SLP U-12 Girls Take Home Soccer Title

Editor's Note: Thanks to Patch reader Bonnie Carlson-Green for sending in the following. Want to submit your own news tip, or maybe start a Patch blog? Email local editor Michael Rose at michael.rose@patch.com.

David Arago's under-12 St. Louis Park girls soccer team won the championship for its bracket in the 34th-annual Burnsville FIREcup National Invitational Tournament after a tough game against Dakota Valley REV on Sunday.  

Temperatures hovered in the mid-90s throughout the weekend. The two teams had faced off Saturday afternoon without either team scoring and met up again for the championship game Sunday afternoon. Girls from both teams played tenaciously and the game was again scoreless at the end of two halves, as well as two, five-minute overtimes. St. Louis Park won in a nail-biting shootout, 5-4. The team's overall record in the tournament was 3-0-2.

Coach Arago noted that team members "gave 100 percent of what they had in the tank, even in scorching conditions. They proved that the sum of the whole is stronger than the individual. They made me, a U12 soccer coach, feel the thrill of the game that I love."

The FIREcup is consistently among the three largest tournaments in the state, with more than 220 teams participating from Minnesota, Wisconsin, the Dakotas, Illinois, Iowa and Canada.

In addition to Coach Arago, team members include: Eva Arago, Margaret Curtis, Katie Frederickson, Caroline Green, Jade LaBelle, Elke Peterson, Olivia Pohlen, Annie Pohlen, Devon Raynor, Jackie Squires-Sperling, Annabella Strathman, Annika Vignes, Grace Wolgemuth and Samyu Yenamandra. Karla Wolgemuth is the assistant coach and Rich Vignes is team manager.