RECAP: Jefferson Cup 2024 Boys Showcase wraps up for over 475 teams

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Richmond, VA – The 2024 Jefferson Cup finished out play on Sunday with the Boys U15-U19 Showcase and featured over 475 teams taking the field at one of the top youth soccer competitions in the country.

The event, which took place March 22-24, was the culmination of four weekends of soccer action which saw over 1,800 teams take the field across the greater Richmond area. The Boys Showcase was preceded by the Boys U9-U14 Weekend (March 2-3), Girls U9-U14 Weekend (March 9-10), and the Girls U15-U19 Showcase (March 15-17).

The Boys Showcase competition featured teams from across the youth soccer landscape with teams from 25 different states represented as well as Canada and Trinidad and Tobago. The competition also featured clubs from elite level leagues including MLS NEXT, ECNL Boys and ECNL Regional Leagues, National Academy League, Elite Development Program (EDP), US Youth Soccer National League and US Club Soccer National Premier Leagues (NPL), among others.

In addition to the high-level competition on the pitch, the event also featured over 140 colleges coaches from across the NCAA Division I, II, II, and NAIA levels. The opportunity for teams and their players to not only get in a high level of competition, but also showcase their skills to an array of college scouts makes the Jefferson Cup one of the top Showcases and a must apply event for all youth soccer teams each season.

“The [Jefferson Cup] is a great experience for us,” said Eastshore Alliance 2007B Navy Head Coach Mark Rucci-Lewis. “We came here last year and just the overall level of competition as well as the atmosphere, the fields, the referees is fantastic. We want to see how we stack up against some of the best teams from the East Coast and the boys get a huge kick out of it. They get the chance to see a different soccer culture so it is a lot of fun.”

To view the full results from the Jefferson Cup Boys Showcase click here. To view the full list of registered college coaches click here.

U15 Championship Division

STA 2009 ECNL earned top honors in the U-15 Championship Division, defeating Richmond United ECNL 2009 2-1 in a tight final on Sunday. After drawing with Beach FC ECNL 2009 2-2 in their first match on Saturday, the STA ripped off three consecutive wins to claim first place in the top flight (2-1 over AS Laval, 2-0 over Club Ohio National 09, and 2-0 over Richmond). Richmond meanwhile dominated Bracket B to book their spot in the finals, outscoring their opponents 9-2 to reach the Finals. Their ten goals scored was the most among all Championship Division teams.

U16 Championship Division

VDA 2008 ECNL finished atop the U16 Championship Division, winning all three of their matches by a combined score of 9-1 (3-0-0, 29 points). On Friday, they started their first Jefferson Cup Showcase with a 3-0 shutout over Columbus United ’08 Lions. Despite playing under wet and windy conditions throughout the weekend, they maintained their grip on the top of the Championship Division standings, defeating FC Boston Bolts U16 NAL 3-1 and Potomac Soccer 2008 ECNL 3-0 to finish with a perfect record. They will now switch their attention to their two final ECNL Mid-Atlantic Conference matches, using their experience at Jefferson Cup to help their push towards the end of their league season and a potential playoff appearance.

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Northern Virginia Alliance ECNL 08 (2-0-1, 22 points) also had a strong weekend in the top flight, placing second in the Championship Division. Defensively, NVA proved to be one of the tougher teams to break down throughout the three days, earning back-to-back 2-0 victories over SUSA FC 08 ECNL and NCFC Youth 2008 ECNL. On Sunday, they finished their three games up with a  hard-fought 1-1 draw against an SMS Premier team from USYS National League that had already grinded out a 1-1 draw with NCFC and taken SUSA to the limit (2-1 loss). Goalkeeper Israel Saccoh and defenders Jayden Choi (who scored the go-ahead goal against NCFC), Franco Luevanos, John Mercer, and Brandon Rivas- Correas worked together to form a tight, cohesive unit that limited their opponents ability to create clear goal-scoring opportunities in front of goal.

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Richmond United ECNL 08 rounds out the the top three, having scored eight goals over the course of their three matches (second most behind VDA). Their high-scoring attack was on full display on Friday as they defeated Spire FC 2008B 4-2. After suffering a tough 3-1 defeat at the hands of Torpedoes SC U16 Red on Saturday, they finished their weekend strong knocking off Pipeline SC ECNL 3-1.

U17 Championship Division

Playing in the Championship Division on their home turf, Richmond United ECNL 2006 showed throughout the weekend they were more than up for the task, defeating Pipeline SC 2-1 on Sunday to wrap up an undefeated weekend.

Prior to Sunday’s match, they had previously earned victories over DKSC 07 ECNL (3-1)  and Wake FC 07 (5-1). Sunday’s match would be an entirely different test though, facing a Pipeline SC team that had finished atop their flight at the last four Jefferson Cups.

Richmond was prepared though. As they had done all weekend, United pressed the Pipeline defense early with the aim of throwing them off-balance and getting an early lead. Midfielder/Forward Nick Sarantakos slid past the tight Pipeline defense and buried a low shot into the back of the net to give United the lead midway through the first half.

After gaining the early advantage, the United defense was once again called upon to hold back a high press, speedy attack that can create chances from a variety of angles. Led by captain Luis Sanchez and  defenders Clavia Ascari, Carson Davis, Cole Butler, and Cole Draucker Richmond held Pipeline at bay by tightly marking them outside of the eighteen yard box and limiting their passing lanes inside of the box. Any opportunities that did come in were immediately stopped by goalkeepers Adam Erickson and Nathan Hall who both made multiple key saves throughout the match.

