01/28/13: Stampede advance in State Cup

The Stampede will try to prove they are among Northern California's top ten U11 girls teams on Feb 9-10 as they head to the final rounds of the Norcal State Cup.  Last Sunday's quarter final win against Danville's Mustang Blast secured their place in the 9-16 bracket for the final rounds.  During Saturday's qualifying rounds, the locals rallied in game 1 to score five straight goals and beat COSC Odyssey 5 -2 after being down 0-2 in the second half.  Yasmeen Dmeiri's free kick found Anne Ayotte who scored the first goal with only 20 minutes to go.  Grace Barger then sent in a cross to Lily Byrne who knocked in the equalizer.  A similar close range goal came from Jordan Davis a few minutes later to make it 3-2.  Byrne then sped past the Odyssey defense to tap in the fourth tally just ahead of the oncoming keeper after a long goal kick by Dmeiri.  Sophie Karperos orchestrated a fifth attempt after charging the defenders which sent the ball to a perfectly positioned Kaitlyn McElhern who finished for the fifth and final goal.  Game 2 matched Davis against top ranked Modesto.  Despite scoring first on a penalty by Ayotte and a later goal by Jordan Davis, Modesto booked the victory 4-2 sending the Stampede into the second bracket for the quarter final round against Danville, whom they edged 2-1.  Ayotte scored the first half goal on a free kick and Grace Carlson netted the winning goal securing a semi-final berth for the Stampede.