Belmont Shore U18s defeated Back May 31-21 in a meeting of undefeated teams in Southern California.

This heated rivalry game (Back Bay v Belmont Shore a SoCal Classic) was also for who would lead the SoCal Gold North.

Belmont Shore has a fast, athletic team, but Head Coach Ramsey Tuaua was quick to praise his opponents.

"Hats off to Head Coach Jeff Bonnett, his staff, and players for the tremendous challenge," said Tuaua. "They were a very worthy opponent. They came at us hard; they held their ground against us, and brought a furious defensive stance. Back Bay have always produce a competitive team to every contest. My sincere and utmost respect and appreciation for a clean game with respectful players with such class."

Good for Back Bay, but Belmont Shore came away with the spoits. Captain Amitai Noah and forwards captain Zion Asuega led a strong performance with Ziggy Tua, Ewan Scott, Jesse Ronquillo, Ricardo Medina, JD Villamil, Kevin Martin, Roberto Hernandez, Michael Levine, Dante Brusa O'Connell, and Noah Nieto all having their moments. Tuaua said he was pleased, but thinks they can do better.

"Our boys played fairly well and executed our game plan to some degree," said Tuaua. "This game gave our boys a welcome dose of reality of what it is to play consistent high-intensity games. We have learned a lot from this game and we are grateful for the opportunity."

With the victory, Belmont Shore is 5-0 in the North Gold, with Back Bay 4-1. Next up for Back Bay is Empire (0-4), and the chances are the Sharks will end up 5-1. For their part, Belmont Shore has to face Santa Monica, which also has only one loss. 

"Santa Monica is like Back Bay, they always have very competitive teams every club season," said Tuaua. "They have a very strong and experienced team and i hope we can meet the challenge. We will have to play hard and play our game of rugby."