Southern Nevada Soccer Association's Henderson Cup 2023 Tournament concluded on Sunday, November 19 at Heritage Park.  The tournament, in its 20th year, survived high winds on championship Sunday as teams battled for the Henderson Cup medals.

The U7 boys division featured a six team crossover format.  In bracket A the Raptors posted 23 points and Black Mambas 18 to advance to the semifinal, which Black Mambas won 5-1. La Escuelita Bulls (23 points) and Tigers (10 points) met in the bracket B semifinal. The match was tied 3-3 at the end of regulation; La Escuelita Bulls won the ensuing PK shootout 1-0 to advance to the finals.  The championship match was another nail-biter, with Black Mambas edging La Escuelta Bulls 4-3 to win the gold medals.

A five team round-robin format was used for the U7 girls division.  Mighty Mustangs dominated the group, posting 39 match points (of a possible 40) to win the gold medals. Entering their final match Lady Cheetahs led La Escuelita Bulls 21-18 in match points. La Escuelita bulls won the game 6-2 to pass Lady Cheetahs for the silver medals  with 27 points. Lady Cheetahs finished 3rd (23 match points) and Valkyries 4th (12 match points).

Seven teams competed for the U8 boys division title, with four teams in bracket A and three teams in bracket B.  The Rockets dominated bracket A, accumulating 27 match points in their three pool games to advance to the semifinals. Las Vegas Superstars and Raiders tied for 2nd in the bracket with 14 match points; Superstars earned a semifinal berth by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker.  Both the Golden Knights and Yoshis posted 14 match points in bracket B to advance to the semifinals. The semifinal round was very exciting, with Rockets edging Yoshi's 3-2, and Las Vegas Superstars winning a PK shootout over Golden Knights after tying 2-2 in regulation play. The Superstars rode that momentum into the final match with a 4-1 upset over the Rockets to win the Henderson Cup championship.

Six teams participated in the tournament in the U8 girls division.  In crossover pool play the Dragons finished first in bracket A with 23 match points to advance to the semifinals. Rebels and Princess Kickers finished tied for 2nd with 20 match points,, with Rebels advancing to the semifinals by virtue of the goal differential tiebreaker.  In bracket B GV Shooting stars (16 match points) and Daisies (10 match points) earned spots in the semifinals.  The Dragons nipped the Rebels 3-2 in the first semifinal. The second semifinal between GV Shooting Stars and Daisies was tied 1-1 at the end of regulation; GV Shooting Stars won the PK shootout 2-0 to earn a spot in the finals. The Dragons then blanked GV Shooting Stars 3-0 in the final match to win the gold medals.

In the most competitive division in the tournament, ten U9 teams vied for the Henderson Cup title in brackets of 4-3-3. In bracket A (4 teams) the Blackjacks and Knights entered their final match tied with 18 match points; they played to an exciting 3-3 tie; Blackjacks advanced to the finals by virtue of the goals against tiebreaker.  The Rebels posted the maximum 20 points  in bracket B (3 teams) and Manchester United accumulated 18 points in bracket C (3 teams) to earn spots in the B/C semifinal. The Rebels edged Manchester United 4-2 in the semis to advance to the finals. The final match was epic, with Rebels rallying late to tie the game on a penalty kick. The Blackjacks then prevailed in the ensuing PK shootout 1-0 to win the Henderson Cup championship.

The U9 girls division featured seven teams divided into on bracket of four and one bracket of three.  The Pixie Kicks (28 match points) and Angels (20 match points) advanced to the semifinals from bracket A, and the Cheetahs (19 match points) and Tiger Lilies (10 match points) earned semifinal spots in bracket B.  In the first semifinal Pixie Kicks defeated Tiger Lilies 4-1, and Angels beat Cheetahs 3-1.  Pixie Kicks blanked Angels in the final match to earn the U9 girls gold medals.

Four teams vied for medals in the U10 boys division, which used a round-robin format match points format to determine the winner.  Entering their final match, Venom had earned 19 match points and LV Lights posted 18 match points.  In an exciting final match LV Lights scored two late goals to defeat Venom 4-2, pushing their accumulated match points to 27 and winning the Henderson Cup championship. Venom finished second with 21 match points, and Spartans FC posted 10 match point for 3rd place.

