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We were fortunate enough to catch up with Sonoma County Sol alum Chris Daly, who is currently playing overseas in New Zealand with former Sol player and brother Mickey Daly. Chris had this to say about the 2009 NPSL Championship season...

Season Of Champions
 
The 2009 Sonoma County Sol season could not have been much more successful then it was.  The 2009 season started off at a very low point.  The team found its self with no board, and no direction of how to save the team.  Thankfully Coach Benjamin Ziemer, newfound President Carolyn Daly and 5 of the Sonoma County Sol players stepped up to form a Board and put together what was soon to be an amazing season. 
 
The 2009 Sol season started much later then it had in the past seasons, and Coach Ziemer was well aware of this.  With the season right around the corner, a lot of money to fund raise and not a lot of time to get it all done the Sol started to put in the work.  All the players right from the beginning were committed and excited to get things rolling.  The Sol put in 3 trainings a week, and right from the start you could tell the team was going to be strong.  The 2009 team consisted of many of the same players as the successful 2008 team, while bringing in a few key components to help round out a fantastic squad.  With such a great team of players you would think that the sol had looked all across California for they're talent, however that wasn't the case.  95 percent of the 2009 team consisted of players who either played club growing up in Sonoma County or went to a College in Sonoma County where they played for they're school.  So with a talented group of young men the season began. 
 
The Sol opened up they're season about as nicely as they could winning they're first 2 league games.  Following those 2 games the Sol then embarked on a journey to Arizona for the USASA Regional Tournament.  With the Sol tight on funds they reached out to another Sonoma County Alum Matt Bernard, who generously put up all 18 players and 2 coaches for the weekend tournament.  Although this wasn't the ideal way to travel, sleeping on living room and dinning room floors and showering by just jumping into the pool, it was an amazing bonding experience and a great way for the Sol to really get to know each other.  The team although faced with accommodation issues, had no issues on the field where they took care of business on the weekend.  Winning the tournament, which had assured them a birth in the prestigious tournament The Lamar Hunt Open Cup, and also would send them to Florida at the end of the year for the USASA National Championship.  After a fun, but extremely long bus trip home from Arizona the Sol got back to business in they're league play.  Going 5-0-1 in their next 6 games with one of those wins being a 10-1 victory over Salinas Samba at home. 
 
The Sol's next stop in they're Journey was round 1 of the Lamar Hunt Open Cup.  The Sol drew an away game in Orange County against a strong PDL team the Blue Stars.  Clearly the Sol went down South with 1 mission that weekend and it was to prove the NPSL is as strong if not stronger then the PDL.  The Sol on the Blue Stars home turf routed them 5-2.  Moving the Sol into the 2nd round of the Lamar Hunt Open Cup where they would face the USL first place Portland Timbers.  The Sol were lucky enough to have this epic game at home, which many could argue was the biggest soccer game to come to Sonoma County ever.  After a couple weeks of training the Sol felt ready to take on the tough opponent.  With the stadium packed and the place buzzing with excitement the Sol put together a strong performance.  Giving up a early goal to an extremely strong team such as the Timbers ended up being the end of the Open Cup run for the Sol.  The Sol hung around most of the game down 1-0 until the last few minutes when they tried to push for a game-tying goal and gave up 2 counter attack goals to end it at 3-0.  The Sol were crushed after the defeat but they weren't going to let that game end they're amazing season.  They then went on to finish out the last 4 games of regular season play going 3-0-1.  Finishing top of the league the Sol were faced with the Oregon Fuego in the Semi final of the Western Division playoffs.  As usual the Sol took care of business winning 4-1 and moving to the Western Division Final against Lamorinda.  Though Lamorinda put up a great fight, the Sol proved too strong once again and finished the game with a 2-1 victory to make them for the second year in a row the Western Division Champions and to send them to the Final Four in Madison Wisconsin.
 
So with the so far perfect season at hand and the great run in the Open Cup the Sol geared up and headed to Florida for the USASA National Championship.  Unfortunately for the Sol they had many hurdles to jump for this trip.  Not only was it extremely expensive, it was also the weekend before the NPSL National Championship.  This made things extremely tough for the players who need to work, and for the teams already low budget.  So the Sonoma Sol did the best they could and they sent 13 players to Florida for the Final Four of the USASA.  This turned out to be a tough trip.  After an extremely long flight, the 13 players found themselves playing the following morning in a extremely humid and hot environment.  The Sol pushed themselves as much as they could but unfortunately came up empty handed in the semi finals giving the team they're first loss of the season to an amateur team.  The Sol although very disappointed knew that they're biggest task was still ahead of them!  To finish what they had started and what the Sonoma County Sol had never done before, and that was to win the NPSL National Championship.
 
After returning back from Florida it was an extremely short week of training and then back on a plane headed to Wisconsin where the Final Four was being held.  This time with a full squad the Sol set its sights on its first victims.  Under the lights at The University of Wisconsin's stadium the Sol took on a fast and strong St Paul Twin Stars.  However before the twin stars could even get going the Sol took over the game, controlling most of the possession and creating many great scoring chances.  The Sol finished with a 4-1 victory and headed to the Final with they're confidence and Sonoma County Swagger back in them.  The Championship was against the Erie Admirals, and they like the Sol were undefeated through out league play.  The game began with a lot of excitement, hard tackles and some great ball movement and it was Erie who would find the net first.  The Sol feeling a bit of pressure capitalized with a goal right before half time to equalize the game at 1-1.  The game would then continue in the second half with both teams creating some good chances, but neither team being able to put it in the net.  The game would end 1-1 after regulation, and would have to be decided in overtime.  The sol with such a deep squad found itself using the bench and it paid off big time.  With about 10 minutes left in over time the sol moved the ball from the left to the right and then found a fresh forward making a great run into the box, who slotted it across for a nice finish and an incredible end to the season.  The Sol was the 2009 National Champions finishing with an overall record of 17-2-4.
 
Last year was a dream season for all the players and it could not have been done with out all of the hard work from each and every player and the support of our sponsors.  The Sol is only able to continue due to the help and support of our volunteers and the local community sponsorships.  A special thanks to Carolyn Daly who if not had stepped up as the new President we would have been lost, and Benjamin Ziemer who was kind of enough to Coach the Sol and donate all his earnings right back to the team.  The 2009 season was a season to remember, and hopefully there will be many more like it in the near future.
 
Chris Daly

Player Rep-2009 

04.14.2010 | Men’s Soccer