Wisconsin Soccer Central

Three of the four teams that walked out of Keva Sports Center in Middleton on Sunday night with the traditional winner's shirts had won titles at Madison United's President's Cup before – and the other was playing in the indoor tournament for the first time.

The two-day tournament, which drew 72 teams and nearly 900 players to Keva and BreakAway Sports Center in Madison, featured intriguing storylines at every turn, as is always the case.

The Milwaukee Bavarians captured the Men's Open title for the second time, denying the Madison Fire what would have been a record fifth championship. But many of the Bavarians' players were youngsters when the Glendale-based club won its first President's Cup crown in 2003.

CRUSA, a team featuring mainly former UW-Milwaukee players, became the first team to repeat as Women's Open champions since Chichitas won the last of their record seven consecutive titles back in 2009. And the LIFTraining team CRUSA beat in the final featured many former Chichitas players.

Twin Cities club VSLT FC repeated as Men's Over-30 champion after claiming the championship in its first year at the event last year, beating six-time winner Keeper Goals in a matchup between the past two champions. And Jake's Stars made quite a first impression, outscoring their Men's Over-38 opponents 43-3 en route to winning all six of their matches on the weekend.

President's Cup History

Group play scoring: Win – 6 points. Tie – 3 points. Goals – 1 point, maximum of 3 per game.

It took a late goal for Milwaukee Bavarians White to pull out a draw in their first game of the weekend. One day later, an early goal set the stage in the final as the club won its first Men's Open championship in 13 years.

Declan Rodriguez (UW-Milwaukee) opened the scoring, Brett Dietz snapped a tie late in the first half and Logan Andryk (Milwaukee Marquette/MSOE) added an insurance goal in a 3-1 victory over the Madison Fire.

The Bavarians allowed just three goals in their five games Sunday, including four playoff matches, as goalkeeper Jim Jones (Kenosha Tremper/Cardinal Stritch) posted two clean sheets on the day. That included a 3-0 win over perennial contender Croatian Eagles I in an all-Milwaukee semifinal matchup.

"There's a lot good teams here ... a lot of good clubs, they always bring really good players," Bavarians manager Pat Hodgins said. "So you never know. But we feel like we have a pool of guys that's good enough to win when we come to tournaments like this. The guys played to their ability and they were able to do that."

On Saturday morning, though, celebrating a title was the furthest thing from their minds, as they needed a late goal to salvage a 1-1 tie with the Madison United Tigers in their Jackson Pool opener at BreakAway.

"We talk about playing to our expectations and to our level, and the first game with some guys who don't normally play with us, it was a little rocky start," said Hodgins, whose team lost to eventual champion Paradigm 3-2 in the quarterfinals of last year's tournament. "I think it kind set the tone for the rest of the tournament: We have to come in, play every match and we can't take people lightly. After that, a lot of our games weren't that close."

Rodriguez's blast into the upper corner gave Bavarians the lead in the final, but it didn't take the Fire long to answer. No team has won more President's Cup Men's Open titles than the Madison side, which claimed crowns in 2004, '05, '11 and '12 and are tied with the Croatians with four championships in the division.

"I thought the guys responded well," said Fire manager Brian Feyrer, who couldn't play in the tournament for the first time in eight years as he is recovering a torn ACL in his knee. "We played very hard, we created a lot of chances. At the end of the day, the chances were there and (Jones) made some huge saves.

"We just couldn't put away some of the opportunities we created, and they put some of their away. You've got to hand it to them, Bavarians are a very good team – good team speed, they move the ball nicely, some very dangerous attackers."

Dietz snapped the 1-1 tie with a drive from the right side with 3:18 left in the first half, and Andryk sealed the outcome by scoring on a free kick from the right side with 3:33 left to play, banking the shot in off the far post.

The Fire outlasted Kuykenstrong Dinos 3-1 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in the semifinals. Scott Lorenz (UW) tied it for the Dinos on a free kick with 1:56 to go, after the Fire finally dented the scoreboard with 8:10 to play. Neither team could break through during the 5-minute overtime following the 25-minute game.

Patrick Ruhland (Mount Horeb/UW-Milwaukee) was chosen as the team MVP for the Bavarians, who won the Wisconsin Soccer Leagues Major Division playoff title last summer and will play in the Premier League of America this summer.

"That's what we're hoping, that this is the start of a good year," said Hodgins, who added that most of the players on the President's Cup roster will play on the club's PLA team. "We feel like we're on the uptick – we've just got to keep playing well."

