Submitted photos – The Emerald FC U11 boys celebrate their tournament championship in Medford.

Local travel soccer club Emerald FC kicked off the 2024 season with a successful trip to the recent Memorial Day Tournament in Medford, Ore., with four different teams competing.

All four of the club’s teams medaled at the tournament, with two of them — the U11 boys and U11 girls — placing first in their brackets.

The clubs U12 and U10 boys teams, who have been playing together for less than two months and were competing in their first games, both overcame slow starts to earn a spot in the third-place matches, which they each won to take home a bronze medal.

The Emerald U11 boys went undefeated in tournament play, winning all five of their tournament games, including a hard-fought 1-0 win over the BUSC Hot Shots in the championship showdown.

Chavas Olea scored the lone goal in the final, his sixth in tournament play.

Mateo Herrera Cortes also was a threat up front for the Emerald boys and scored five goals over the weekend, while at the other end of the field, Michael Cone had three clean sheets between the posts and also split time in goal with Cesar Maldonado-Valenzuela on the way to another clean sheet.

The U11 boys team also includes Osmar Garcia Ruiz, Salvador Olea, Alonso Cruz, Emmett Newbanks, Emmett Brown, Benson Cheng, Kai Heston, Ronen Hassler, Lavell Washington, Daniel Garcia, Luke Colosio and Jaime Olea

The U11 girls won four of their five games, including a 2-0 win in the championship game against OFA Black, the one team that had beaten them in pool play.

The young Emerald players scored 15 goals over the weekend and recorded three clean sheets thanks to some stellar play between the posts by Rosalia Lopez.

Their impressive run through the tournament included a 5-0 win over Sequoia FC, another local travel team.

“These girls just continue to impress me,” team coach and Emerald FC president Shelsey McDonald said. “They battled hard the entire weekend. We are continually building a team that works together, supports each other and never gives up. 

The U11 girls

“I am also very proud of all of our other Emerald teams that attended this tournament. They have been putting in the hard work, and it shows.”

The U11 team also includes Kyra Pine, Ariana Velasquez, Emma Diaz, Keeva James, Olivia Osorio, Cora Osorio, Ayla Taylor, Evanni Herrera, Lena Neely-Mangos, Emerson Okin, Isabella Deforrest, Gianna Gomez and Kinsley Yarbrough.

The Emerald U10 boys, meanwhile, were playing together for the first time and showed their resilience by bouncing back from a tough opening day that saw them lose their first two tournament games.

On Sunday, the team came together with two shutout victories to advance to the third-place game, including a big 5-0 win over Rogue Valley Timbers White.

Josue Munoz Dominguez scored a hat trick in that victory.

The third-place game was a rematch with OFA Black, who had beaten the Humboldt County team 4-0 on opening day.

This time, however, the Emerald players prevailed by a score of 3-1.

The U12 boys

“I am so proud of our boys this weekend,” team coach John McGinnis said. “They showed great sportsmanship, team work and resilience. One of our key mottos is ‘have fun.’ That’s why we play the game in the first place.”

The team also includes Fa’asasao Tupua, Bruno Garcia Ruiz, Legend Taylor, Chayce Mcginnis, Jesus Palacios, Jeremy Sanders, Raiden Cheng, Madison Cone, Jacob Burgoa, Bazil Backman and Manolo Gonzalez.

“All of our Emerald players made an impact in a positive way this weekend to help us achieve a third-place finish,” John McGinnis added. “We just keep it positive with this young group of boys and let them know they will take some lumps along the way and just keep pushing forward, play in the present and never worry about plays or shots missed.”

Rounding out a busy weekend for the local travel club, the U12 boys also placed third in their bracket.

The U10 boys

Much like the U10 boys, the Emerald FC U12 boys dug themselves a bit of a hole on the first day of the tournament and had to battle back on day two to give themselves a chance to play for third place. 

In the third-place game, the Emerald boys defeated another local club, the Eel River Rapids, by a score of 3-1, with Daniel Olea scoring twice and Gabriel Burgoa-Olea also scoring.

Goalkeeper Damon Proctor also made some “amazing saves” along the way, according to his coaches.

The team also includes Hugo Rivera, Giovanni Esparza, Emilio Robletto, Kevin Bravo Cervantes, Romeo Gonzalez, Sylas Kauffmann, Mason Gerber, Hendrik Nicolini, Kai Stokes, Moises Velasquez and Teus Kypta.

Emerald FC will attend at least four more tournaments between July and November.