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State Cup Soccer Champions' Bittersweet Victory
U-10 Soccer Team wins State Cup but loses one of their teammates to injury.
The RAGE U-10 White team coached by Nick Mangiardi are the State Cup Champions for the girls U10 Premier 1: Red 2 division. The team is made up of players from San Ramon, Pleasanton, Livermore and Fremont, and this is the first year that many of the players have played together. In the State Cup Quarter-Finals on November 1, Rage beat Mill Valley Rockers 3-0 with goals scored by MacKenzie Wright, Siena Queirolo, Layla Armas. In the Semi-Finals on November 14th Lauren Grgurina scored to help Rage beat Manteca FC Benfica 05 Girls Red 1-0.
The final game for the championship was a nail-biter ending in a 0-0 tie taking the game into overtime. The game took a tragic turn when Team Captain, Layla Armas fell and broke her collarbone. The girls pulled together and finished the game, winning 1-0 in OT penalty kicks, but the celebration was bittersweet without their captain. As the other championship teams went to the awards ceremony, the entire Rage team, in a sincere and symbolic gesture of support, chose to follow their injured teammate off the field and stayed with her until she was on her way to the hospital. X-rays later confirmed the break, but aside from the fact that she can’t play soccer for several months, Layla is doing well and is in good spirits.
Player names:
Top Row:
Coach Nick Mangiardi, Siena Hunter, Lauren Grgurina, Julia Lindstrom, Avalon Kenitzer.
Bottom Row:
Siena Queirolo, MacKenzie Wright, Sienna Flores, Ellie White, Savannah Battaion, Brooklyn Still, and Savanna Warner.
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Additional Picture of Layla Armas who was unable to be photographed with the team due to her injury.
Video: Showing support of Layla.
