FC Delco Hammerheads claim three-peat
Baltimore Casa Mia Bays continue to defend National title
PKs decide fate in Under-16 boys division
PORTLAND, Maine (July 1, 2008) – Memories were made and champions were crowned at the US Youth Soccer Region I Championships today. The top teams in Region I came together this week with one goal, and that was to take their crown at the US Youth Soccer Region I Championship and advance to Little Rock, Arkansas for the US Youth Soccer National Championships.
Today many reached that goal, but only after putting all their efforts out on the field.
2008 US Youth Soccer Region I Champions
Boys
Under-12 8v8 (NY-W) Rochester Jr. Rhinos
Under-12 (NJ) NJSA 04 Celtics
Under-13 (NY-E) Dix Hills Thunder
Under-14 (NJ) NJSA 04 Gunners
Under-15 (MD) Baltimore Casa Mia Bays 93
Under-16 (PA-E) Lower Merion Velez
Under-17 (PA-E) FC Delco Hammerheads
Under-18 (VA) McLean MPS FC
Under-19 (MD) Freestate United
Girls
Under-12 8v8 (VA) NVSC Jr. Majestics Gold 95
Under-12 (NY-E) Massapequa Stars
Under-13 (MD) Bethesda Freedom
Under-14 (MA) FC Stars of Massachusetts
Under-15 (MA) Scorpions SC Elite
Under-16 (NJ) PDA Fire
Under-17 (PA-E) CRUSA FC Bucks Vipers
Under-18 (PA-E) FC Delco Fury II
Under-19 (PA-E) FC Pennsylvania Strikers
The Under-16 boys Coastal Thunder from host, Maine, once again drew a crowd to cheer them on as they continued in the final round today. After grueling and evenly-matched play against Lower Merion Velez, at the end of regulation, zeros sent the game into overtime. Both teams tried to settle the score and pull ahead, but eventually it came down to a series of PKs. Lower Merion came out on top with a 4:2 score at the end of the five kicks.
Lower Merion keeper, Aidan Gallagher said, “We’ve never really done this well before. I think it’s a total team effort. We’ve really done some hard work in training, and we’ve really improved over the course of this year.”
The hard work in training has paid off for Lower Merion and they have the titles to prove it. This year they won the US Youth Soccer Pennsylvania East State Cup, as well as the US Youth Soccer Region I Premier League. After today’s victory, they boast the title of US Youth Soccer Region I Champions.
It was inevitable that the Under-13 boys division would produce a champion from New York. Today, it was Rochester Jr. Rhinos (NY-W) facing off with Dix Hills Thunder (NY-E). The Thunder held Rochester scoreless and put up goals in the 48th and 62nd minutes of play to take the title of US Youth Soccer Region I Champions and the bragging rights in the state of New York.
The Under-17 girls FC Bucks Vipers (PA-E) and Albertson Fury (NY-E) are accustomed to the play in the US Youth Soccer Region I Championships. Both teams have made numerous appearances at the US Youth Soccer Region I Championship, but neither has ever advanced to the US Youth Soccer National Championships. However, this year ended with a different story.
After losing in the final round of the 2007 US Youth Soccer Region I Championships, the Bucks were on a mission to go all the way in 2008.
Facing Fury today brought back memories of the loss. As Bucks, Jennifer Hoy, pressured the goalie she finally got a foot on the ball to slot it past the keeper early in the 8th minute of the game against Fury. The teams were evenly matched, and despite several shots, Fury was unable to complete a goal. It was a final score of 1:0 that clinched the Bucks spot to advance to the US Youth Soccer National Championships.
“We were in the finals last year and we lost by one. So, this game meant a lot to us to finally break through and get to Nationals (US Youth Soccer National Championships), which is what we’ve been working for,” said Taylor Houck of the Bucks. “Winning is a huge relief. It’s what we’ve been working for all year long and what we’ve been training hard for. We’re just going to keep playing like we’re playing. We played excellent in this tournament, so if we keep it up, who knows how far we can go.”
Hoy said, “We definitely had tough teams. Every game was a battle and we didn’t go into anything thinking we were going to do well. We just played our game.”
Just playing the game is part of the quest to the capturing the coveted title of US Youth Soccer National Champions. One team that has been on the quest many times are the Under-17 boys FC Delco Hammerheads. After today’s game against FC Blazers (MA), Delco chanted “Three-peat” as they walked off the field to take cover from the blazing heat.
This year marks Delco’s 6th appearance at the US Youth Soccer Region I Championships, and their 3rd consecutive title as the US Youth Soccer Region I Champions. Adding to the history, they have played the same team, FC Blazers, in the finals all three years and ended with the same score each time, 2:1.
“Before the tournament even started, I told them it would be a, ‘one game at a time’ approach. We had the toughest bracket and each game was a championship game,” said Delco head coach Adrian Cox. “We executed our game plan. They are all great players, but when you play as a team, special things happen. That’s why this team is so great – because they play for each other. The core group of this team has been together for six or seven years.”
The score was 0:0 until a 63rd minute when Charlie Rugg put on in the back of the net for an FC Blazer 1:0 lead. But, just like 2006 and 2007, Delco came back from behind. Daniel DiLullo evened the score, 1:1, in the 79th, and Wayne Maminski followed up on a missed shot to put one past the keeper in the 81st minute to break the tie and raise the score 2:1.
The feeling of defending their title and once again being named US Youth Soccer National Champions was a driving force behind the Under-15 boys Baltimore Casa Mia Bays 93 as they went into today’s game against Boston Blast (MA). The Bays, Julian Griggs, passed the ball by the keeper in the 14th minute and a mere six minutes later, he headed another one over the keeper to give the Bays an early 2:0 lead.
