July 28, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. - The 2003 Snickers U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships took place from July 23-27 at the Maryland Soccerplex in Germantown, Md., and four Northwestern players were there with their club teams vying for national club titles.
On the men's side, sophomores Jaro Pylypczak and Brian Heckenbach advanced to the championship match of the under-19 boys' final. However, their team -- Chicago Sockers -- fell in the McGuire Cup title tilt to FC Delco (Philadelphia) 2-1.
On the women's side, sophomore Tabitha Lowey won the under-19 championship with the Peachtree City (Ga.) Lazers. The Lazers took the Ross Stewart Cup with a 2-1 victory over Elk Grove (Calif.) in Sunday's championship match.
Lowey's classmate on the women's side, Molly Maxfield, competed in the under-18 girls' bracket with her hometown club team, the Colorado Girls Soccer Academy. Maxfield and CGSA were trying to defend the national club title that they won last year, but did not advance to the final this year.
Play began July 23 at the championships, which was crowning winners in six age groups from under-14 to under-19 in both boys' and girls' divisions. The U.S. Youth Soccer Association brought in four regional champions (East, South, Midwest, West) from each age group, who competed in round-robin play against each other Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. From that, the two top teams in each pool met Sunday for the national title.
Click here for the U.S. Youth Soccer website, which has all the information on the Snickers U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships matches.