Yeah. Mission put themselves in a hole. Will be a long road and need to win 3 tomorrow, last one will be loser of Dons vs Greenwich.
Easiest road to final is Vanguard.
The surprise of the day for me was definitely Stanford beating Mission. Newport looked really good today as well. I thought before today SJX would beat Newport, but after the Stanford game I’m not surprised they beat SJX.
The other tournament surprise for me is Dons B. They mean business. San Clemente may get another shot at them tomorrow.
After today, I think Greenwich has to be the favorites. They haven’t had a close game yet.
2 Likes
There is a reason they were ranked #1 by me just about all year. I wouldn’t buy the underdog story on them for an obsolete penny.
What a battle between Dons and Greenwich both teams had such a good goalies, the referees were not up to par with the great game they had. Dons 9 Greenwich 7. The game before Vanguard 13 Stanford 8, their big center played also.
1 Like
Best game of the year. Greenwich loses to Mission.
1 Like
Mission vs SD Dons for first.
Vanguard vs Stanford for 3rd.
Congratulations to Mission!! They were the best team all season.
2 Likes
- Mission
- SD Dons Red
- Vanguard
- Stanford
- Greenwich
- North Irvine
- Tsunami
- SD Dons Black
- CCU
- 680
SD Dons seem to be in a great position for next season, pretty wild to have your B team finish 8th.
680 with a really strong finish this tournament
Congrats to Mission, they were certainly the best team all year and got it done through the backdoor route. I believe only Greenwich and Stanford were able to beat them this year.
Great season!
5 Likes
Looking forward to the 2026-2027 12U Boys Club thread starting. Till then it was fun chatting with yall!!!
2 Likes
Stanford beat Mission 2x’s in the last 2 weeks. They had a hard time with Vanguard. Bummer for them.
Greenwich also beat Mission twice but when it mattered they got splattered.
The 5 first year players on Mission could be a force to be reckoned with next year…
2 Likes
Last question for the year, and a bit of an opinion…
Does anyone think SD Dons has a single competitor in 12U next year?
I think they will only find competition in 14U.
They are returning big talent and could probably dominate without any of the new talent they have on the way.
Tough question.
Cyrus is one of the best 12u coaches you can find and what he does with his program is nothing short of exceptional.
It’s hard though, at the 12u age group, to say others won’t find a way to compete. You never know what happens throughout the season, if the group stays together and if they gel well and if other teams find a ringer or a problem for the Dons to defend.
They’re favorites going in, imo, but that doesn’t mean they’ll still be there in March let alone late July.
1 Like
Agree about Cyrus. With Luch getting announced as 14U on North Irvines Instagram account that takes away the rivalry caused by the recent championship game.
I believe 12’s will be pretty much the same as this last year.
NorCal- CCU, Stanford, and Lamo.
SoCal - SD Dons, Mission, Newport, Vanguard?, North Irvine?.
Totally agree…it’s too soon to tell and there is always so much movement through out the season. We shall see..
680 should be in the mix for NorCal. There was an 11u tournament back in April at Las Lomas and CCU, Stanford, and 680 were the best teams there. I know a lot can happen in terms of development and transfers between then and this upcoming season.
Pretty sure Stanford A, Lamorinda A, 680 A, and CCU A age everyone up. Should be fun to see how these teams develop through next season.
In looking at the 12u JO rosters for Stanford, Lamo, CCU, and 680, it does look like 680 is brining back the most kids with at least two years of JOs experience, but will not necessarily have the most experienced core to build around.
By my count:
680 is brining back 19 kids with at least two JOs experience, including 0 with four JOs experience.
CCU is brining back 14 kids with at least two JOs experience, including 5 with four JOs experience.
Lamorinda is brining back 12 kids with at least two JOs experience, including 2 with four JOs experience, one of whom is a goalie.
Stanford is brining back 12 kids with at least two JOs experience, including 1 with four JOs experience.
All of the above assumes no off season movement between clubs, which isn’t realistic, but it is a good starting point. Northern California looks to be very competitive this upcoming season.
1 Like
No matter what happens we should always count Grenwich in for a top team in 12u due to their historic ability.