Back in March Newark’s Crush Futsal girls team qualified for the US National Futsal Tournament in Las Vegas when they dominated the Northwestern Regional Championships and walked away with gold.
The weekend of July 17, the moment finally arrived to compete for the national title. The team went 4-0 in their pool play. “In our fourth match, we were down 1-0 at halftime, but there was no panic. Just belief. They leaned on each other and showed the chemistry and composure needed to come back,” said head coach Jeff Aguilar. The team did “come back” not only leveling the playing field with their first goal but winning the game 2-1, which advanced them to the semi-final game.
Crush battled it out against the Central Valley Futsal Academy and secured their spot in the championship game after a comfortable 3-1 win.
“They were calm, focused and locked-in,” said Aguilar about the team’s energy before the championship game. “Even with a big game on the line, they carried themselves like they’d been there before, which really speaks to how much they’ve grown.”
In their final game the Crush team faced a competitive Denver, Colorado team. Though both teams played with skill and fast-paced ball movement, Newark’s team journey ultimately came to an end with a close 0-1 loss. “In the end it was decided by a goal, but it truly could have gone either way,” said Aguilar.
Although the loss was tough for the team to swallow, they saw great improvement from their 2024 season where they lost at the Regional semi-finals. With this momentum Aguilar is focused on continuing to build the team and move forward.
“If we continue putting in the work, in the right way, we’ll continue to learn and grow as a team,” said Aguilar.
