Former champ MVLA Lightning opens with narrow win

• by Soccer America , Jul 26, 2012

[U.S. YOUTH SOCCER] Looking to win its second title in its age group, the talent-rich MVLA Lightning opened play in the under-16 girls age group at the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships at Manchester Meadows in Rock Hill, S.C., with a 1-0 win over KCFC/Futura Academy thanks to an early goal by Fatmata Kamara.

MVLA's roster includes U.S. U-17 national team star Sarah Robinson and Jaye Boissiere and Gabrielle Matulich, who also attended the mid-May U-17 national team camp.

They are among seven Lightning players who have made verbal commitments.

Another returning champion -- albeit with an almost entirely different team -- is Sting, which took 2-0 and 3-2 leads over Internationals Red but had to settle for a 3-3 tie with the Cleveland club in the under-15 age group.