Maryland Community Newspapers Online
Six county-based teams will compete at the final qualifying leg of The National Championship Series, which features the top U-12 through U-19 club squads from 11 northeastern states. The boys side will include the U-13 Bethesda Fire, U-17 Pachuca Internationals and U-19 Potomac Cougars. The girls side features all Bethesda Soccer Club teams: The U-13 Freedom, U-14 Freedom and U-16 Dragons.
Two of the representatives are repeat entrants. The U-14 Freedom will play in Group B of their 16-team bracket after winning their second consecutive Maryland State Cup. They topped SAC United Premier in the final, 2-0, last month at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds.
Conversely, the U-19 Cougars fell to the Baltimore Casa Mia Bays 90 in their cup final, but had already registered automatic qualification through previous performances.
The winners of each region earn trips to the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships, which will be held July 22-26 in Lancaster, Mass. No county team has won a national title since 2001, when the U-14 Potomac Cougars boys and U-17 Bethesda Fury girls each did so.
Teams will play in their preliminary groups through Sunday, with winners advancing to Final Four competition on Monday and Tuesday. For daily updated schedules, visit www.gazette.net/montsports.