KEY LARGO -- Upper Keys Region 864 had a very successful tournament season with local youth soccer teams faring well at area and state tournaments. The Upper Keys fielded boys and girls teams in the Under 10, Under 12 and Under 14 age groups and a Coed team in the Under 16 age division with teams competing under the name Upper Keys AYSO Vortex.

The State Games are held annually over Martin Luther King weekend at Wellington Village Park in Palm Beach County.

The Under 14 girls team, coached by Jacques Pauchey, went into the state games with confidence as the team had previously won the Hurricane Cup held in Islamorada over their rivals, the Key West AYSO Strikers, in a dramatic shootout after the game remained tied even after overtime. At the State Games, the Upper Keys girls won their first two games handily over Weston and Boynton Beach, only to fall, 1-0, to eventual tournament champion West Palm Beach. The loss kept the girls out of the final, but they were awarded the sportsmanship trophy for their division and placed third based on points scored.

The Under 10 girls, coached by Ed Webb and John Dixon, also went into the State Games with a Hurricane Cup victory over Key West. The U10 girls Vortex did well in the qualifying rounds and were placed in the A Flight as the No. 6 seed of six teams. After a close 2-1 loss to West Palm Beach A on Sunday morning, the girls responded with a 5-0 win over Boynton Beach to advance to Monday's semifinals, where they beat West Palm Beach B, 4-3, in an exciting overtime match. The victory gave the girls a chance to avenge their loss to West Palm Beach A the day before. However, the U10 girls Vortex were not up to the task and lost, 4-0. The U10 Vortex players were picked from a pool of just 29 girls while their opponents were chosen from a pool of well over 100 girls.

The Under 10 boys Vortex, coached by Randy Hendrick, Rick Jamison and Mark Turbessi, had been steadily improving going into the State Games, but had two consecutive losses to the AYSO Homestead Air Force in tournaments, The team started with a loss followed by two wins and were informed on Saturday night that they had not made the A Flight, but would instead be a top seed in the lower B Flight. When the team arrived on Sunday morning to start pool play, they were told that due to a scoring error they were being rescheduled within the B Flight, then later were told they were, in fact, the last seed in the A Flight and would play at 11 a.m. instead of 9:30.

At 11, when the U10 boys Vortex showed for their game, they were told that yet another mistake was made and that they were playing on a different field against a different team and, to get out of pool play, they would be playing against two of the top teams, the Boynton Knights (Boynton Beach's top team) and Boynton Beach B, another undefeated team. However, against the Boynton Knights, the U10 boys Vortex won, 3-1. In their second pool play game, the boys quickly went down by two goals, but responded with five unanswered goals to win handily and secure their spot as the No. 1 seed from their pool.

On Monday morning, the U10 boys Vortex faced West Palm Beach, the No. 2 seed in the A Flight, with the Vortex prevailing, 4-3, in regulation to set up a final against powerhouse Weston. With only a 90-minute break, the Vortex jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the championship game and never gave up control, leading at one point by three goals and then holding on for a 5-3 victory. At the final whistle, the boys celebrated by dousing their coaches with water and dog piling each other on the field. The parents set up a victory tunnel and players from both teams ran through smiling along with the coaches.

During the tournament, goals were scored by captain Dillon Walters, Joshua Prince, Zachary Webb, Zakarie Filpes, Hunter Corlis and Lance Arnold. Goalies Zane Turbessi and Craig Tagliarini made numerous saves, many of which were in spectacular fashion to keep the Vortex in their games. Defenders Marco Fuccarcio and RJ Lindback saved the day with a defense that continually cleared out the ball to the offense. The game ball, which was used throughout the tournament, was awarded to captain Dillon Walters for his unselfish play throughout the tournament.

After the finals, the U10 boys Vortex were awarded their first place trophies along with the 2nd place U10 girls Vortex in a short ceremony on the stage at Wellington Village Park. The U14 Girls Vortex were also given their third place medals. All three teams will be competing at the AYSO National Games in Knoxville Tennessee in July.