Maryland Teams Still In Contention.
Georgia’s other regional champons split their games. The Tophat 07 Gold lost their U14 girls game with Slammers FC (CA-S) 3-0, while U19 Peachtree City Lazers downed Kolping Ben-Gals (OH-S) 2-1 on Kristen Rhyne’s two goals.
North Carolina’s two teams in nationals, also split games. The CASL Elite boys topped Crossfire-James (WA) 4-1 on goals by Watson Williams, an own goal and two by Brett King. The U17 Greensboro Twisters Green dropped their second game in the tournament, falling 1-0 to the Sereno ’86 Golden Eagles (AZ).
In the Girls Under-16 division, the Bethesda Excel hosted the Eclipse Select in the primetime match. In front of more than 1,275 local fans, the Excel topped the Eclipse 3-1. The Excel opened scoring at the 13-minute mark. Play appeared to be moving away from the Eclipse net when a header brought the ball back towards the 18-yard mark. Brittany Tegeler got her foot on the ball, placing it past the Eclipse goalkeeper to take the early lead.
Amanda Poach made it 2-0 for the Excel in the 21st minute. The Eclipse got on the board in the 39th minute when Stephanie Zare headed a cross to the far post. Tegeler struck again in the 75th minute, receiving a through ball inside 18 yards and pushing a toe-poke past the opposing keeper.
Earlier in the day, the Bethesda Dragons took on the Dallas Texans Red 85 at 8:00 a.m. in the Girls Under-18 division. Both teams came out strong in spite of the early hour. In the first half the Dragons pressured the Texans, controlling possession throughout. The Texans goalkeeper, Stephanie Connors, kept the game scoreless with stellar play in the net.
The game remained scoreless for most of the second half until the Texans’ Amy Berend broke the ice in the 82nd minute. In the 85th minute, Zoe Bouchelle chipped a floater from 22 yards out past Connors, netting the equalizer to salvage a point for the home team.
Maryland’s Casa Mia Bays battled the Irvine Strikers in the Boys Under-15 class. Following the lead set by the Dragons, Casa Mia played to a 2-2 draw. Irvine opened up the scoring with a goal from Nelson Rios in the 25th minute. Casa Mia tied the match with a shot from Matt Beckman in the 65th minute. Irvine regained the lead when Robert Garcia netted one in the 70th. Stephen Romeo scored the final goal in injury time to level the score for the Casa Mias.
Casa Mia Head Coach Stephen Nichols hoped his team would fall back into their normal playing style before its final preliminary match on Friday.
” Sixty out of the 80 minutes we played a great game. The tie is unacceptable to me. Giving away two goals in uncharacteristic of us,” said Nichols. “There were a lot of missed opportunities, we will make adjustments for the next time we play.”
The Baltimore Bays and Sereno 86 Golden Eagles of the Boys Under-17 group played to a scoreless draw. Further action in the same division saw the Chicago Magic SC hand defending National Champions, the Concorde Fire their second loss of the tournament. With a final score of 4-1, Chicago opened up scoring in the 3rd minute and never looked back.
Although suffering a 3-2 loss in their first match, defending National Champions FC Delco Arsenal remained hopeful to repeat, posting a 5-2 win over the Edmond SC Royals in the Boys Under-19 group. FC Delco’s offense dominated the match, boasting five goals from as many players, spanning from the 23rd to 89th minute of the match. After two early goals from the FC Delco, the ESC Royals tied the game at two-a-piece in the 57th minute. Delco came back with three unanswered goals to close out the game.
Depsite earning three points on the day, FC Delco Head Coach Alan Mezger will continue to examine the team’s play. “Our defense usually carries us, for some reason offense is carrying us. The defense has played together for 3 to 4 years, today they looked like strangers to each other. We will address this hopefully in the next two games.”
Youth soccer’s ultimate prize is at stake this with 48 teams from 39 clubs and 19 states squaring off in six boys and girls age brackets, Under-14 through Under-19. Round-robin play for the SNICKERS® US Youth Soccer National Championships, being held for the second year in a row at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Germantown, Md., continues Thursday, July 24th and Friday, July 25th. National Champions will be crowned following games on Sunday, July 27th.
