Davis Magnet aims for three-peat at Daily Pilot Cup

Keith Frainie remembers the playful teasing he received. It doesn’t seem that long ago when his friends poked fun about the school team he coached at the Daily Pilot Cup.

“‘You’re more of an academic school,’ that’s what they would tell me,’” Frainie said of what others told him about Davis Magnet School. “I would tell them, ‘I have a couple more years. We’re going to come around.’”

Come around, Davis did. Frainie helped form what might be a Ducks dynasty. Davis Magnet has won back-to-back titles in the boys’ fifth- and sixth-grade Gold Division of the Daily Pilot Cup, which began Tuesday and ends Sunday.

Frainie has handed off the reins to coaches Owen Markert and Mike D’Alessandro who are well aware of what Davis has accomplished the past two years at the Daily Pilot Cup.

In 2015, Davis capped a 5-0 run in the tournament with a 6-2 victory over Whittier, and outscored opponents 25-8 along the way. It was the Ducks’ first Pilot Cup crown since it became a magnet school in 2007.

Last year, the Ducks went 5-0 again in the tournament, and beat Whittier in the final again, this time 4-1. They outscored opponents 18-3 and squeaked past Mariners Christian on penalty kicks in the semifinals.

Markert and D’Alessandro can only hope for the same type of team chemistry the Ducks possessed the past two years.

“I just had a really good group of players both years,” said Frainie, who has been the Davis Magnet liaison for the Pilot Cup for five years. “The teams had a few club players, and a few extra-level players. They really knew how to play as a team, so it made my job pretty easy.”

Frainie’s son, Miles, was also a part of both championships. Frainie is now coaching his daughter, Siena, in the girls’ fifth- and sixth-grade Bronze Division.

Markert and D’Alessandro have their respective sons on the Davis team this year. Markert’s son is Aidan, and D’Alessandro’s son is Kyle. They are both in the fifth grade. Recently they helped their AYSO Extra team win the Costa Mesa Classic in the U11 division.

Now they want to help Davis three-peat at the Pilot Cup and remind many of the dominance that Rea Elementary once showed at the youth soccer tournament now in its 18th year. Rea won nine championships in the boys’ fifth- and sixth-grade Gold Division in the first 10 years of the Pilot Cup.

“I feel like we have a really good chance to win,” Kyle D’Alessandro said.

There’s one thing for sure: there will be a different final matchup in the Pilot Cup’s boys’ premiere division. This year, Davis and Whittier are in the same pool.

The teams will meet Thursday at 4:30 p.m. on field No. 1 at the Jack Hammett Sports Complex, better known as the Farm.

“They are pumped and excited for sure,” Markert said of his Davis Ducks. “They’re ready.”

Davis did its best to be prepared for the Pilot Cup with two scrimmages, including one against Our Lady Queen of Angels last week. The teams tied 4-4.

Markert believes most people know about Davis’ dominance in the Pilot Cup and will be trying very hard to take the Ducks down.

“I feel like we have a little bit of pressure on us to win it again,” said Grady Starn, a sixth-grader for Davis and one of five returners from last year’s team. “But I just love soccer. I love to play the game, with your friends, that’s what I really like. That’s the main reason I am here.”

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Twitter: @SteveVirgen