Five teams competed in a round-robin format for the Henderson Cup medals in the U10 girls division.  Entering the final match the medals were still up for grabs. Hot Mess Express led with 27 match points after four matches; Mighty Mustangs had 24 match points and Shooting Stars had 18 match points after 3 games each.  In the final match the Shooting Stars jumped to an early 1-0 lead and held it though the first half.  The Mighty Mustangs scored early in the 2nd half to tie the game, and then scored another to win the game 2-1 and earn the gold medals with 32 total match points. Hot Mess Express finished 2nd and Shooting Stars finished 3rd.

The U11 boys division featured eight teams divided into two brackets of four for group play. In bracket A the LV Rebels won a critical match against Trash Pandas 2-1 on their way to posting 25 match points to advance to the finals.  Similarly in bracket B, Yellowjackets edged Cheetahs 5-4 to help them accumulate 27 match points and earn the other spot in the finals. The Yellowjackets continued their quality form with a 4-1 win over LV Rebels in the finals to win the title of Henderson Cup champions.

Seven teams competed for the Henderson Cup medals in the U11 girls division. Ajax dominated bracket A, posting the maximum 30 match points to win a spot in the first semifinal. The Fireflies, Pixies and USA United each posted 8 match points to tie for 2nd place in the bracket; the Fireflies advanced to the semifinals by virtue of the Goals Against tiebreaker. In bracket B the Goalin' Girls (17 match points) and Tigers (9 match points) qualified for the semifinals.  Both semifinal matches were close, with Ajax edging Tigers 1-0 and Goalin' Girls defeating Fireflies 3-1 to earn spots in the finals.  Ajax slipped by Goalin' Girls 1-0 in the championship match to earn the gold medals.

The U12 boys division also featured seven teams. In bracket Firesharks team earned 27 match points, and Goal Hunters posted 21 match points to move on to the semifinals. The Raiders (19 match points) and Henderson Force (9 match points) advanced to the semifinals from bracket B.  In the first semifinal Henderson Force edged a short-handed Firesharks team 2-1. In the second semifinal Goal Hunters and Raiders tied 1-1 at the end of regulation; Goal Hunters prevailed 4-2 in the ensuing PK shootout to advance to the finals. The Goal Hunters then dominated Henderson force 9-1 in the championship match to win the gold medals.

Four teams competed in the U12 girls division in a round-robin match points format.  The Royals and Warriors entered their final match tied with 17 match points, and played to a 2-2 draw to finish with 22 match points each. The Royals earned the gold medals by virtue of the goal differential tiebreaker (5-2). Warriors earned the silver medals; Dragonflies finished 3rd with 10 match points.

Five teams competed in a round-robin format in the U12 girls division.  After the first three rounds of games the Rowdies and Silver Storm were tied with 28 match points and both had a goal differential of 10 points. Rowdies and Storm played each other in the fourth round game, which was effectively a rematch of their Spring Classic 2022 final match (won by Rowdies 6-5 in OT).  In a tightly contested match the Rowdies again prevailed, this time in regulation with a 3-1 victory to win the title of Henderson Cup champions.

The U13/14 boys division featured seven teams in two brackets.  Rangers earned 26 match points to win bracket A; Knights posted 17 points to also advance to the semifinals. In bracket B Galaxy (18 match points) and Warriors FC (8 match points) earned semifinal spots. The Rangers defeated Warriors FC 3-1 in the first semifinal; in the second semifinal Galaxy and Knights were tied 0-0 at the end of regulation play. Galaxy won the ensuing PK shootout 4-2 to advance to the finals.  In the final match Rangers blanked Galaxy 4-0 to win the Henderson Cup title.

Three U13/14 girls teams participated in a round-robin match points format. In the first match Lady Monarchs edged Mighty Rebels 4-3 to post 9 match points.  In the second match Rowdies and Mighty Rebels played to a scoreless draw; Rowdies prevailed in the PK shootout 3-2 to earn 8 match points. In the third match Lady Monarchs defeated Rowdies 4-2 to add another 9 match points and secure the gold medals with 18 total match points.  Rowdies finished 2nd with 10 match points to win the silver medals.

SNSA would like to thank all of our players, coaches, parents, referees and league event staff who helped to make the Henderson Cup 2023 tournament a successful event!  Click on the link below to review the champions photo gallery and the full Henderson Cup tournament results.