Sunday's playoff results

• Final: Milwaukee Bavarians White 3, Madison Fire 1.
• Semifinals: Madison Fire 1, Kuykenstrong Dinos 1 (Madison Fire advance 3-1 on penalty kicks); Milwaukee Bavarians White 3, Croatian Eagles I 0.
• Quarterfinals: Kuykenstrong Dinos 3, Touch Play Move 2; Madison Fire 4, Dez Moinez FC 3; Milwaukee Bavarians White 4, Yale Industrial 1; Croatian Eagles I 4, KFBR 392 2.
• Wild card round: Kuykenstrong Dinos 5, Rad Swag FC 0; Dez Moinez FC 4, Red Dogs 2; Madison Fire 3, Madison United Tigers 0; Milwaukee Bavarians White 4, VSLT FC 1; Yale Industrial 1, Croatian Eagles II 0.

Final group standings

• Washington: KFBR 392 23 points (2-0-1); Dez Moinez FC 18 (1-0-2); Paradigm 15 (1-1-1); Pioneers Blue 5 (0-3-0).
• Adams: Touch Play Move 20 (2-0-1), Yale Industrial 18 (2-1-0); Milwaukee Bavarians Blue 15 (1-1-1); #saveuwosoccer 5 (0-3-0).
• Jefferson: Red Dogs 22 (2-0-1); UWO Alumni 18 (2-1-0); QC Vill 11 (0-0-3); SNC 10 (0-2-1).
• Madison: Croatian Eagles I 26 (3-0-0); Rad Swag FC 11 (0-1-2); Badgers 10 (0-1-2); Fire SC 10 (0-1-2).
• Monroe: Kuykenstrong Dinos 24 (2-0-1); Croatian Eagles II 16 (0-0-3); Galloping Ghosts 14 (1-1-1); Madison United Lions 6 (0-2-1).
• Jackson: Milwaukee Bavarians White 22 (2-0-1), Madison United Tigers 22 (2-0-1); Fox in the Box 8 (0-2-1); Colonel Chander XLC 5 (0-2-1).
• Lincoln: Madison Fire 19 (2-0-1); VSLT FC 16 (1-0-2); Hamms Special Light 12 (1-2-0); Cosmos FC 6 (0-2-1).

Vienna Behnke (Neenah/UW-Milwaukee) scored a pair of first-half goals and Stephanie Vasos (Glendale Nicolet/Marquette) added a late insurance goal as CRUSA topped LIFTraining 3-1 for its second straight championship.

"It's a really close group of girls, so it's really fun," said Behnke, who was playing with the team for the first time. "And it's a talented team. You play pickup games here and there and you're so frustrated, and then you come here and you're like, 'Oh, this is how it's supposed to be, this is how you play soccer.' It's so nice to be able to put everyone back together and play pretty soccer."

Behnke gave CRUSA, sponsored by La Crosse-area club Coulee Region United Soccer Association, the early lead and put them ahead again with 8:35 left in the first half. Vasos sealed the victory with 1:23 to play, finishing off a rebound of a shot by Orlando Pride striker Sarah Hagen (Appleton North/UW-Milwaukee) from the left side.

"It was really good game. It wasn't mean or chippy or dirty, it was just a lot of really nice soccer," said Behnke, who finished her playing career with the Panthers in fall 2014 and is set to receive her master's degree in experimental psychology from UW-Milwaukee in May.

"This tournament brings a lot of really good competition – it's fun to get a high level of soccer that you don't always get at regular indoor complexes. It's really nice."

The reaction was much the same on the other side.

"We just wanted to come out and give it one more go. And now they're talking about playing next year," LIFTraining player-manager Mara Wyttenbach (UW) said. "We love each other, we have a blast out here. We have such a tight relationship, we play well together, we're competitive. We love to play, but we really love the camaraderie."

Wyttenbach said LIFTraining added four players in their 20s this year – "We wanted some young legs," she said – but most of the players were part of the Chichitas side that won this tournament eight times between 2003 and '11.

LIFTraining scored with 1:06 left to tip newcomer Manchesthair United 2-1 in the semifinals to earn another matchup against CRUSA. Natalie Kaminsky (Whitefish Bay) scored the lone goal for LIFTraining in the final, pulling them level at 1-1 2:50 into the match.

