Chico United Wins PASL-Premier Women's Championship With 3-1 Win Over Azteca

MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com -7/26/09 - Chico United capped an unlikely run, advancing through the playoffs and upsetting Azteca 3-1 to win the PASL-Premier Women's Championship. The Santa Clara Men took a more conventional path to their third Summer Championship, capping a weekend of games at Estadio Azteca Sports Arena in Sacramento.

Chico started the season with an 0-5-1 record. The only ray of hope was a 1-1 tie against first place Santa Clara on June 20. That tie was followed by two one goal losses.

Easy wins over Silverline and Merced lifted them from 6th place to 4th and qualified them for the postseason tournament.

They earned a berth in the Championship Game with one goal wins over Azteca and Sacramento followed by a 3-3 tie against Santa Clara, the defending champion.

Their 2-0-1 record in round robin play earned them a return meeting with Azteca. Jessica Parker scored two goals and Cielo Jiminez continued her outstanding goalkeeping. Jiminez, who gave up justseven goals inthe four games, was named tournament MVP.

In the Men's Semifinals, Santa Clara and La Cabana had little troubleeliminating the two local teams. Santa Clara got two goals apiece from Clement Gonzales and Suad Arnautovic to beat Estadio Azteca 7-3. La Cabana was led by a hat trick from Miguel Ortiz and two goals from Jose Caballero.

Santa Clara went ahead for good in the second quarter of their Final against La Cabana and led 3-1 at the half. Suad Arnautovic had four goals and an assist to lead Santa Clara to a comfortable 8-4 win. Arnautovic garnered the tournament MVP Award with 10 goals and 3 assists in Santa Clara's four wins.

The PASL-Premier winter season will begin in December. Vitesse Dallaswon last year's winter season, which featured 51 teams.

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