Heading into the second half, Richmond started to shift back into the attack more, looking for an insurance goal to give them their team a bit of cushion. Forward Ian Berry wasted little time getting Richmond getting Richmond back on the board early in the second half.

Pipeline would make things interesting late with David Brunetti putting Pipeline on the board with a goal off of a free kick.

“It was a really high level game between two teams that really wanted to perform and very obviously cared about the outcome of this game,” said Richmond United head coach Patrick Hughes. “This is the level that we want to meet and play at and this sets us up to play at the highest level possible. I thought it was a great Showcase for how good our kids are, but also how good their kids are and we look forward to seeing them again.”

“Everything,” Hughes said succinctly when asked about what it means to play in the top flight at the Jefferson Cup and succeed. ” We are here to play the best and they are certainly one of the best and hopefully at the end of this year we are standing in San Diego or Richmond [for the ECNL Playoffs].”

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SYC Springfield MLS Next (2-0-1, 23 points) held onto the second spot in the U17 Championship defeating FC Boston Bolts U17 NAL 3-1 on Sunday. Their lockdown defense only allowed the one goal against the Bolts throughout their time in Richmond, starting the weekend strong with back-to-back to shutout results over SUSA FC 07 ECNL (4-0) and Charlotte SA Academy ECNL (0-0). Throughout all three matches, goalkeeper Zachariah Louness made multiple saves to held slow down opponents early (in particular in the SUSA match) and give their attack the time they needed to get organized.

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After making the long trek from California, Eastshore Alliance ended their time down in Richmond with an emphatic 3-0 victory over St. Paul Blackhawks 2007 Black and a third place showing in the U17 Championship Division.

After narrowly losing to Arlington Soccer 2-1 on match day one and shutting out Bethesda SC 4-0 on Saturday, the California-based team were looking to put together another strong performance on both sides of the pitch.

They were tested early in the match with St. Paul using their speed on the outside to open up play through the middle. They nearly got the opening goal in twelfth minute after hammering a shot from just inside the eighteen yard box. Eastshore Goalkeeper Thomas Eknoian was there to make the initial stop batting the ball down then making a second save off of the rebounding effort.

After stemming St. Paul’s early advances, Eastshore moved into attack mode. Forward/attacking midfielder Jake Goetting worked alongside winger Brody Haims and midfielder Sam Sha on a series of quick one touch passes down the right flank. Their efforts opened up space and forced the close knit St. Paul defense to move out of their comfort zones. In the eighteenth minute, Goetting laid a clever diagonal ball for Haims in dangerous territory but the Berkeley High Schooler was just offside. They would continue to press St. Paul throughout the half with the Blackhawk defense standing firm.

In the second half, Eastshore continued to press forward using their speed on the outside to search for the opening goal. In the 56th minute, their efforts would pay off with midfielder Celian Gout knocking the opening goal in off of a corner.

After conceding, St. Paul went searching for the equalizer hammering Eastshores right side. Abdullahi Geedi slid right through the Eastshore defense and found Lukas Vargas with an enticing goal scoring chance. While his shot was on target Eknoian was there to make the diving stop.

Sensing St. Paul’s attack was looking for their first of the match, Eastshore put them away with back-to-back goals minutes apart. After making the stop, Eknoian kickstarted the counter-attack whipping out a long throw that would end in midfielder Sam Shah getting their second of the match. Gout earned a brace moments later, hitting a high curling effort past the goalkeeper.

“After the first half we were a little too compacted in the middle,” said Rucci-Lewis. “We were just making sure that our midfielders were opening up on both sides so we had the option to switch and penetrate more which I thought was the biggest difference in the second half.”

“I thought it was a pretty even match,” said Rucci-Lewis. “Both teams were trying to combine in small spaces on the grass field. But I thought it was an even match and both teams played well. It really just came down to one or two players playing well and that proved to be the difference.

U19 Championship Division

Pipeline SC 06/05 earned top honors in the U19 Championship Division (2-0-1, 23 points) earning three results in very different fashions. After outlasting Black Rock FC Academy | Northwood U19 Boys in a 4-2 shootout, they soundly defeated NYPFC 2006 Boys 7-0 on Saturday. Sunday would prove to be another tough test for the ECNL North Atlantic Conference team, holding on for a 0-0 draw against Richmond United 05/06 ECNL. Pipeline showed solid defensive across all three matches, tied for the lowest alongside Richmond and Stony Brook LGN SC United B2006 among all U19 Championship Division teams.

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World Class FC ECNL 2006 ECNL (2-0-1, 22 points) also had a strong weekend on the pitch, going undefeated in their three matches in the top age group. After shutting out VDA 2006/05B ECNL (2-0) to start their Showcase weekend, they drew level with New England Surf Navy 2005 Boys 2-2. Their high-scoring attack was once again on point on Sunday, defeating SYC U19B MLS NEXT 4-1 to cap their weekend and give them eight goals total, tied for third most among all U19 teams.

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IFA U19 NAL (2-0-1, 22 points) round out the top three in the U19 Championship Division, having scored ten goals in their three matches (most among all teams). They started their run in fine fashion, defeating STA 05/06B 5-1 on Friday and followed it up with an equally impressive effort on Saturday, besting SYC Springfield 4-2. On Sunday, they drew level with Stony Brook LGN SC United 2006 1-1.