Thrilling finishes at Region I Championships

July 6, 2011

Lancaster, Penn. – Eighteen teams won their way to Region 1 Championship here on Tuesday, with U14 and older squads booking their ticket to the National Championship in Arizona later in the month.

It was the first time the tournament was held in the Lancaster area, and for the most part it seemed to be go smoothly, although the manicured fields at Classics Soccer Park certainly took a beating during the five days of play and bright sunshine.

Below is a featured match report. Scroll down for final results courtesy of U.S. Youth Soccer

U15 Boys: New Jersey’s SDFC Gauchos, 4; Maryland’s OBGC Rangers, 3

This thrilling game could be called the antidote for those who say that soccer is low scoring and boring. The Rangers, who have looked unstoppable all through the tournament, played their usual lovely possession game for most of the 120 minutes. But while the Rangers seemed to run out of gas as the game wore on, the Gauchos put their feet on the gas pedal, or their spurs into their proverbial horses sides, and kicked their way to a victory that seemed very unlikely when they gave up three goals in a row and were down 1 to 3.

U15 SDFC Gauchos

The game started out auspiciously for the Gauchos who seemed to catch what had been an airtight Rangers defense slightly unaware when just a minute or so after the initial whistle Gauchos player Harrison Steadman fed a nice outlet pass to the onrushing Jose Meza, who finished brilliantly putting the Gauchos up 1 to 0. The Gauchos had advanced to the final by defeating Virginia’s FC Red 5 to 2 on Monday.

The Rangers, who had defeated New Jersey’s TSF Academy Ginga 2 to 0, in Monday’s semi-final, began quickly working to right the ship. About 20 minutes into the half, following lots of back and forth action from both teams, Rangers midfielder Matt Danilack sent a nice pass up to forward Jeremy Obobisse, who received the ball with his back the goal, put a nice move on his defender and shot beautifully to even the score.

Just a minute or so later, Rangers player Babatunji Osifeso received a pass outside the 18-yard box, and dribbled toward the end line before getting off a great shot to put the Rangers up 2 to 1.

The 2 to 1 score held through the half, although both teams were working hard and creating chances. Brendan Burke, the Rangers courageous and athletic goalkeeper leaped to save a dangerous Gauchos corner and a fantastic Gauchos free kick.

The second half began with a shred of cloud cover cooling the effect of the blazing sun for a few minutes. The Rangers at first seemed determined to take care of business. Rangers midfielder Gedion Zelalem, who was quite masterful in his distribution all week, passed a ball up to Obobisse, who again received the ball with his back to the goal, turned to beat his defender and dribbled into the box before unleashing a shot for his second goal and his team’s third.

It has often been said that there is nothing more dangerous than a two-goal lead because two goals seem like a big cushion on which a team can sit and rest for a little while. That seemed to be what happened to the Rangers. As the Gauchos’ legs seemed to move quicker to ever ball, and the Rangers seemed to get a little slower.

The ball was sent nicely into the box where there was a scramble and Make Sorin pushed it into the goal with what looked like his chest.

Suddenly the Gauchos were in the game and the Rangers seemed to have trouble getting the ball back up the slight incline toward the Gauchos’ goal.

When the Rangers did get the ball back up the hill and into the Gauchos half, they performed their attractive, Barcelona-style passing sequences, passing the ball in and out across the field, but they did not capitalize on the possession. With about ten minutes left in regulation, a collision resulted in a Rangers player staying down for a while and then being escorted off by trainers.

The Gauchos, who had been running – and often chasing – all half, finally found that their efforts paid off. Alexander Patel passed a ball to Carter Spyrka, who knocked the ball casually into the corner of the box. Rangers goalkeeper Burke, who had been leaping and diving and saving everything, could do nothing as the ball slowly rolled across the goal line, earning the Gauchos a 3 to 3 tie.

Although the Gauchos did seem to have a little more energy in the two 15-minute over-time periods, both teams still had some lovely moments of soccer. Rangers defender Karl Brown went on a few inspired runs and had one brilliant but slightly wide shot.

The first 15-minute overtime was scoreless. About five minutes into the second overtime, Rangers were pressing forward for their go ahead goal when suddenly Gaucho Alexander Patel won the ball and turned to fire a long hard, and perfect angled pass up the field to Jose Mesa, who put on a burst of sped that belied the fact that all the boys had been playing for two hours in 90-degree temperatures. Mesa finished his blinding run up the field with a few quick touches that got him with close range and then fired a hard shot that Burke could only dive toward.

And the amazing comeback was complete. The Gauchos won their first Region 1 Championships 4 to 3.

Gauchos coach Jorden Scott, who is also an assistant coach at Manhattan College, said the boys’ preparation for the tournament included a lot of individual ball work and conditioning. Winning goal scorer Jose Mesa, agreed, saying that the team’s players would also get together on their own to practice. Of the final, Mesa, added, “We gave it our all today.”

In other news: Fred Marks, the head coach of the Massachusetts U16 Girls Scorpions, said his team is thrilled to have qualified for the US Youth Soccer national championship later this month in Arizona. They had already qualified for the eight-team Elite Clubs National League championships next week in Colorado. It will be from there on to Arizona for the US Youth Soccer National Championship.

The Scorpions defeated Bethesda 1 to 0 in the final day of play. Left back Samantha Alves, ran onto a ball that had been deflected after a set play and launched a hard low shot that snuck into the lower right corner of the goal. After that, the Scorpions, who had already scored 19 goals in the tournament, played a little more defensively than usual, Marks said. Of the overall tournament, Marks said, “We scored a lot of goals… Our attackers were relentless and our defenders held strong.”

Tuesday Results (Courtesy U.S. Youth Soccer):

U12 Girls: PDA O'Reilly (NJ) 2, Albertson Red 98 Fury (ENY) 0

U12 Boys: Beachside SC (CT) 1, Holmdel (NJ) 0

U12 Girls (8v8): Empire United (NYW) 4, Richmond Kickers Elite (VA) 0

U12 Boys (8v8): Braddock Road YC (VA) 2, Nordic SC (VT) 1

U13 Girls: PDA Arsenal (NJ) 3, Oakwood SC Pride (CT) 2,

U13 Boys: Bethesda Lions (MD) 4, Arlington Impact Red (VA) 1

U14 Girls: Match Fit Chelsea Colchester (NJ) 1, PDA Clash (NJ) 0

U14 Boys: Smithtown Arsenal (ENY) 3, Manhattan SC (ENY) 1

U15 Girls: PDA Slammer (NJ) 4, SAC United Premier (MD) 1

U15 Boys: SDFC Gauchos (NJ) 4, Olney BGC Rangers (MD) 3

U16 Girls: Scorpions Elite (MA) 1, Bethesda Freedom (MD) 0