In 2012, Columbus Express Soccer Club joined the Bloomington Cutters Club and South Central Soccer Academy from Center Grove to form the Alliance.
The Alliance took the best players from those three clubs to form a higher-level team. The goal was to play tougher competition and increase the skill level of its players.
Earlier this month, the Alliance captured its first State Cup championship on the boys side when its 00s (born in 2000) team won the U19 Boys title at Grand Park in Westfield. An Alliance/Columbus Express girls team won a State Cup in 2016.
“It’s very exciting, actually; just pure joy,” center back Eric Stiles said. “Our coach (Kevin Robson) has been trying to win this state cup for five years with different teams, and it was nice to see him win.”
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Stiles and Jorge Nieto, both of which will be seniors at Columbus East, are starting defenders for the undefeated Alliance, who have advanced to the Midwest Region Championships beginning Friday in Saginaw, Michigan.
“It’s definitely one of the better feelings I’ve had,” Nieto said. “It feels great to win a State Cup with such an incredible and fantastic team.”
The Alliance posted two shutouts in its five games at the State Cup. The team beat Indiana Fire Juniors Academy 5-3 in overtime in the semifinals before downing the Evansville-based Indiana Fire Juniors South 4-2 in the final.
“We’ve been practicing very hard,” Nieto said. “We’ve been preparing for this the whole season, and when the time came, we were able to dominate and finally get that state title. We were working as a team and just building team chemistry.”
Both Stiles and Nieto are in their third year playing for the Alliance and Robson. The East duo, which are playing up a year, previously had played in multiple President’s Cups with the Express.
“It’s been a great experience,” Stiles said. “The playing level is better. It’s making me a better player.”
Stiles, who played a defensive midfield position for the Olympians, last season, is playing center back for the Alliance. Nieto, who plays in the midfield for East, is the left back for the Alliance.
“It’s pretty remarkable the intensity and focus they bring,” Robson said. “They’re both 90-minute players for me. They’ve kind of been lynchpins back there for our group. We’ve had a good group for awhile now, and we’ve never been able to get over the hump. Eric and Jorge have done a great job of solidifying the defense. It kind of got us over the hump this year.”
A third local player, incoming Columbus North senior forward Graham Keele, has been moved up to the 00s squad for the regional.
“Graham just fills a lot of roles and is a really technical player,” Robson said. “We think he can provide some valuable minutes for us in the tournament.”
The Alliance 00s have a 20-0-4 record this season. At the regional, it will have pool play games against the Michigan Jaguars at 4 p.m. Friday, St. Louis Scott Gallagher Elite at 4 p.m. Saturday and Maple Brook SC from Minnesota at 4 p.m. Sunday.
The winner of each of the four pools advances to the semifinals at 10 a.m. June 25. The regional championship is at 8 a.m. June 26.
“We have a chance, but it’s going to be way more difficult than just teams from Indiana since there’s going to be teams from all over the Midwest,” Stiles said.
The regional champion advances to the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championship July 23-28 in Overland Park, Kansas.
“I think we have a good chance at regional because we’ve played teams this season that were regionally ranked, and we’ve beat them,” Nieto said. “I think this will be an opportunity to show how good we really are and make it to nationals.”
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What: U.S. Youth Soccer Region II (Midwest) Championships
When: Friday through June 26
Where: Saginaw, Michigan
Who: 16 teams each in boys and girls divisions ranging from U12 to U19, including the Alliance 00 in the U19 boys divisions. The Alliance features players from the Columbus, Bloomington and Center Grove areas, including Columbus East’s Jorge Nieto and Eric Stiles and Columbus North’s Graham Keele.
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