The USL Super Y League North American Finals in Florida culminated with CHAMPIONSHIP TUESDAY where 10 titles were handed out.
U-17 Boys ChampionshipChicago Magic 3 v Toronto Lynx Jrs 1 OT
Goals:CHI: Meza, Larson, Lucianek; TOR: Rostron-WildeThe winners of three finals last year in Tampa, the Chicago Magic had just one side vying for another cup on Championship Tuesday, and went the distance with the game being decided in overtime against the Toronto Lynx Jrs. Toronto took the initial lead with a strike from Mackenzie Rostron-Wilde in the first half. The Magic rallied in the second half to force extra time and captured their ninth all-time SYL Championship, making 2007 the fifth consecutive year with at least one title. Christian Meza, Scott Larson and Stephen Lucianek. The victory capped an unbeaten season for the Magic squad that went 10-0-1 during the season after failing to qualify for the U16 SYL Finals last year at 7-4-1. They were the lone unbeaten squad from the regular season in the 16-team bracket. Chicago extended the undefeated season with a 2-0-1 mark in group play, giving up just two goals, and then downed Parsippany SC 1-0 to reach the final. Chicago topped a Toronto club that was the only team to win all three group play games in the extremely competitive bracket, advancing to the championship with a 1-0 win over the defending U16 champion Schulz Academy, who were 2-0-1 in group play.
U-14 Boys ChampionshipArsenal FC 1 v Northern Virginia Royals 0
GoalARS: TovarAn emerging staple in the strong soccer region of Southern California, Arsenal FC landed teams in Tuesday’s U14 and U15 boys North American Finals. The U14 boys faced the South Atlantic’s Northern Virginia Royals, 2-1 winners over Canada’s Mountain WFC yesterday. Their competition in this final was an even truer test of their mettle. Arsenal began playing the possession game embedded in the minds of all their teams in the early part of the match. By holding the ball they were able to break down Northern Virginia’s back line in less than ten minutes.
U-16 Girls ChampionshipCity Islanders Academy 0 v Cleveland Internationals 1
Goal:CLE: HubkaThe Cleveland Internationals began the day with three shots at adding to their club’s collection of Super Y-League North American Championships. Their U13, U15 and U16 girls had all found their way into the league’s title matches following the three days of group play and Monday’s must-win semifinal.
U-15 Boys ChampionshipParsippany SC 0 v Arsenal FC 1
Goal:ARS: RodriguezIn a match-up of two clubs who have seen girls teams capture titles in the past year, Arsenal U13 at 2006 SYL Finals and Parsippany SC Super-20 in August, the pair survived a hotly competitive bracket that did not see any teams sweep their groups with a 3-0-0 record and saw the unbeaten SCC Breakers go 1-1-1. Parsippany went 2-0-1 in their group, giving up just one goal, and advanced to the championship with a 4-2 victory over the defending U14 champion Chicago Magic in the semifinals. On the other side, Arsenal were unscored upon in their group while going 2-0-1 before posting a 4-2 victory over the Kalamazoo Kingdom in the semifinals. With two defensively strong teams in the final, it was no surprise that the game was a tight affair. Anthony Rodriguez would go on to score the game-winner in the second half to give the club two titles on the day and their third in two years. Adrian Garcia would post the shutout in goal. U
-14 Girls ChampionshipNew Jersey Junior Stallions 0 v Santa Clarita United 1
Goal:SCU: ProctorDespite losing just once on their Coast Soccer League season as members of the SYL Pacific Southern California Division, the Santa Clarita United squad were fourth in their division. They proved why their team was better than their standing in the table. SCU swept their group without allowing a goal. They then blanked Kendall SC, who suffered their first loss of the year in the second day of group play (7-0-2 regular season) against fellow unbeaten New Jersey Junior Stallions. The 4-0 semifinal result against the bracket’s wild card proved not so unusual as the Junior Stallions, who went 3-0-0 in their group, also dropped the Atlanta Silverbacks Jrs, by the same score. A first half strike from Courtney Proctor proved enough as the Santa Clarita defense finished a perfect tournament in which they shut out all five opponents after giving up just five in their nine regular season fixtures. “Our team did awesome,” said Proctor, who was named the Super Y-League’s U14 girls MVP following the match. “We worked hard and deserve this because we always came in as the underdog this year. It is awesome to be named MVP, but I am not the only MVP. The whole team is MVP because it takes the whole team to win.”
