Second day complete at 2015 US Youth Soccer Region I Championships
Preliminary games day 2 of 3 complete
Barboursville, W.Va. (Via US Youth Soccer) – The second day of preliminary matches has concluded for the US Youth Soccer Region I Championships at the Scott Orthopedic Soccer Complex, the Soccer Stadium at Marshall University and Barboursville Soccer Complex in Barboursville, W.Va.
While some teams have already secured their spot in Monday’s semifinals, the fate of most will be decided Sunday for the chance to advance.
Under-13 Boys PDA Kaka White (NJ) fell just short last year in the 2014 Regional Championships in the final game as an Under-12 team but are looking forward this year to not only win Regionals, but now have a chance to advance to the National Championships as they play in the Under-13 age-group.
“I grew up playing in state tournaments and regionals and nationals, and for us at the time there was nothing better,” said PDA Head coach Dave Boutilier. “I think it’s a similar environment for the kids today. It’s great to put them under some pressure and see how you stack up against some of the best players in the country and in our Region.”
“It would be monumental for us to advance to the National Championships. It would be the perfect ending for kids that have worked so hard. No one here is selfish, and they’ve known what the goal was since last August. Seeing them advance, after losing two regional finals as a coach, and player, would be such an amazing feeling.”
Notes from a few of today’s games…
Under-13 Boys
PDA Kaka White (NJ) won their second game match up against Rams FC Manchester (RI) 1-0 and with some help in the other game in their group have sealed their place in the Under-13 Boys semifinals Monday.
“We definitely had a slow start,” said PDA Head Coach Dave Boutilier. “After a big win yesterday, I think there was a lot of pressure on us and this was kind of a letdown game in the first half.”
Coach Boutilier continued, “After a few switches and talking at halftime I think we turned the tide. The possession was better, the battling was better, picking up loose balls, got a pretty early goal and settled into the game and took it over from there.”
PDA’s Alex Caputo scored the lone goal of the game in the 44th minute of the match to give his side the 1-0 win.
Under-15 Girls
Penn Strikers (PA-E) matched up in their second game of the 2015 Region I Championships against Delaware Rush 99 (DE) as they look to win Regionals to follow in the footsteps of former Penn Strikes teams that have gone to Nationals. Delaware Rush had other ideas and came out and grabbed the game’s only first half goal in the 21st minute when Shannon Oakes found the back of the net. Kayala Mesaros helped Penn Strikers fight back and in the 60th minute as she scored to level the score at 1-1. Penn Strikers couldn’t find the winning goal, and will now have to wait until game three to see if they will advance to the semifinals. After falling in the Regional finals last year, Penn Strikers will look to give their club another chance to advance to the National Championships where they last attended in 2013. A win in their final game will clinch them a spot into the semifinals.
Under-17 Boys
Under-17 Boys Lehigh Valley United 97 (PA-E) took control of their group after a great 3-1 win over PDA Pele (NJ), a semifinalist in last year’s Regional event. LVU struck first in the 17th minute when Evan Vare found the back of the net. PDA struck back in the 32nd minute with a Jose Mejia goal. The teams dueled away in the second half and LVU would grab the game winner with a goal from John Painter. LVU’s Travis Keil added a final goal in the 84th minute to bring the final score to 3-1.
Under-18 Girls
Both Beadling Gunners (PA-W) and AFC Buffalo Legends (NY-W) came into the second day with wins in their opening matches. With a trip to the semifinals on the line Beadling took advantage early. An Abby Losco cross found Jane Schliecher for a goal in just the 13th minute of play. Legends had a chance to tie up the game when Mackenzie Luiz sped around the Beadling defense but her shot pinged off the post and was cleared by the Beadling defense. After a back and forth first half the score remained 1-0. Beadling put their foot on the gas in the second half and didn’t look back. Schliecher scored again early in the second and then teammate Juliana Vasquez scored a goal when she found an errant keeper distribution at her feet. Schliecher grabbed her hat-trick late in the second half off a cross from Katherine Felitsky. The ball bounced around in the box and Schliecher tucked it home. Schliecher wasn’t finished and added the game’s final goal in the final minute for her fourth of the game. With the 5-0 victory, Beadling will now advance to the semifinal game.
“It’s been a good year and the girls are doing well,” said Beadling Head Coach Erik Duffy. “We have our eye on some other teams in the other brackets. If we don’t play quality soccer against them we won’t win our semifinal game.
“It would be special if we could win Regionals and advance to Nationals. This year these girl have won State Cup and Region I Champions League and haven’t lost a game all year. So to keep it going and to get to Oklahoma would be a nice way to end their careers if we can’t put a team together next season.”
Regional winners of the Under-13 through Under-19 age groups earn a berth to the 2015 US Youth Soccer National Championships to be played July 21-26, at Mohawk Soccer Complex.
