The De Anza Dynamite girls' under 13 select team won the State Cup championship. Members of the team include (front row, l-r) Monika Sola and Margaret Cutter; (second row, l-r) Katie Fyall, Christine Cutter, Alyssa Sobolik, Mari Gomes and Yvonne Bailey; (third row, l-r) Marina Karzag, Laura Phan, Jaclyn Campi, Kate Macevicz and Laura Boyd; and (back row, l-r) coach Mani Hernandez, Erin McNulty, coach Ed Cooner, Amy Cooner and coach Steve Macevicz.
By Dick Sparrer
Dynamite is highly explosive.
But that's no news flash for the teams that played in the girls' under-13 State Cup tournament in early March.
Because when the De Anza Dynamite exploded on the State Cup scene, they left rest of the tournament field smoldering in their dust.
The Dynamite capped a sensational 1995-96 season with three straight wins in the State Cup tourney to clinch the championship.
De Anza beat the Danville Mustang Strikers and the San Juan Spirits of Sacramento to reach the finals, then edged the Modesto Ajax Rebels 1-0 in the title game to clinch the championship.
Mari Gomes, the tournament's most valuable player, knocked in the game-winning goal off of an assist from Christine Cutter. The goal came with just 15 minutes left to play, and the Dynamite blanked the Rebels the rest of the way to preserve the victory.
Modesto was a "very physical team that played a long ball or counter-attacking style of soccer," coach Steve Macevicz said.
But after a scoreless first half, the Dynamite found a way to win.
"We settled into our short passing possession game, which finally led to the only goal of the game with 15 minutes remaining," the coach said.
"For me," he added, "the great story about the State Cup championship was the lesson for the players that if you work hard and have patience, you can achieve remarkable success."
The win over Danville in the preliminary game was especially for De Anza. The Dynamite had lost to the Strikers in the quarterfinals a year earlier, but got a little revenge this season.
The Dynamite rolled to a 39-5-2 record in the '95-96 season that included championships in the De Anza Cup, Pleasanton Friendship Classic, Ajax United Winter Invitational and Abronzino League. De Anza outscored its opponents 147-23.
Halfback Gomes (Miller Junior High), forwards Cutter (Kennedy) and Margaret Cutter (Kennedy) and wing Laura Phan (Cupertino Junior High) were top scorers for the Dynamite.
Halfbacks Amy Cooner (Miller), Marina Karzag (St. Nicholas) and Kate Macevicz (Kennedy) starred in the midfield for the Dynamite with wing Jaclyn Campi (St. Nicholas) and sweeper Katie Fyall (Kennedy) also playing key roles.
Goalkeeper Alyssa Sololik (St. Simon) and fullbacks Yvonne Bailey (Kennedy), Laura Boyd (St. Nicholas), Erin McNulty (Kennedy) and Monika Sola (Redwood) handled the defensive chores.
Mani Hernandez, Craig Morton, Jennifer Medina and George Lamptey joined with Macevicz and Ed Cooner as coaches for the Dynamite.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, March 20, 1996.
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