The Auburn Youth Soccer Association (AYSA) Auburn Blast Girls U12 are the Washington Recreational Cup winners for 2014.

The Blast, made up of players from Auburn, Covington, Bonney Lake and Puyallup, defeated the Sammamish Dynamite in penalty kicks, capping a 21-0-1 season.

After battling to a 1-1 tie in regulation, the Blast overcame the Dynamite 3-1 in penalty kicks.

“It was interesting this year to see the 12-year-old girls work so hard,” said head coach Bob Kickner. “They wanted to win, and they wanted to work.”

Kickner said the core of the squad has played together for the past four years.

Last season the team was one win shy of the state title, losing 3-1 to Kirkland in the championship U11 game.

“This year we went from playing mod soccer to our first year of full-sized fields and goals,” Kickner said. “It’s the first year of 11-on-11 soccer, although we’re still using smaller balls. Next year we use the full-size balls.”

Although it’s technically recreation league soccer – the Rainier Valley Slammers are the AYSA’s competitive select team – Kickner said he, the girls and the parents have forged a hybrid approach to competitiveness.

“It’s a nice blend between social and competitive,” Kickner said. “The families have established that it’s okay to be competitive and have fun. We have a bunch of neat families that compete and want to be athletic.”

Four players from the Blast – Grace Edvalds, Angelique Cyr, Keilani Martin and Kimberly Ramirez – were named to the all-tournament team.

In addition to the Recreation Cup, the Blast captured the Lighthouse Cup and the District 3 Rec Division 1 Title this season.