The men’s groups played their last day of pool day at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports and are awaiting Tuesday’s game to earn their trophies.

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Carolina Elite SA CESA U16 (SC) 3-1 Yardley Makefield Soccer Premier U16 (PA)

CESA came out quick and put in two goals before the 17th minute had ended. They dominated possession time and the entire tempo of the game in route to their 3-1 victory over Yardley.

“We knew going into today that this was going to be a formidable opponent,” said Nick Finotti, head coach of Carolina Elite SA CESA. “I thought we started very well. We were able to find our rhythm early on, and scoring early changed the complexion of the game.”

It was Nassim Al Naswasreh that put CESA out to a quick lead as he scored the first two goals. His first came in the seventh minute when Dante Andre headed a ball to him before he finished. His second goal was a scorcher. Naswasreh sent a laser beamed shot from outside the box on net that found the back right to make it a 2-0 game.

Yardley’s Zachary Lobasso tried to amp his team up after CESA’s second tally, and went on a run down the left sideline. In the 18th minute, Lobasso cut toward the middle and let off a rocket, but his drive was just off target and hit the right post. Yardley had another prime chance on a ball by Zachary Keane that started with a free kick. The original shot by Keane sailed into the box, and as both teams scrambled to find a good foot on the ball CESA’s Mitchell Myers was able to clear the ball out of danger on the goal line.

Yardley’s luck looked to change in the 54th minute. They finally got one to go, and cut into CESA’s lead. The ball was knocked into the top left corner by Lobasso on a touch from Eric Kersten. Although, that goal would come too little too late, and CESA’s offense never shut down. Quinn McNeil made it a 3-1 game when he put the ball into the bottom left after he snuck by two defenders.

Lobos Rush Premier U16 (TN) 2-1 Concorde Fire Elite U16 (GA)

Lobos got a tally in the second minute to open up scoring early and made a statement against a tough Concorde team. Concorde had the majority of chances, but they just couldn’t sneak one by Lobos’ goalkeeper, Padraic Gilley until it was too late.

“The kids wanted to prove something today,” said Diego Zaltron, head coach of Lobos Rush Premier. “They came out strong and I think that dictated the game.”

Logan Garner got Lobos going in the second minute of the game as he made it 1-0 on a ball from Caleb Tammi. Tammi chipped the ball up from just beyond midfield, Garner controlled it, beat a defender and sent a chip of his own that went up and over Jermey Lewis, Concorde’s keeper.

The rest of first half’s chances belonged to Concorde, but they couldn’t beat Gilley. Ethan Duncan had back-to-back shots that were saved by a sliding Gilley, Maverick Lobo sailed a shot slightly over the crossbar and Derrin Valeri had a nifty play to put up a shot on goal. Valeri received a pass from Alec Supinski that was a bit behind him, but Valeri played it with the back of his foot for a nice chance that had both sidelines cheering.

Lobos’ Christopher Hardy put the game out of reach in the 68th minute when he tallied their second marker of the match. Bradley Pounds and Hardy were on a two on one break when Pounds passed the ball to Hardy who sidestepped the keeper and dribbled the ball across the goal line into the net.

Maverick Lobo almost dashed Lobos’ dreams when he sent a shot past their keeper in the 79th minute, but the lack of stoppage time stopped the comeback of Concorde just shy of a tie.

Houstonians FC U17 (TX) 1-1 FC Alliance Black U17 (TN)

Houstonians FC staved off an early penalty kick that put it down a man in the 17th minute, but didn’t get down on itself which allowed for a tie. FC Alliance couldn’t use their man advantage to turn the stalemate into a win, however.

“I’m proud because the guys played with a man down,” said Luis Arias, head coach of Houstonians FC. “It was good effort from the guys. They gave 100 percent.”

Houstonians FC went down a man in the 17th minute because of hand ball in the box that resulted in a red card. The card then caused a penalty kick for FC Alliance which was taken by John Totten, but saved by a diving Giancarlo Ayanegui.

Dami Omitaomu almost put FC Alliance ahead in the 20th minute before he actually put them ahead, 1-0, in the 24th. Omitaomu’s first shot was a strike from the top of the box that found its way to Ayanegui’s mitts. His second shot just four minutes later would have a favorable result for FC Alliance as he found himself alone and faked out Ayanegui before rolling the ball into an empty net.

It didn’t take long for Houstonians FC to strike back, though. Carlos Valdez put a nicely touched ball onto the foot of Giovanni Sanchez, who cut to the outside and put the ball past the keeper on the far side in the 39th minute.

The remainder of the game was mostly played at midfield before FC Alliance’s Taylor Rudolph had the last chance and found open space, driving a shot off the crossbar.

Florida Rush U16 (FL) 2-0 Arlington SA Attack Red U16 (VA)

Florida capitalized on an early mishap by Arlington’s goalkeeper, Daniel Kuzemka, and the remainder of the game was mainly played at midfield. Although Arlington had the majority of the chances in the game, they couldn’t find space to get the ball behind Florida’s keeper.

“[It was] basically a game of just grinding,” said Steven Shehan, head coach of Florida Rush. “It was too much of a physical battle game to get any rhythm going … There was a lot of contact and fifty-fifty balls.”

After a stalemate between squads, Florida caught a break in its home state in the 21st minute when Maxmillian Friederich put a prayer on net from around midfield. Kuzemka tried to play the ball on the short hop, but he misplayed it and the ball slipped between his legs into the back of the net.

Arlington had the next four chances before Florida was able to break the plain and put a good ball on net. Arlington’s first two tries came from the foot of Nikolas Jackson, but both shots were saved by Florida’s keeper. The next two were off of free kicks; the first from Jack Kurz that sailed high and the second from Preston Haugh which was saved.

Florida found the net again, this one came in stoppage time. Austin Danna found space and made no mistake as he put a laser beam into the back of the net to give his team a 2-0 victory.