Fury U-17 boys win Presidio League championship

The Fallbrook Fury under-17 boys team won the Presidio League AA-A season championship by two points.

The Fury finished the league season with 36 points following a 2-0 victory October 28 against Matrix of Mira Mesa. Inter Murrieta, which led the Fury in the standings entering the final day of the season, lost 2-1 to PQ Premier and finished the season with 34 points.

“Came down to the last game,” said Andy DeSouza, the coach of the Fury under-17 boys.

The Fury had been in first place in the standings throughout the season until a 3-2 loss October 22 to Inter Murrieta. The Fallbrook Youth Soccer Club team had led 2-1 in that game before the Murrieta squad scored on a 35-yard goal and from the recovery of a deflected attempt to clear the ball. That loss moved Inter Murrieta to the top of the standings and the Fury to second in points, three of which are given for a win and one of which is awarded for a tie.

“We didn’t think we were going to end up being first place,” DeSouza said.

The Rancho Penasquitos team’s final-day win over the Murrieta squad, combined with the Fury’s win in Mira Mesa, reversed the standings once again and put the Fallbrook Youth Soccer League club on top at the end of the season. “We wound up taking it, which was a surprise,” DeSouza said.

The win over Matrix included a first-half goal by Brian Marsh and a second-half successful penalty kick by Andy Avella. Goalkeepers Chris Toth and Jose Murillo shared the shutout.

The Fury finished league play with a 12-2 record; the team’s only other loss was to PQ Premier in a 3-2 match September 23. Inter Murrieta finished with a record of 11-2-1. The Fury had earned a 4-1 victory over Inter Murrieta in the season’s first game between the two teams. PQ Premier finished third in the league standings with 22 points.

Danny Barajas finished the regular season as the Fury’s leading scorer as well as the captain of the team.

“We felt like we were the top team in the division all season,” DeSouza said. “We’re extremely happy to win league. That was our goal at the beginning of the year.”