After an undefeated fall ODSL season, but losses in the finals of both the fall pre-season Patriot Cup and post-season Hunt Country Classic, BRYC United, a first-year ODSL squad of U9 Girls, couldn't wait for another opportunity to show their mettle this spring in the PWSI Icebreaker.  Mother Nature had different plans, and the tournament was canceled due to rain, so the girls went into the regular season (where they are once again undefeated as of the end of May), eagerly anticipating the Memorial Day weekend Virginian Tournament, and the chance to get the Game 4 monkey off their backs!  

After a relatively easy first game win against Gunston (an 8:00 AM start-time for which BRYC was wide awake and raring to go), the girls got out-run and out-gunned by the Stafford Revolution in game two.  It was a tough 3-2 loss to a fast, aggressive team...indeed a little too aggressive as the girls saw their first yellow card given out to an opposing player in their young careers.  Despite the loss, the 1-1-0 record was good enough for second place seeding on their side of the draw, making it into the semi-finals on Sunday where the team re-grouped and managed to beat a tough PWSI team, winner of its side of the draw on Saturday, by a score of 3-2, making it into the Memorial Day finals, a rematch against the same Stafford team that had outdueled them on Saturday.

In another hard-fought game from start to finish, United scored first but Stafford quickly equalized it. Then, United scored the go-ahead goal halfway through the second half and fought like champions to hang on to the finish.  Coach Pierre Martel expressed how proud he was of those girls "for not giving up and avenging some tough previous tournament disappointments".  Way to go United!

Meanwhile, at the Bull Run Memorial Day Soccer Tournament, Coach Carlos Merino's U11 Boys BRYC Lions, currently undefeated in ODSL action with a record of 6-0, came up just short of the tournament championship by beating Loudoun 6-0, tieing Vienna 2-2, and beating Culpepper 2-1 in extra time of the nail-biting semi-finals on the road to the Monday finals.  There they took on the challenge of playing against an Elite level team from the host club, Virginia Soccer Assocaiton, ranked 14th in the state in their age group, and showed their high playing level once again in a very intense game, falling by a final score of 3-2.   Congratulations to the Lions for their hard work all season, resulting in a great tournament showing.