Every year, the Disney Showcase Qualifier provides a conduit for top teams to qualify for December’s Showcase, which ropes in some of the best U15-U19 teams the nation has to offer. During last weekend’s qualifier at the Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, the top two finishers of each boys and girls age groups booked tickets to the final event later this year. Here’s a glimpse at how it all went down on the boys side.

U15

Red

In Bracket A, the Florida Fire Juniors managed to sneak out of a difficult four-some with two wins and a draw from three games. After thrashing BSA 3-0 to start the event, the Fire wrestled Strictly Soccer FC to a 1-1 draw before topping FKK 2-0 to earn a spot in the semifinals with seven points. Bracket C was a walk for South Orlando SC, which won all three of its games for a semifinal bid. Bracket B was the toughest of the lot, as both Wellington SC (nine points) and JFC (six points) landed in the semis.

Florida Fire and South Orlando both won their semifinals to set up a scintillating title game, which South Orlando won 2-1 to book passage to December’s final showcase. SOSC ended the event with five wins from five games and a 13-2 goal differential.

Black

The Black bracket was considerably tighter, as no team took all nine points from its group. FC Florida came the closest in Bracket A with seven to nab a spot in the knockout stage. Three teams finished on six points in Bracket B, which still only put one in the semifinals. That distinction belonged to West Florida Flames, which got through largely by virtue of a 7-0 victory. United FA and Florida Rush both got through Bracket C on six points to round out the knockout stage. 

FC Florida and United FA both got through the semifinal round on 2-1 results, and FC Florida managed a 2-0 victory in the final to round out the U15 boys offerings later this winter. FC Florida finished the event as the only team in the Black division to avoid a loss. 

U16

Red

Brackets A and B finished nearly identically in this division. Both FC Florida and FC America escaped scrapes with seven points, just one ahead of their closest chasers. That pushed both into the semifinal round, though Bracket C, which housed six teams instead of four, was responsible for the other two. Team Boca utilized a stifling defense to win its group on nine points without conceding, and No. 2 Gulf Coast Texans took the other spot with six points.

Group winners FC Florida and Team Boca won their respective semifinals to set up a memorable title game. Despite having its previously impenetrable defense cracked, Team Boca escaped 3-2 winners to earn a slot at the final showcase.

Black

Everything in the Black division appeared to be tilting toward a Lake County Soccer-Cutler Ridge finale. Lake County scythed through Bracket A with the full nine points and an 8-0 goal differential, while Cutler Ridge did the same in Bracket C, only with a 9-0 edge in those games. But Kendall SC, a second-place finisher in Bracket C, had something to say about the perceived arrangement.

While Cutler Ridge took care of Bracket B winner South Carolina United in one semifinal, Kendall upset Lake County 1-0 in the other to set up a Group C affair in the final. Cutler Ridge managed to take care of business with a 2-0 victory to secure the Black division and join Team Boca in December. 

U17

Red

The U17 ranks were the first to involve an extra Bracket D, which meant all four semifinalists were group winners. In the Red flight, that involved Brevard Soccer Alliance, Mustang SC Barcelona, Pinecrest Premier and OCYS. Mustang and OCYS were the most impressive during the group phase with nine points on lopsided results, and both registered shutouts in the semifinals to set up the final most imagined.

The right to continue play at the Showcase in December was bitterly contested, and the finale lived up to its billing between two of the best teams at the event. Ultimately, OCYS won a 3-2 affair to snap up the bid. OCYS finished the event with five wins from five matches and a 16-3 goal differential.

Black

Three of the four Black flights ended with nine-point winners advancing, which included JFC, San Carlos Park Scorpion and FKK. Strictly Soccer FC held off Leg-A-Z Soccer Caimans to round out the final foursome. JFC and FKK came out of the group with the best differentials, but only JFC moved into the final. They were joined by Strictly Soccer, and JFC rang up four goals in the final to take the spot at the Showcase with a 4-1 victory.

U18-19

Red 

Only two teams managed the full nine group points in the Red flight at the highest age range here, and just one of those made the title game. Both Pinecrest Premier and Miramar United cut through their groups unimpeded, but  they met in the semifinal and Miramar escaped 2-1 winners to set up a finale with JFC, which topped Auburndale 3-0. JFC ran away with a 2-0 victory to push two of its teams past this stage and into the Showcase in December.

Black

Sometimes the wheel of inevitability isn’t interrupted by the underdog, and the Black flight proved that sensibility in spades. Plantation FC managed to take all nine points from the only six-team group by hardly breaking a sweat, and while they had to fight for the title, it was ultimately theirs. They brushed past Bracket C winner Houston Dynamo Tampa 3-2 in the semis before taking down Coral Gables Toros 1-0 in the finale to nab the spot in the Showcase. Plantation FC only surrendered two goals in its five games.