U14 Boys
Thurs. July 24 ’88 CASL Elite (NC) 4, Crossfire-James (WA) 1,
Goal Scorers: (NC) Watson Williams (14:00), (2) Brett King (39:00), (59:00), Own Goal (65:00); (WA) Kyle Montgomery (05:00)
Thurs. July 24 Vardar (MI) 4, Nether Mustangs (E-PA) 2
Goal Scorers: (2) Spence Thompson (13:00), (36:00), Brad Randolph (20:00), Kenny Simon (39:00); (E-PA) Karl Reddick (18:00), Marcus Barr (44:00)
U14 Girls
Thurs. July 24 FC Delco Fusion (E-PA) 1, Eclipse Select (IL) 0
Goal Scorers: Libby Van Buren (35:00)
Thurs. July 24 Slammers FC (CA-S) 3, Tophat ’07 Gold (GA) 0
Goal Scorers: Taylor Fallon (07:00), Leslie Grady (50:00), Christina Murillo (52:00)
U15 Boys
Thurs. July 24 Irvine Strikers (CA-S) 2, Casa Mia Bays (MD) 2
Goal Scorers: (CA-S) Nelson Rios (25:00), Robert Garcia (70:00); (MD) Matt Beckman (65:00), Stephen Romeo (80:00+)
Thurs. July 24 Lou Fusz SC (MO) 6, Dallas Texans Red ’88 (N-TX) 4
Goal Scorers: (MO) (4) Matthew Spiess (7:00), (15:00), (49:00), (80:00), (2) William Ferris (40:00), (72:00); (N-TX) (3) Jonathan Villanueva (16:00), (22:00), (57:00), Andre Akpan (53:00)
U15 Girls
Thurs. July 24 Sereno ’88 Golden Eagles (AZ) 3, Cincinnati United Premier Red (OH-S) 0
Goal Scorers: Carly Dobratz (03:00), (2) Jessica Myers (52:00), (78:00)
Thurs. July 24 PDA Wildcats (NJ) 2 Dallas Sting ’88 (N-TX) 0
Goal Scorers: Sara Murphy (59:00), Elisabeth Redmond (67:00)
U16 Boys
Thurs. July 24 Albertson Red Storm Clash (E-NY) 1, Dallas Texans Red ’87 (N-TX) 1
Goal Scorers: (E-NY) Own Goal (24:00); (N-TX) Lee Nguyen (18:00)
Thurs. July 24 Javanon ’87 SC (KY) 1, Southern California United (CA-S) 0
Goal Scorers: (KY) Darren Yeagle (23:00)
U16 Girls
Thurs. July 24 Dallas Sting ’87 (N-TX) 1, San Diego Surf (CA-S) 1
Goal Scorers: (N-TX) Anne Candee (43:00); (CA-S) Tracy Wooster (53:00)
Thurs. July 24 Bethesda Excel (MD) 3, Eclipse Select (IL) 1
Goal Scorers: (MD) Brittany Tegeler (13:00), (75:00) Amanda Poach (22:00); (IL) Stephanie Zare (39:00)
U17 Boys
Thurs. July 24 Chicago Magic SC (IL) 4, Concorde Fire (GA) 1
Goal Scorers: (IL) Jack Smithson (03:00), Nick Mentgen (51:00), John Partyka (67:00), Drew DeGurian (73:00); (GA) Nick Stowe (68:00)
Thurs. July 24 vs. Sereno ’86 Golden Eagles (AZ) 0, Baltimore Bays (MD) 0
No Goals Scored
U17 Girls
Thurs. July 24 3 Sereno ’86 Golden Eagles (AZ) 1, ’85 Greensboro Twisters Green (NC) 0
Goal Scorer: Levise Robertson (30:00)
Thurs. July 24 Carmel United Commotion (IN) 1, PDA Galaxy (NJ) 0
Goal Scorer: Jill Sarbaugh (90:00+)
U18 Boys
Thurs. July 24 Marin United (CA-N) 3, Syracuse Blitz Blizzard (NY-W) 2
Goal Scorers: (CA-N) Kamani Hill (18:00), Jacob Miller (65:00), Andrew Nourafshan (70:00); (E-NY) Kevin Toomey (48:00), Frank Monteleone (69:00)
Thurs. July 24 Michigan Wolves (MI) 2, Tulsa Nationals ’85 (OK) 1
Goal Scorers: (MI) Nik Djokic (13:00), Brian Popeney (64:00); (OK) Austin Woolard (45:00)
U18 Girls
Thurs. July 24 Dallas Texans Red ’85 (N-TX) 1, Bethesda Dragons (MD) 1
Goal Scorers: (N-TX) Amy Berend (82:00); (MD) Zoe Bouchelle (85:00)
Thurs. July 24 Tsunami Sota (MN) 4, Colorado Girls Soccer Academy (CO) 1
Goal Scorers: (MN) Sarah Johnson (20:00), Emily Redberg (32:00), Caroline Smith (45:00), Shannon Schneeman (70:00); (CO) Aria Hudetz (88:00)
U19 Boys
Thurs. July 24 Sockers FC Chicago (IL) 3, Colorado Rush Nike (CO) 1
Goal Scorers: (IL) Nathan Micklos (34:00), George Fleps (70:00), Adam Ruud (83:00); (CO) Aaron Ryan
Thurs. July 24 FC Delco Arsenal (E-PA) 5, Edmond SC Royals ’84 (OK) 2
Goal Scorers: (E-PA) Sammy Castellanos (23:00), David Kinneman (45:00), Andrew George (70:00), Jeff Larentowicz (86:00), Fred Chambers (89:00); (OK) Keegan Hudson (39:00), Austin Felice (57:00)
U19 Girls
Thurs. July 24 Elk Grove United ’84 2 (CA-N), FC Bucks Challenge (E-PA) 1
Goal Scorers: (E-PA) (2) Adele Letro (45:00+), (73:00); (CA-N) Patricia Dalton
Thurs. July 24 Peachtree City Lazers (GA) 2, Kolping Ben-Gals (OH-S) 1
Goal Scorers: (GA) Kristen Rhyne (48:00), (73:00); (OH-S) Angie Scarlato