U-13 Girls ChampionshipCleveland Internationals 0 (3) v Washington Crossfire 0 (1) Penalty Kicks
The Cleveland International’s shot at a second title on the day took longer than expected as they had to face a Washington Crossfire squad that was unbeaten on the season (9-0-1) and the lone squad to go 3-0-0 in group play. After sweeping their group with just one goal allowed, Crossfire topped the Atlanta Silverbacks Jrs, the wild card semifinalist, 2-0 in the semifinals. After finishing 2-0-1 in their group, Cleveland had to down another unbeaten in Quickstrike SC, 11-0-3 on the season and 2-0-1 in group play, in their semifinal. Cleveland was also the first team to hand the 11-0-2 New Jersey Jr. Stallions their first loss of the year when they opened group play with a 4-0 victory. Cleveland and Washington would take a scoreless stalemate all the way to penalties. Washington’s Julia Chusid and Cleveland’s Emily Morgan played the role of dueling netminders to perfection for matching shutouts, but Morgan proved the hero in the tiebreaker shootout. Cleveland took a early 2-0 lead in the spot kicks before two consecutive misses left the score 2-1. That’s when Morgan herself stepped to the mark and knocked home the deciding shot from 12 yards for Cleveland’s second title of the day, leaving Washington unbeaten without a title. The championship was also the second U13 Girls title in three years for the club.
U-13 Boys ChampionshipWeston SC 0 (5) v Slammers FC 0 (4) Penalty Kicks
Like the matching U13 Girls bracket, the boys championship between Slammers FC and Weston FC had to be decided by penalties after a scoreless match through regulation and overtime. After finishing second in the Pacific Southern California Division with a 6-1-4 Coast Soccer League season, Slammers swept their group 3-0-0 to reach the SYL semifinals. Weston FC advanced out of a Southeast Division home to power club Schulz Academy to go 2-0-1 in their group the reach the semifinals. Slammers’ group included the previously unbeaten DC United, who came into the tournament 11-0-0 as the lone unbeaten in the bracket before suffering a 1-0 loss in the opener to the Carolina Dynamo. Slammers then knocked off the Kalamazoo Kingdom 2-1 in the final four to reach the final while Weston blanked the New Jersey Junior Stallions 2-0. Weston would take the decision in the penalty kick tiebreaker 5-4 for the championship, the first for the club.
U-17 Girls ChampionshipWolfpack Blue 1 (3) v Ohio Elite Soccer Academy 1 (4) Penalty Kicks
GoalsWOL: O’Hlahuer; OHE: HusterA first half dominated by both defenses gave way to an excellent half of soccer from Southern California’s Wolfpack and the U17 girls of Ohio Elite Soccer Academy. In the end, it was Ohio Elite’s goalkeeper and U17 Super Y-League MVP Tara Campbell who scored a penalty-kick goal, then saved the very next strike to give Ohio Elite a 4-3 penalty-kick win
U-15 Girls ChampionshipBW Rhode Island 0 v Cleveland Internationals 2
Goals:CLE: Smith (2)The Cleveland International’s bid for a hat-trick of titles was on the line against BW Rhode Island in the third of their three finals as the second set of finals on the day were wrapping up. The Internationals were the lone side to sweep group play in the bracket, going 3-0-0 with zero goals allowed. They then blanked the semifinal wild card 3-0 to reach the championship game. Rhode Island, meanwhile, finished 2-0-1 in their group and edged the Chicago Magic 1-0 to move onto the final. Alana Smith had a standout performance in the final with two strikes in the first half, both assisted by Jordan Pawlik, as the Internationals took the decision 2-0 with Kelly King and the back line holding firm for the shutout victory. The championship gave Cleveland three on the day, equaling the Chicago Magic’s record set a year ago when they won two boys and a girls title. Cleveland’s accomplishment set a record for girls titles in a year.
U-16 Boys ChampionshipRed Bull New York 0 v LAFC 2
Goals:LAFC: Reiss, MenjivanTrying to capture their second U16 Boys title in three years, the New York Red Bulls opened with a 2-0-1 run through group play and continued to the final with a 1-0 win over Mustang SC in the semifinal. The run would end in a performance perhaps of destiny as LAFC took the championship with a 2-0 victory in the final. After finishing fifth in the Pacific Southern California Division with a 5-3-3 record, the Coast Soccer League side received the opportunity to make the cross-country trek to Tampa and took full advantage. LAFC went 2-0-1 through group play and handed RSL Florida its first loss of the year in the semifinal in a decision. Scoreless at the break, Bobby Reiss and Jonathan Gamez put one each on the board in the second half as Eric Shannon and the LAFC defense held on for the victory. I felt our team did very well today,” said Super Y-League U16 boys MVP Carlos Alvarez. “We played excellent defense, attacked well-enough to win and did what our coached asked of us. It feels really good to be named MVP of the Super Y-League. I was never named the MVP of a club team before, high school maybe, but this is better. This is wonderful.”
