Twin City Union FC U19 Takes Second at Premier Cup

By The Chronicle staff

Twin City Union FC’s U19 girls team posted its best finish in its four-year program history on Sunday after taking second place in the Washington Premier League Cup.

TCU earned an automatic qualifier to the semifinal round after finishing second in the Washington Premier League regular-season standings. TCU then upset the Bellevue Titans, 3-0, in the semifinal round to qualify for the championship game.

Facing the Mount Rainier Football Club, TCU battled to a 0-0 tie at the end of regulation and overtime before falling in a penalty-kick shootout.

TCU coach Noel Vazquez, who recently stepped down as Toledo girls soccer coach after leading the Riverhawks to their first state trophy in program history this season, said he was proud of how Twin City Union FC competed against much-larger clubs.

“We had a good run and the girls made it far,” Vazquez said. “We are the smallest club in the state at the select level.”

TCU has just two teams: U16 and U19, while some of its opponents have two teams for every age group — some with as many as 60 total teams in their club, he said.

League opponents span almost the entire west side of Washington state, with teams from Vancouver, Washington all the way up to Bellevue.

Washington Premier League contains three divisions of teams: the bronze, silver and gold, with TCU competing in the bronze. Vazquez has coached the girls on the U19 team since they were U14.

“We had a lot of local kids help us make this big run; kind of a Lewis County all-star team,” Vazquez said.

Twin City Union FC’s players include Alex Cleveland-Barrera, Chloe Dolman, Malan Flygare, Briza Gallegos, Alivia Hunter, Michelle Maldonado, Nadia Martinez, Maggie McAuley, Hannah Meier, Lucy Nowicki, Hannah Robbins, Sarah Robbins, Brooklyn Sandridge, Andee Schaffran, Maddie Shields, Presley Smith, Maddie Stark, Audrey Toynbee, Maleah Wink, Jazalynn Zarate.