Mercer Island 12U girls win Champions of State Cup | Sports brief

The Mercer Island girls 12U select soccer team, the MI Fierce, won the Washington State Youth Soccer Founders Cup tournament on Sunday, Feb. 12.

The Mercer Island girls 12U select soccer team, the MI Fierce, won the Washington State Youth Soccer Founders Cup tournament on Sunday, Feb. 12.

The team won the title after a 4-2 victory in penalty kicks over a Crossfire rival.

The team, made up of mostly sixth-graders from Islander Middle School, came back after a 0-0 at the end of regulation, and two overtime periods.

The Founders Cup is a statewide tournament that includes top level select teams from around the state.

The title is the team’s sixth consecutive win, which began on Dec. 17. After taking the first two games in pool play, the team earned a spot as one of 16 in the single elimination bracket.

MI Fierce won during its first game on Jan. 29, followed by a 3-0 quarterfinal win to take on Crossfire-Mallalieu in the semifinals. That game, held on Feb. 11, saw the Island team win by 2-1 to advance to the finals.

The next morning, MI Fierce faced Crossfire-McLaughlin, which went into penalty kicks, eventually with the Island team winning.

The team includes: Maeve Akins, Claire Underwood, Karolina Noren, Tess Hendelman, Ellie Daugherty, Isabelle Knowles, Noonie McCann, Eliza Jacobson, Elakshi Shah, Macy Mounger, Annie Ritcey, Ali Kimball, Jessie Stenberg, Amelia Childs, Kendra Watson, Makenna Stevenson, Olivia Morris and Ava Blanchette. The team is coached by Andrea Anderson and assisted by Ketu Shah.