"We were joking: We think we have as many combined kids as they have players on their team," said Wyttenbach, who has three daughters and turns 39 next month. "They were very gracious winners. Last year, we lost to them 6-2 (in the semifinals). We gave it a good go."

Sunday's playoff results

• Final: CRUSA 3, LIFTraining 1.
• Semifinals: LIFTraining 2, Manchesthair United 1; CRUSA 5, Randos 1.
• Quarterfinals: Manchesthair United 4, Victorious Secret 1; LIFTraining 5, DuHawks Alumni 1; Randos 3, Hasbeens 2; CRUSA 6, Madison United 2.

Final group standings

• Hillary: Victorious Secret 22 points (2-0-1); Madison United 22 (2-0-1); MKE 11 (1-2-0); OGT Strikers 2 (0-3-0).
• Jackie: Randos 19 (2-1-0); DuHawks Alumni 17 (1-0-2); Ten 12 (1-1-1); Antique Tap 7 (0-2-1).
• Eleanor: LIFTraining 27 (3-0-0); Hasbeens 14 (1-1-1); Sunseekers 14 (1-1-1); 99 Problems 5 (0-3-0).
• Martha: CRUSA 26 (3-0-0); Manchesthair United 19 (2-1-0); Tweags 10 (1-2-0); Old Cocks 2 (0-3-0).

Last year, VSLT FC used the combination of an opportunistic attack and lockdown defense to win the Men's Over-30 title in its President's Cup debut. The Twin Cities side stayed true to its approach in its title defense and made it 2-for-2.

Dante Vargas scored twice and Marcel Marrufo added what proved to be a vital insurance goal as VSLT held off Keeper Goals 3-2 in the final.

"Two years in a row. It's almost impossible, but not for us," elated co-manager Juan Fiz said after his team joined Keeper Goals (2002 and '03) and Forest City (2009 and '10) as the only teams to win consecutive Over-30 championships. "We believe in us and our soccer and our way. These people, my family, they are amazing."

For the second straight year, VSLT – which stands for Viejos Son Los Trapos, a Spanish idiom that roughly translates to "the only thing that gets old is rags, not me" – had a rematch of a group game in the final. Last year, they dispatched the Madison Fire 3-0 in the championship after a 4-3 victory in pool play.

VSLT and Keeper Goals played out a 1-1 draw in a Reagan Group match Saturday afternoon at BreakAway. Twenty-five and a half hours later, they squared off again for the title at Keva.

"When we played them (Saturday), we had never played them before, so it was kind of just trying to get a feel for what they're like, what they do, their identity. I felt a 1-1 draw was pretty fair," Keeper Goals player-manager Mark Turner (UW-Milwaukee) said. "Today, we got Tighe Dombrowski (West Allis Hale/UW-Milwaukee) and Andre Francois (Brookfield East/UW-Milwaukee), who were busy yesterday. We thought get a couple new guys, we thought that would maybe change the dynamic a little bit, but give them credit, they're a good team."

Francois opened the scoring, taking a feed from Turner and slotting home to the back post. But Vargas equalized, then put VSLT ahead just before halftime when he finished as the far post off a feed from the left flank, and Marrufo extended the lead when he drilled a first-time shot from the right side into the net with 6:15 left.

"This team has a strong identity with what they do – they defend very well, they're very organized," said Turner, whose team came into the final having allowed just three goals in four games. "When we went down, we knew that we had to change something, because they play very well with the lead. They're very tenacious on defense."

Turner scored to pull Keeper Goals within one and they removed goalkeeper Luciano de Leon in favor of Billy Maier (Racine St. Catherine's/UW-Milwaukee), who played as a sixth attacker for the final 2½ minutes, but they couldn't find an equalizer.

"We just said, 'We're going to have to add a guy to the field and just try to keep the pressure on them, see if we could get something going," Turner said. "We had a couple chances, but we just couldn't get anything on target."

In addition to having a rematch in the final, VSLT had to beat two of the same teams they faced in last year's playoffs this year, too – they eliminated Gol FC 3-1 and slipped past the Madison Fire 2-1 in the semifinals. Keeper Goals finished ahead of VSLT in the group on a tiebreaker and received a bye into the semifinals.

"We know they play strong, they play well," Fiz said of Keeper Goals. "We talked in the locker room, we planned the way we were going to play – this is our way. This time, we win. We can lose, we can tie, it doesn't matter, we are faithful to the way we play."

