news-record.com

GREENSBORO — Playing in what they know will be their last tournament together, the state champion U-18 Twisters soccer team is headed to Texas with mixed emotions: They're excited to compete at such a high level, but they're sad they will never take the field together again.

Seven years ago, they were a just a random group of fifth-graders who happened to play on the same team. Since then, they have competed together, celebrated together, wept together, grown up together.

"The girls on the team are my best friends. This is the end for us and it's all really sad," said team captain Claire O'Keefe.

The U-18 Twisters are one of two local teams competing in the U.S. Youth Soccer Southern Regional Championship this week. The team plays at 8 a.m. Friday in Frisco, Texas, and noon Saturday in Plano, Texas.

The U-14 girls Twister Green team also won its state cup, and are scheduled to play at 4 p.m. Friday in Frisco and 2 p.m. Saturday Plano. Led by head coach Chris Robinson, the U-14 team finished its regular season 6-1-2.

"We've got 14 kids who give everything they've got every game and don't leave anything behind. They go out and play 70 minutes of hard soccer every game. And that's what got us to the finals," Robinson said.

The U-18 Twisters qualified for the Region III Championships by defeating Matthews United Football Club 1-0, claiming its sixth state championship.

At the beginning of the season, the Twisters players promised each other to make their last season together the best.

"I'm going to miss them a lot," said centerback Christin Newman. "This is really a big deal. We've gotten really close and have traveled all over the place together. We really wanted to make this season the best ever, not just our results but the whole experience."

Sixteen of the 17 players have committed to play soccer at the collegiate level. The only player not furthering her soccer career is Newman, who has signed with Virginia Tech to play tennis.

In their semifinals match-up, the Twisters faced Jacksonville, the team that most thought was a shoo-in for Texas. In a long, deadlocked game, Twisters' Mary Reinhardt scored the only goal of the game in the second overtime.

"They were by far favored to win, but we just wanted it more." Newman said.

The Twisters received a blow when it found out that six players — four of whom were starters — would not be with them in Texas.

Taylor Rovito, one of the starters not traveling to Texas, cannot compete because her senior trip to Greece is at the same time.

"I would want to be there because we have worked so hard to get there," she said. "I mean I feel bad they have to play a man down, but I think that they can handle it without me."

The remaining 11 players, including Jennifer Ludeman, who has a broken toe, haven't wavered in their goal to make it past the quarterfinals, the round that has sent them packing in past years.

"The 11 players that are going really want to be there." O'Keefe said, "It's better having 11 players who want to be there than 17 who are just going through the motions."

Newman wants to hold on to her last season of soccer as long as possible. Though she could be taking this time to perfect her tennis game, the team means too much to her.

"I love the team aspect of soccer," she said. "In tennis, everything is so mental because you're by yourself. I'm definitely not the most skilled player out there, but I'm the one who cheers everyone up," she said.

With the approach of the first round on Friday, the team keeps the hope of the promise they made to each other at the beginning of the season: that this season will be the best.

"(Having six girls not playing) makes everything harder to deal with, but we can handle it," Newman said.