Seventeen families from Northeast Ohio traveled with their 13-year-old daughters and coach to Denver, Colorado to cheer them on to victory as they won the US Club Soccer National Cup XV! 

The girls are members of the Cleveland United Soccer Club’s U13 team based in North Ridgeville, Ohio. Under the direction of team head coach Marko Raduka and goalkeeper coach Vlado Hrelja, the team has been training and competing this past year in the Central Alliance Soccer Association (CASA) league in Lodi, Ohio as well as the Midwest Regional League (MRL) throughout Ohio and the neighboring states. The team was comprised of: defender Hannah 

Aschemeier (Amherst); forward Jillian Bell (Canton); midfielder Victoria Copfer (Avon Lake); defender Emma Gedeon (Avon Lake); defender Mia Kelly (Rocky River); midfielder Ela Kisin (Avon); midfielder Hallie Kyzys (Berea); forward Megan Mosier (Strongsvilel); defender Izzy Mraz (Elyria); midfielder Maya Patti (Rocky River); goalkeeper Sabrina Rick (Rocky River); midfielder Avery Rosso (Avon); forward Sydney Schaeffer (Amherst); forward Lexie Sikula (Berea); forward Nyah Snezek (Avon); defender Kiera Vesy (Rocky River) and goalkeeper Jennifer Wisniewski (Westlake). 

In June the girls competed and went undefeated in the Premier Group of the Midwest Regional competition for the National Cup. They defeated the Dakota Alliance Soccer Club from Sioux Falls, SD 

4 to 1, the Minnesota Thunder Academy NIKE team from Richfield, Minnesota 3 to 0, the Black Hills Rapids Soccer Club from Rapid City, South Dakota 5 to 0 and the Everest Soccer Club from Ravenna, Ohio 3 to 0 in the championship final.  

The team’s winning streak continued as they traveled to Aurora, Colorado at the end of July and secured the championship title going once again undefeated. They kicked off the tournament with an impressive 6 to 1 win over Legends Football Club from Southern California, their only tie with Global Premier Soccer from New Hampshire at 1 to 1, a 2 to 0 shutout over Virginia Rush Soccer Club from Virginia Beach, Virginia, and a 2 to 1 rematch victory over Global Premier Soccer in the Championship game.  

Throughout the Midwest Regional and National Cup, the team scored an amazing 25 goals for, allowed an impressive 4 goals against, while ending the championship series with a combined record of 7 wins and 1 tie.

"I am so very proud of these young ladies for this amazing accomplishment. Their performance here at Nationals speaks volumes to the character and true testament of them as a team. We took 17 players to this event and all 17 of them impacted the game in a great way with both of our finals goals coming from players that started the game as substitutes", said Head Coach Marko Raduka.

In addition to braving the mile-high city’s near 100 degree temperatures during the tournament, the Cleveland United team strengthened their team bonds and life-long friendships by participating in a number of team social activities including a team dinner and evening out in Denver’s 16th Street Mall, a Colorado 

Rapids MLS Soccer game and an evening of painting and dinner with a local artist. The girls made their parents and club proud by demonstrating their character off the field by feeding some of Denver’s homeless and US veterans hot meals after their team dinner.