Philadelphia SC and Penn FC book return trips to U.S. Youth Soccer national finals

Two teams from Pennsylvania are one win away from being crowned U.S. Youth Soccer national champions.

Philadelphia SC Coppa Rage 2005 girls overcame a 1-0 deficit and won 2-1 to book a return trip to the national final, where they fell last year. Gianna Rivera scored the equalizer and Isabella Brown the game-winner from the penalty spot in the 2-1 win over Utah Avalanche.

The win was the team’s fourth in a row since arriving in Orlando. They’ll need one more against Minnesota club Tonka United to be crowned national champions. The match kicks off at 8:45 a.m.

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Penn FC Youth Lightning 2004 girls won their semifinal match on Saturday 5-1 to book a return trip, where they’ll try to repeat as national champions in a game against Illinois club Galaxy SC that is slated to kick off at 10:30 a.m.

Penn FC has won all four of their games since arriving in Orlando and conceded for just the first time on Saturday. Loren Gehret had a brace and Jamie Swartz, Alex Murphy and Kristen Economopoulos all scored for the Lightning in their win over Tennessee SC.

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Three other local teams came up short in semifinal games played on Saturday at ESPN Wide World of Sports.

Real Jersey FC 2006 girls fell 2-1 to New Jersey rival FC Copa Academy, Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals 2005 boys lost 3-0 to Galaxy SC and Yardley Makefield Soccer Celtic 2008 boys fell in penalties after a 2-2 draw with Toca FC.