ROYERSFORD, PA — A clash of US Youth Soccer National Champions highlights the slate of four NCS State Cup finals to be played on Saturday at HillTop Complex.
Philadelphia SC Coppa Rage and Penn FC Youth Lightning have won a combined six NCS State Cups and been national finalists each of the last two years. Penn FC won a national championship in 2021 and Coppa Rage won one in 2022. The teams previously played in different age groups but both entered the 19U competition this year.
Coppa Rage beat Warrington SC in the state cup semifinal for the third straight year on Monday night to advance to the final. After losing in the 13U final in 2018, the team went on to win the state cup in 2019, 2021 and 2022.
Photo Gallery: PSC Coppa Rage vs Warrington SC
Bella Brown has been on the team since 2018 and will play in her fifth state cup final. She posted a video earlier this week on social media paying homage to her time with the team.
“These aren’t just my teammates; they’re my best friends,” Brown said. “We all really want to win one more state cup final for (head coach Tom DeGeorge) and everything he’s done for us.”
Warrington nearly put a wrench in things on Monday night at Bryn Athyn when they took an early lead but Brown was able to find an equalizer and Carley Slavin scored off a corner kick before halftime to make it 2-1. Despite a tough second half where Warrington was pushing for an equalizer they held on to book a spot in Saturday’s final.
“I’ve had some of these girls since they were eight years old so I'm looking at them tonight saying if we lose Coppa Rage is done,” DeGeorge said. “But they grind; they know how to make it to big games.”
Slavin connected on a corner from high school teammate Maura Day to score the eventual game winner.
“Going down 1-0 we all rallied together and scored real fast and the momentum just carried us,” Slavin said. “It just feels really good to be part of this team and to have one more chance to win a state cup.”
Coppa Rage will face a tough test against another decorated team. Penn FC Youth Lightning advanced to the final with an 8-0 win over Iron Valley Thorns back on May 31.
Scoring goals has been a feature of the Lightning's cup runs over the past couple years. They won the 18U and 17U finals by a combined score of 15-3 over Lehigh Valley United.
Penn FC Youth will also have a team in the 18U girls final on Saturday against Western Lehigh United at 2 p.m.
The two boys finals will feature two teams looking to repeat as state cup champions.
Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals have won four straight state cups and will look to make it five straight in a rematch of last year’s 17U final they won 1-0 over PA Dominion. PA Dominion’s 2004 team is aiming for their third state cup (2022, 2019) in the 19U Boys final against Penn Alliance Select Elite. Penn Alliance lost in the 17U boys final in 2021 to Lower Merion SC Invictus.
Scores on Saturday will be posted on the NCS State Cup Scoreboard.