~ 2003 Chevy State President's Cup ~
 
Chevrolet President's Cup
May 17 & 18, 2003


The Mighty Bluebirds White U-13 girl's soccer team won their fourth state championship and their third consecutive state classic title in as many tries in Jonesboro during the weekend of May 17th and 18th. The state tournament was played in the worst playing conditions of all time as tornadoes threatened soccer travelers to Jonesboro on Friday evening and it rained Friday, Saturday, and Sunday creating flash flood warnings. Every game was played in either a couple inches of water or solid mud or both.

In the first game the Bluebirds tied the Searcy Orange Crush 1-1. The Bluebirds had the lead throughout the game but with three minutes to go their forward made a great play and tied the game up at 1 all. Although the Bluebirds controlled the majority of the game having the ball on Searcy's defensive end the game resulted in a tie.

In the second game the Mighty Bluebirds beat LRFC Lady Storm White 2-0 on the exact same field they had played Searcy under very difficult conditions. In game three the Bluebirds got behind on a penalty kick 1-0 to FC United, but came back and scored two goals to win 2-1 and had one goal called back for off sides on a header from a direct kick. This game was quite exciting as the Bluebirds scored their final goal with less than five minutes to go. The Mighty Bluebirds White faced the LRFC Lady Storm Blue team in the final. The Mighty Bluebird Blue team had just tied Lady Storm 1-1 in the prior game but Lady Storm advanced on points to the final. The game was scoreless through regulation but in the first two minutes of overtime Jonie Block made a pass to Ashley Moskow who ran behind the defender and went one on one with the goalie to score the "Golden Goal" and give the Bluebirds their fourth state title with this group of girls and sixth state title overall.

The Bluebirds toughness won this state title. Annie DeCoursey broke her nose in the second game of the tournament, but played the last two games anyway electing to have her nose reset when she got home. Amanda Janton played with a sprained ankle, Rebekah Riner came back just in time for the state tournament after being off 4 weeks with a fractured hip, and Ashley Moskow who hadn't practiced in 6 weeks due to a broken foot put on her shoes for game 3 of the tournament and ended up scoring the winning goal in the finals. There is no substitute for hard work and courage and these Bluebirds have it.