Matanuska Soccer Club  and Crossfire Premier Soccer Club, Washington State’s largest premier level soccer institution for boys and girls under 19 years of age, have announced an exciting new affiliation between the two clubs. The announcement launches a relationship that will offer many benefits to both clubs’ players.

For a full press release, please click here.

For parents and players with MSC, information has been e-mailed; if you haven’t received anything, please contact your team manager. Interested parties may also visit the Crossfire Premier website to learn more.

Also, MSC’s Online Registration is open right now through September 15th at midnight. For players interested in the Youth Development Academy, the cost is $125 for 7 training sessions and 3 game sessions. Fall MSC Premier Fee of $75 for players associated with a team.

The 6^th Annual Thanksgiving Tournament is open for registration!! This year, the tournament will run November 25-27. The cost is $550 per team, which includes a t-shirt for each participant, coach and manager. T-shirts can also be pre-customized!

For online registration, please click here. Manual registration forms can be found here, as well as the official Rules of Competition. Online registration will close November 10.

The under-16 MSC United 96 boys ended their near-perfect summer with a title in the Alaska State Cup held in Fairbanks over the first week of August. The only team taking part in State Cup from Matanuska Soccer Club, the squad began brightly, knocking out Alaska Rush 96B Nike with a 4-2 win, before beating North Pole Cyclones 4-0 and drawing with Phoenix 96 by a score of 0-0.

Taking on Phoenix again in the Final, United’s Jacob Spannagel scored midway through the second half to hand the team their first Alaska state championship. This coming on the heels of the team’s unbeaten, league-winning campaign made for an exciting summer for the boys.

Continuing a fine tradition of competing well across the state, three different MSC squads took championship honors in their respective divisions in this summer's UAYSL league play.

First up, the MSC United 96 boys took their division by storm, winning 11 and only drawing once in 12 games. They followed up the league season by winning State Cup, proving their summer performance was no fluke. In the youngest competitive division, the MSC Polaris 01 girls won league honors, going 6-1-1 against division opponents to edge CISC Velocity 01G Blue from Anchorage. MSC's last champion was the MSC United 98 boys, who also won the league last summer, as well as the 2011 Alaska State Cup. The boys again dominated their competition, only surrendering 10 goals in 12 league games.

MSC teams got off to a great start to the summer season in the 2011 Alaska Airlines Cup. MSC Polaris 01, United 00 and United 95/96 all reached the semifinal stage before bowing out of the tournament, while two club teams advanced to finals.

MSC Polaris 96 took U16 championship honors by defeating CISC Velocity 97G Blue 3-2. An opener from Bekka Ord and a brace from Peyton Johnstone after the interval gave MSC all the cushion they’d need, while goalkeeper Jaeden Chew saved a late penalty to preserve the final margin. In boys U14 action, defending state champion MSC United 98 got untracked with a 5-0 semifinal victory over North Pole Cyclones 98, before taking down CISC Velocity 98B Blue 5-1 in the final.

Former MSC standout Jimmy Sliwa recently completed his junior season of soccer at the University of Great Falls, where as a starting defender he helped his team to their first-ever appearance in the NAIA National Championships. Additionally, Sliwa earned recognition as a 2010 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete for his performance in the classroom as well as on the field.

Read on for more information on Sliwa and MSC's other current collegiate players, including five members of the MSC United 92 boys squad who've so far graduated to varsity college soccer.

Matanuska Soccer Club

MSC United 98 midfielder Bailey Letherman recently returned from the 2010 US Club Soccer id2 Regional Training Center held in Casa Grande, AZ. While there, he competed with and against some of the best young players in America, including several members of this cycle’s U-14 US Boys National Team, all of whom are born in 1997.

In sum, just over 50 elite boys born in 1997-98, representing 18 different states, took part in the four-day training camp, sponsored by US Club Soccer and Nike. The players were selected for invitations by US Club Soccer staff and a network of scouts across the country. Videos, photos from the weekend and more information can be found here.

Fresh off their victories in the Alaska Airlines Cup, MSC Polaris 96 and United 98 are headed into Regional play over the next two weeks, traveling to West Jordan, UT, and Boise, ID, respectively.

Polaris 96 will be competing in the Region IV President's Cup June 14-19, facing teams from Washington, Hawaii and Nevada in the group stages. You can follow all the action here. After winning the Alaska State Cup, MSC United 98 will take part in Far West Regionals June 20-26 in Boise, ID, taking on Colorado Arsenal Gold, Vegas United SC 98 and New Mexico Rush 98 in group play. Follow them here.

The MSC Polaris 96 girls traveled to the Las Vegas Mayor’s Cup over the weekend of October 22-24, finishing with an overall record of 2-2. Also in action were AKFC squads’ United 98 and Aurora 01, both of whom finished with losses on PKs in the semifinal round in what’s now the 11th-ranked youth soccer tournament overall in the United States. Click here to see highlight packages for both Polaris 96 and United 98.