Return finalists eye chance at redemption at state cup finals in Chester

In the fluid age of youth soccer where clubs merge, players switch squads and teams join new leagues or platforms every offseason, making a state cup final four straight years is a bigger feat than it once was but out of 24 teams contesting the NCS state cup finals in the U12-U17 age groups this weekend at WSFS Bank Sportsplex in Chester, there is one team that can stake that claim: Penn Alliance Select.

While recent memory tells us that the 2009 girls age group team has lost back-to-back state finals – both to Reading Rage – the team also have an NCS State Cup trophy they lifted in a 2022 after a 1-0 win over Lower Merion in the final. They’ve also captured a number of other trophies and appearances in regional and national competitions along the way as one of the more decorated area teams in their age group.

Penn Alliance Select’s final against Steel United PA will kick off the slate of NCS finals at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday morning but by then several state cup champions will have already been crowned in Challenge Cup finals kicking off on Friday.

Steel United PA is playing in their first NCS State Cup final but they aren’t a stranger to success in cup competitions. They were the runner up in the 2023 Eastern Pennsylvania Presidents Cup and went on to win the Eastern Presidents Cup (hosted at The Proving Grounds) and punch a ticket to the National Presidents Cup in Wichita.

A total of seven finalists from 2024 are returning for the NCS finals and three teams in the field were in the finals in 2023. That includes the FC Europa 2008 boys and girls teams, which both won their NCS finals in 2023. Penn Alliance Select, Penn FC (2008 girls), Hex FC (2011 girls) and Warrington SC (2010 girls) were finalists last year while YMS Premier United (2010 boys), 1776 United (2010 girls), FC Delco (2012 boys) have a chance to be repeat champions. Winners in the NCS state cup finals go on to the US Youth Soccer Regional Championships in Loudoun County, Va., where they can book passage to the national championships in Orlando.

The state Presidents Cup field is primarily a new field of teams in the final since winners typically move up to NCS the following year but return finalists Vereinigung Erzgebirge Mountaineers, which beat Lower Merion SC 007s last year, will play Berks United in the U-18 final while Lower Merion SC 007s – which have outscored opponents 23-0 through three games – take on PA Classics in the U-19 final. Western Lehigh United girls return to the state final for the fourth straight year in search of a repeat after lifting the trophy last year. They lost back-to-back finals the two years prior.

Winners of the state Presidents Cup will get to stay close to home for the regionals this year with the Eastern Presidents Cup returning to The Proving Grounds in June. The regional was hosted in Plymouth Meeting for the first time in 2023.

The Challenge Cup – a state-only competition – will kick off tonight at 6 p.m. with 13 finals slated for WSFS Bank Sportsplex. There will be 13 more finals on Saturday and 8 on Sunday in the competition featuring games from the U9-U19 age groups.

A total of 55 clubs will be represented in games this weekend in Chester. FC Delco has the most teams in the competition with 14 teams, followed by FC Europa with 9, Huntingdon Valley AA with 6 and Penn Fusion, Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals and Vereinigung Erzgebirge each with 5.