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Beachside Soccer Club's Under-12 boys team defeated FASFC United, 3-1, to win the Connecticut Premier Cup. The victory was one of four Premier Cup victories for Beachside, which is based in Westport and directed by Norwalk's Mickey Kydes.
The victory sends the U12s to a national tournament next month in Hershey, Pa. The team includes players from Norwalk, Westport, Stamford, Fairfield, Ridgefield, Trumbull and Hastings on Hudson, N.Y. The team is in its first year and is coached by Mark Alves, a former coach in the Westport Soccer Association.
Oscar Pereria scored two goals for Beachside in its Premier Cup victory. Ben Mines added the other goal. After Beachside took a 1-0 lead at halftime on a goal by Pereria, FSA tied it five minutes into the second half. Mines scored the game-winner with 20 minutes remaining and Pereria knocked in an insurance goal with 12 minutes left.
"I thought we had some good players,'' Alves said. "It took some time to mesh and we came together well. We worked hard in the winter. It's nice to see the rewards from all that work."
One of the adjustments for the players was the quicker pace at the Premier level. Most of the players came from teams that played for their town teams in state tournaments. The Premier level is a notch above the State Cup teams. "It took a little bit of adjusting and finding out where our players fit in the best,'' Alves said.
The team includes Alex Carbonnier, Tyler Dalton, Jon Paul Fernandez, Alexander Hedegaard, Sawyer Kindel, George Kutrubis, Ben McNamara, Dylan Middlebrook, Mines, Thomas Nealon, Julio Cesar Palencia, Pereria, Joe Pravder, James Roland, Ryan Ruff, Charlie Teeters and William Trudeau.
Do you have a team that won a significant tournament? Let us know! Send pictures and information to trenner@mainstreetconnect.us
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