Sunday's playoff results

• Final: VSLT FC 3, Keeper Goals 2.
• Semifinals: VSLT FC 2, Madison Fire 1; Keeper Goals 5, Smoky's Red Rockets United 1.
• Wild card round: VSLT FC 3, Gol FC 1; Smoky's Red Rockets United 3, Bottoms Academy 2.

Final group standings

• Reagan: Keeper Goals 25 points (2-0-1); VSLT FC 25 (2-0-1); Smoky's Blue Rockets 13 (1-2-0); Vilas Rangers 2 (0-3-0).
• Clinton: Gol FC 26 (3-0-0); Smoky's Red Rockets United 18 (2-1-0); Neenah Old Guys 9 (1-2-0); DC Menace 2 (0-3-0).
• Ford: Madison Fire 16 (2-1-0); Bottoms Academy 15 (1-1-1); Beer FC 13 (1-1-1); Milwaukee Kickers 13 (0-1-2).

Jason Willan (Franklin) played in the President's Cup in the Men's Open competition with the Croatian Eagles and in the Men's Over-30 division with FC Tipsy, another team the Franklin club entered in the tournament.

Now 44 years old, Willan stopped playing in Over-30 leagues last year and joined up with Jake's Stars, a team of former professional players based in Chicago that plays exclusively indoor tournaments, including annual events in Phoenix and Las Vegas.

"Jason Willan was the first one to ask me, 'Hey Jake, why don't you put the Stars in (the President's Cup)?" said Erwin "Jake" Fleps, a former pro indoor player and referee. "So I enter, and you saw the product I bring on board."

Yes, the Stars certainly shined brightly in their debut, closing out their dominating weekend display with an 8-1 rout of the Milwaukee Bavarians in the final.

They scored less than a minute into the championship game, led 3-0 after 6 minutes and held a commanding 6-0 lead at halftime against a Bavarians team that had been just as impressive in its first five matches on the weekend. The Milwaukee side averaged 6.6 goals per game and had allowed just one goal coming into the final, posting five clean sheets in cruising through group play and two playoff matches.

But the Bavarians' 6-0 win over defending champion Forest City Kickers in the semifinals came at a price.

"We lost two guys, one injury and one red card ... It threw us off," player-manager Scott Schwebel (Racine Horlick/UW-Milwaukee) said. "When we had two less guys, not that it's an excuse, but we were just out of our rhythm. In this tournament, you've got to play really organized, and we were really well organized until the finals, but that's what happens. We got our butts kicked."

Fleps set up a "Milwaukee line" that included Willan, Dennis Fadeski (Brookfield East), Dustin Keegan (Grafton) and Dan Stebbins (Milwaukee King), while Dan Green (Waukesha) was in goal for the Stars. "We excelled in the right time," said Fleps, whose team's roster included players of 12 nationalities – all of them former pros.

Willan, who was the 1995-96 Rookie of the Year in the National Professional Soccer League playing for the Detroit Rockers, was thrilled with the Stars' first appearance at the President's Cup.

"We were just a little bit concerned about jelling together, because some of the guys have never played together. But it worked out," said Willan, who also played professionally outdoors with the Milwaukee Rampage and the Minnesota Thunder in the USL A-League. "It was a good result for us. No complaints, except for the passing of (Madison United SC and tournament founder) Keith (Binns)."

Sunday's playoff results

• Final: Jake's Stars 8, Milwaukee Bavarians 1.
• Semifinals: Milwaukee Bavarians 6, Forest City 0; Jake's Stars 7, Coffee Connection 0.
• Quarterfinals: Forest City 6, Inferno '95 1; Milwaukee Bavarians 10, Vilas Rangers 1; Jake's Stars 10, St. Charles Celtics 1; Coffee Connection 5, North Shore Sting 2.

Final group standings

• Eisenhower: Forest City 26 points (3-0-0); North Shore Sting 18 (2-1-0); Madison United 11 (1-2-0); Tenacious Turtles 4 (0-3-0).
• Bush: Milwaukee Bavarians 27 (3-0-0); St. Charles Celtics 17 (2-1-0); Sting Seniors 10 (1-2-0); VSLT FC 3 (0-3-0).
• Carter: Coffee Connection 26 (3-0-0); Inferno '95 18 (2-1-0); Beer FC 9 (1-2-0); Diablos 4 (0-3-0).
• Roosevelt: Jake's Stars 27 (3-0-0); Vilas Rangers 15 (1-1-1); Bares United 14 (1-1-1); Zlatan's SC 1 (0-3-0).