Cabrera and Adam Swiecicki, with Damon Taylor and Jack Behmke also finding the net. Connor "Hammer" Chaney had a breakout performance, earning an assist on Cabrera's first goal and consistently beating Marathon defenders to the ball with a number of strong cross-goal feeds. In Sunday's action, the Strikers thoroughly dominated Big Pine Key with Gary Hale scoring his first tournament goal and Dylan "Tank" Canizares scoring his first hat trick. Spencer Hamilton, Christian Lee, and Connor Chaney also contributed goals for an impressive 8-1 win over Big Pine. With a 2-1-0 record, the Strikers placed second in the Fighting Conch Division which set up a game against Homestead, who finished second in the Spider Conch Division.

In the battle of the second place teams, Homestead scored a goal early in the game and Key West's Connor Chaney answered to tie it up 1-1. From that point on, it was all Key West as Adam Swiecicki scored on a Connor Chaney feed and then Spencer Hamilton converted a penalty kick. In the second half, Christian Lee scored on a feed from Hamilton to make it 4-1. Striker defenders Kevin Coward, Gary Hale, Kieran Jacobsen, and goalkeeper Matthew Herrington teamed up to completely shut down Homestead in the second half. Connor Chaney capped off the winning effort with a goal late in the game to clinch third place with a decisive 5-1 victory.

U12 BOYS SPIDER CONCH DIVISION

KEY WEST 1, HOMESTEAD (CAMPBELL) 1

KEY WEST 6, UPPER KEYS 2

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME:

HOMESTEAD (TROVATO) 6, KEY WEST 0

Coach Tom Coward's Strikers faced Coach Campbell's Homestead team in their tournament opener. Key West was in control of the action throughout most of the first half, but gave up a speedy breakaway goal to make it 1-0 Homestead. Constant pressure by Danny Kearney and Dario Sagustume eventually led to the Strikers' Alistair Fergus heading in a corner kick by Patrick Matysik to tie it up 1-1 at the half. Key West continued to pressure in the second half but they couldn't convert several quality scoring opportunities. Defenders Gabe Diddato, Eric Whiteside, and Brian Coward outhustled Homestead to prevent any further scoring by Homestead. Goalkeeper Kyle Smith made a game-saving stop on a penalty kick to end the match as a 1-1 tie.

In Sunday's action, Striker Patrick Matysik zigzagged around opponents to score the opening goal late in the first half. In a quirky play that appeared to be a great defensive play by Zander Burns and a spectacular save by goalkeeper Kyle Smith, Upper Keys was awarded a penalty kick and cashed in to tie it up 1-1 at the half. Upper Keys seized momentum as they scored on a corner kick to take a 2-1 lead, but a determined Key West team responded with a flurry of goals to take complete control late in the game. Patrick Matysik bent in a corner kick, Alistair Fergus headed in a corner and found the net after a thorough peppering of the Upper Keys goalkeeper. Jacob "Elmo" Elomina and Dario Sagastume popped in the final two goals on great feeds from Danny Kearney. The Strikers' late-game scoring frenzy ended in a 6-2 victory which was more than enough to send them to the U12 Boys' Championship Game as they edged out Homestead based on goal differential (4 to 1).

Coward's U12 Boys finally met their match as Coach Trovato's Homestead team proved untouchable in the final game of the tournament. With a combination of offensive speed and flawless midfield play, Homestead outplayed Key West 6-0 to earn the U12 Boys division title with a perfect 4-0 record and without a single goal scored against them in the tournament. Overall, Coward's U12 Strikers were pleased with their second place performance which they are hoping to improve upon at the State Games in January.

U14 FIGHTING CONCH DIVISION

KEY WEST 7, HOMESTEAD (AGUILAR) 0

UPPER KEYS 4, KEY WEST 0

KEY WEST 1, HOMESTEAD (APOLINARO) 1

KEY WEST 10, BIG PINE KEY 0

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME:

UPPER KEYS 2, HOMESTEAD (APOLINARO) 0

The U14 Division matched up teams of varying experience and ability which helped to build team confidence and also allowed the young Striker squad to envision their future potential. Coach Michael Bravo's Strikers kicked off the tournament against Coach Aguilar's Co-Ed Homestead team. Strikers controlled the game from start to finish and beat out the feisty Homestead team 7-0 with goalkeeper JP MacLaughlin earning the shutout. In later action, Upper Keys played strong and steady to shut out the Strikers 4-0. On Sunday, the whole Striker squad played valiantly in a thriller against Coach Apolinaro's Homestead team. Torren Jacobsen scored Key West's only goal and goalkeeper JP MacLaughlin showcased his talents with two game-saving stops. He saved a penalty kick attempt in the first half and then stopped a last minute breakaway shot to preserve the 1-1 tie. Strikers blew out Big Pine 10-0 to finish the tournament with a 2-1-1- record, falling just short of second place on the goal differential tie-breaker (2 to 4) to Coach Apolinario's Homestead team. Upper Keys swept the U14 division for the second year in a row with a perfect 4-0 record, beating Homestead (Apolinario) 2-0 in the Championship Game.

Coach Michael Bravo offered "a special thanks to Chris Bull for hosting this tournament. It was certainly a great tournament for our U14 boys to experience in preparation for next month's State Games."