Capital Region Round-Up

Maryland has hosted some pretty cool events recently, and we’ve talked about some of them already, like Monster Jam and the U.S. Open Championships.   This past weekend the Capital Region hosted a handful of significant sporting events.  One of the busiest venues was the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds, Montgomery County.

The SoccerPlex played host to the MLS Futbolito 4-v-4 tournament on Saturday and two DC United Women’s games on Friday and Sunday.  The Futbolito event is sponsored by the MLS with DC United being the host team.

This year the tournament fielded a record number of teams, with 144 participating.  The complex had over 3,000 visitors for the one-day tourney.  The majority of teams came from the Maryland-DC-Virginia area with some coming down from Pennsylvania, as well.  The teams ranged from under-8 to adult.  There was plenty of entertainment and contests.  Prizes ranged from DC United tickets to cash for the adults.  This was the fourth year for the event.

The SoccerPlex is also home to the DC United Women’s team.  On Friday night, the team earned the franchise’s first come-from-behind victory with three goals in four minutes during the second-half of its match against the New Jersey Rangers.  On Sunday, the women ended the regular season with a 2-0 shutout of the North Jersey Valkyries.  The win earned them a spot in the postseason and an undefeated home record for the season.

The SoccerPlex wasn’t the only place buzzing in Montgomery County this weekend.  The U.S. Junior Diving Zone A Championships were held at the Montgomery Aquatic Center in Bethesda over the weekend.  The Championships began on Thursday and wrapped up on Sunday. The event attracted divers from up and down the East Coast competing for a spot in the U.S. Diving Junior Nationals in August.   The host team, Montgomery Dive Club, took first place in the Men’s Championship Team Award. The MDC also finished first in the Overall Championship Team Award.

Not too far from the SoccerPlex and MAC was the Dick’s Sporting Goods Atlantic Cup Lacrosse Tournament at Mount Saint Mary’s in Emmitsburg, Frederick County. We talked about the Atlantic Cup briefly last week. The Atlantic Cup is a qualifier for the Dick’s Sporting Goods Tournament of Champions. The winner of the Tournament of Champions is considered the national champion.

The Atlantic Cup featured teams competing in the under-11, under-13, under-15, Rising Stars and High School Elite divisions.  The finalists in the Elite, Rising Stars and U-15 divisions automatically qualify for the Tournament of Champions.  The top three finishers in the U-13 and the winner of the U-11 also advance to the national championships. The winners included Heat Lacrosse (Elite), Skyhawk Lacrosse of Lehigh Valley (Rising Stars), Kent Island Storm (U-15), Maryland Renegades (U-13) and the Baltimore Breakers (U-11).