Griggs said, “Our object is not to lose. We want to defend what we won last year. We won Nationals (US Youth Soccer National Championships), so it was more just for pride to know you’re the best team in Region I.”
Mamadou Kamsaye had a nice touch just outside the 18 to sail the ball past the keeper in minute 50 and followed it up with another sweet touch in the 60th for the Bays to take the 4:0 over the Blast.
Today's scores...
U-12 Boys 8v8 Rochester Junior Rhinos (NY-W) v Spirit United Patriots (PA-E); 2:1
Goal Scorers:
Rochester - 14 (8:00), 6 (58:00)
Spirit - 15 (42:00)
U-12 Boys NJSA 04 Celtics (NJ) v Lehigh Valley United (PA-E); 1:0
Goal Scorers:
NJSA – 6 (48:00)
U-13 Boys Rochester Jr. Rhinos (NY-W) v Dix Hills Thunder (NY-E); 0:2
Goal Scorers:
Dix Hills – 8 (48:00), 22 (62:00)
U-14 Boys NJSA 04 Gunners (NJ) v Spirit United Celtics (PA-E); 2:0
Goal Scorers:
NJSA – 17 (15:00), 2 (56:00)
U-15 Boys Baltimore Casa Mia Bays 93 (MD) v Boston Blast (MA); 4:0
Goal Scorers:
Baltimore – 8 (14:00) (20:00), 18 (50:00) (60:00)
U-16 Boys Lower Merion Velez (PA-E) v Coastal Thunder (ME); 0:0 (PKs - 4:2)
U-17 Boys FC Blazers (MA) v FC Delco Hammerheads (PA-E);1:2
Goal Scorers:
Blazers - Charlie Rugg (63:00)
Hammerheads - Daniel DiLullo (79:00), Wayne Maminski (81:00)
U-18 Boys McLean MPS FC (VA) v Montgomery United (PA-E); 3:2
Goal Scorers:
McLean - John Tiernan (13:00), Uchenna Onyeador (50:00) (60:00)
Montgomery - Cody Antonini (57:00) (62:00)
U-19 Boys Freestate United (MD) v McLean MPS 88 (VA); 1:0
Goal Scorers:
Freestate United – Nirav Kadam (48:00)
U-12 Girls 8v8 Yankee United Comets (CT) v NVSC Jr. Majestics Gold 95 (VA); 1:3
Goal Scorers:
Yankee – 12 (34:00)
NVSC – 8 (8:00), 13 (43:00), 14 (54:00)
U-12 Girls Massapequa Stars (NY-E) v Howell Spirit (NJ); 1:0
Goal Scorers:
Massapequa – 10 (39:00)
U-13 Girls PDA Celtics (NJ) v Bethesda Freedom (MD); 0:1
Goal Scorers:
Bethesda – 2 (13:00)
U-14 Girls FC Stars of Massachusetts (MA) v Chantilly Burn (VA); 2:1
Goal Scorers:
FC Stars – 19 (33:00), 8 (79:00)
Chantilly – 9 (35:00)
U-15 Girls Scorpions SC Elite (MA) v Spirit United Gaels (PA-E); 4:3
Goal Scorers:
Scorpions - 13 (36:00), 5 (43:00), 11 (57:00), 17 (74:00)
Spirit – 21 (19:00), 24 (47:00), 7 (77:00)
U-16 Girls PDA Fire (NJ) v Seacoast United (NH); 2:0
Goal Scorers:
PDA – 4 (26:00), 17 (45:00)
U-17 Girls CRUSA FC Bucks Vipers (PA-E) v Albertson Fury (NY-E);1:0
Goal Scorers:
CRUSA – Jennifer Hoy (8:00)
U-18 Girls FC Delco Fury II (PA-E) v McLean MPS Freedom (VA); 5:0
Goal Scorers:
FC Delco – Kortney Rhodes (11:00) (68:00) (69:00) (85:00), Dana O’Brien (90:00)
U-19 Girls FC Pennsylvania Strikers (PA-E) v Chantilly FCV Cardinals (VA); 2:1
Goal Scorers:
Strikers – Brittiny Rhoades (70:00), Justine Wollner (93:00)
Chantilly – Melisa Krnjaic (80:00)
Continue to follow the action of these teams from the East who have qualified for the US Youth Soccer National Championships at www.championships.usyouthsoccer.org!
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About the US Youth Soccer National Championship Series
The US Youth Soccer National Championship Series provides more than 10,000 teams from US Youth Soccer’s 55 State Associations the opportunity to showcase their abilities against the best in the nation while emphasizing teamwork, discipline and fair play. The yearlong competition begins with over 185,000 players in the US Youth Soccer State Championships. These champions and selected wildcard teams through US Youth Soccer Regional Leagues advance to compete in one of four the US Youth Soccer Regional Championships. Champions (U-14 through U-19) from each regional event advance to the US Youth Soccer National Championships. Adding to the excitement in 2008, the national championships will feature two teams from the newly formed US Youth Soccer National League in the U-15 and U-16 age groups. Overall the US Youth Soccer National Championship Series provides the nation’s top collegiate coaches with the premier stage to identify and scout the most coveted players in the country.
About the United States Youth Soccer Association (US Youth Soccer)
The Game for ALL Kids!® is the largest youth sports organization in the country and largest member of the United States Soccer Federation, the governing body of soccer in the United States. US Youth Soccer registers more than 3.2 million players annually, ages 5 to 19, and over 900,000 administrators, coaches and volunteers in 55 member state associations. US Youth Soccer programs provide a fun, safe and healthy environment for players at every level of the game. For more information, visit www.USYouthSoccer.org.
Media Request: When referring to the United States Youth Soccer Association, the largest youth sports organization in the United States, please refer to the association only as US Youth Soccer, and never as USYS or USYSA. We appreciate your cooperation.
