Find out how the Rockford Raptors soccer club finished up nationally, and internationally

Three of the Rockford Raptors boys soccer teams recently hit the road for big tournaments — two of them traveled internationally, and one just saw its bid for a national championship come to a close.

That closes out another powerful season for the local soccer club.

More Raptors soccer: Rockford Raptors U15 boys soccer team gets first shot at national club championship

"Wow, it's just been such a great month of soccer," the Raptors head coach, Frank Mateus said. "All this traveling and all this experience, it's been so good for these guys. And man did they all come together."

U15 Final Four

The Raptors U15 boys maneuvered their way all the way to the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) Final Four, before they bowed out with a 3-2 loss to the defending national champions, Texas Pipeline, in Tuesday's semifinals in Richmond, Virginia.

Saul Santana and Nate Gray scored goals for the Raptors, who defeated the Utah Avalanche on Monday night to advance to the national semifinals. This squad qualified for the final rounds in Richmond by winning its pool in San Diego, California, earlier this month.

"They've had such a great run, these guys know they should be proud," Mateus said. "Just a great run... They'll be back."

That team was the first to advance to an ECNL Final 16 Tournament, and the first to make it to an Elite 8 or a Final Four portion of the tournament.

Even the Raptors U15 second-level squad has been successful this summer. That team won its regional league, and then went 5-0 and claimed the title at the Illinois Presidents Cup, hosted at Sportscore Two last month.

"What a strong second-tier team that one is," Mateus said. "We'll be seeing those guys around a lot."

U17 Mexico Friendly

The Raptors U17 boys team just returned on Sunday from a trip to Toluca, Mexico, where it won a small tournament against the Porto Soccer Club's U17 squad, and where it battled a couple of other local Mexican clubs in a friendly.

Rockford, which was led by Jerry Natiejewski who had two goals on the trip, and Anthony Scordato, who scored once, then fell in back-to-back friendlies to the Toluca top-tier team (6-1) and its second-tier team (2-1).

But the team also worked out and mingled with several Mexican clubs, soaking in the soccer-heavy culture of the region.

"It was like a lifetime worth of experiences," Mateus said, "all wrapped into one. It was amazing."

U13 Portugal Cup

Rockford's U13 boys traveled to the Azores Island in Portugal from June 8-11 where they placed sixth out of 12 teams in the Pauleta Azores Soccer Cup. The Raptors went 2-2-1, but all but one game was close and went down to the wire.

In the third contest of the trip, Rockford rallied from down 4-1 at half to steal a 6-4 victory. Jacob Christian had three goals in the big comeback.

"Our kids performed so well in that, and against the best clubs in the world," Mateus said. "There were a lot of close games, and you can't pull all of those off, especially against this kind of competition. But our guys battled every game; every game."

Fabian Luna also scored two goals on the trip, and goalie Sam Vera had a strong stretch of games to keep Rockford in every match.

Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @JayTaft . Sign up for the Rockford High School Sports Newsletter here at rrstar.com . Jay has covered a variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears and Blackhawks to local youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star .

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Find out how the Rockford Raptors soccer club finished up nationally, and internationally