Before it was named Real So Cal, before it was So Cal United, the Las Virgenes Blazers youth club had an Under-14 boys? soccer team full of players that would eventually win a national title as well as a CIF title for Thousand Oaks High.
Americans have been watching the World Cup in record numbers on television. But Ventura County fans may get a chance to see a couple of World Cup stars in person this month, when English club Portsmouth visits the Ventura County Fusion this month.
Once again, come the hottest days of summer, there is no hotter team than the Ventura County Fusion. Westlake High product Danny Barrera set up goals by midfielders Hakop Avesyan and Andy Rose on Sunday evening, as the defending Premier Development League champion earned the right to defend its title with a 2-0 win over the Orange County Blue Star at Concordia University in Irvine.
Four years ago, the Ventura County Fusion soccer club was created to bring the best in world soccer to Ventura County. Saturday, the Fusion nearly beat the best. Storied English club Portsmouth FC edged past Ventura County 2-1 on striker David Nugent's second half free kick in a friendly match at Oxnard College.
Ventura County Fusion to Play International Exhibition Match Against Former English Premier League Team Portsmouth F.C. On Sat., July 17 at Oxnard College Stadium.
For the second year in a row, the Ventura County Fusion men's soccer team found itself coming together in midfield at Buena High to take a commemorative photograph. And with another of the club's long-awaited goals achieved, the group celebrated with an eye toward crouching down for a similar snapshot in a few weeks' time.
The road doesn't get much rougher, but the stakes don't get much higher for the Ventura County Fusion men's soccer team. The defense of its Premier Development League title is on the line this weekend, but Saturday afternoon's friendly against former English Premier League club Portsmouth at Oxnard College may just be most anticipated match of the three-match weekend, which includes crunch league clashes today and Sunday.
Striker Sam Myerson and midfielder Jacob Hustedt scored as the Ventura County Fusion men?s soccer team earned a split of its weekend road trip to Utah with a 2-1 win Saturday night over the host BYU Cougars at BYU South Field in Provo, Utah.
With three matches in three days this weekend, the Ventura County Fusion needed to start fast in a season-defining stretch. Less than four minutes was certainly fast enough. A Danny Barrera free kick in the fourth minute helped guide the Fusion to a 5-0 win over the Lancaster Rattlers in a USL Premier Development League match Friday night at Buena High. The early goal is everything, Fusion coach Ole Mikklesen said. It completely changes the game.
The towering center forward provided the pin-point cross. The slight creator rose among the big bodies to head home the winner. It?s not the way you imagine a vital goal of a championship race, but that?s how the Ventura County Fusion managed to come from behind and knock off first-place Orange County Blue Star, 2-1, Saturday night at Buena High.