GREENSBORO, North Carolina – If the Eastern FC Lancers U17 boys soccer team needed to point to a “must win” game this year, its round-robin match Friday at the NPL Finals will certainly fit the bill.

The Lancers pulled out a 1-0 victory over the Chicago Fire Juniors of Mississippi to remain tied for the Flight A lead heading into Saturday's final round-robin game at the Bryan Park Soccer Complex.

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Ian Warren's goal late in the second half broke a scoreless tie, and sends Eastern FC (2-0, six points) on to a matchup against Flight A co-leader Placer United 97B Gold (2-0, six points) Saturday afternoon.

“We definitely needed this,” Lancers head coach Ray Franklin said. “We're in a group of four, which is a killer. This was definitely a must-win game. I came down with a better squad than I've had in the past. I came down here with 21 guys, and we only had 18 last year.”

The winner of Saturday's game gets Flight A's automatic berth in the U17 boys semifinals, while the loser will have to hope it has enough points to wrest the fourth and final spot away from the remaining Flight B teams.

Yet in the first half, it appeared that the Chicago Fire Juniors (0-2-0) were in command of Friday's match, keeping the ball on the Lancers' end of the field for most of the half and making Eastern FC goalkeeper Joseph Argento work for the shutout. Argento kept the Chicago Fire Juniors from scoring, pulling off saves on four seperate corner-kick opportunities and getting his hands on several other scoring chances.

“We just couldn't get out,” Franklin said. “We couldn't figure out the long-ball situation. We had to adjust a little bit, but I told the guys at halftime 'We've got to adjust, we've got to work hard and we've got to get that ball wide.' If we could get the ball wide, we can expose their weakness.”

Eastern FC finally broke through with less than five minutes remaining. Steven Hernandez took the ball down the right side before firing off a crossing shot that Warren punched past Chicago Fire Juniors keeper Hill Belding for the match's only goal.

However, Hernandez' availability for Saturday's match – not to mention the rest of the tournament – is in doubt after suffering a knee injury on a hard foul with less than two minutes remaining.

The Chicago Fire Juniors close out their round-robin play Saturday against Space City FC (0-2-0).

 

U15 Boys

Sockers FC 3, XiFA 2017 0

Sockers FC won its first match and remained in contention for the Flight B semifinal berth with its shutout victory over XiFA 2017.

Lucas Geib put Sockers FC (1-0-1, four points) ahead with a goal midway through the first half, and Aidan Megally added two insurance goals, one in each half.

Shawn Chervets and Alexander Reckstaetter split time in goal during Sockers FC's shutout.

Geib scored when he collared a rebound off XiFZ 2017 keeper Brady Sohn and put it into the empty net for Sockers FC's first goal of the tournament.

A few minutes later, a hard tackle inside the penalty box gave Sockers FC a free kick, with Megally putting it under Sohn's right hand for a 2-0 halftime lead.

Megally added his second goal early in the second half, taking Benny Masi's crossing shot from point-blank range to the back of the net.

Sockers FC takes on Flight B leader Brentwood NPL-98 (2-0-0, six points) in its final round-robin match. The winner will get the Flight B semifinal berth.

XiFA 2017 (0-2-0) will wrap up tournament play against Charlotte United Futbol Club Gold (0-1-1, one point).

 

U14 Boys

Real Colorado SC 2, Chicago Fire of Mississippi 0

Real Colorado SC scored twice in a seven-minute span late in the second half to remain undefeated and unscored on in Flight A of the U14 Boys division.

Liam Johnson put Real Colorado SC (2-0, six points) ahead with nine minutes left in the second half, punching in teammate Gideon Davis' crossing shot from inside 10 yards.

Seven minutes later, a hard tackle inside the penalty box gave Real Colorado SC a penalty kick, with Noah Hilt putting it past Chicago Fire of Mississippi goalkeeper Reed Peets.

Real Colorado SC will next face FSA FC (2-0, six points) in Saturday's opening game, with the winner earning one of four semifinal berths.

Chicago Fire of Mississippi (0-2), which has gone scoreless in its two round-robin games, closes out round-robin play against the West Florida Flames (0-2).

 

U15 Girls

Sporting Blue Valley Rowdies 0, NEFC Elite 0

The Sporting Blue Valley Rowdies remained in contention for Flight A's semifinal berth after battling to a shutout draw against NEFC Elite.

The Rowdies (1-0-1, four points) are now tied with Northwest United FC (1-0-1, four points) for the flight lead, with the two teams playing each other in the flight's final round-robin match.

Megan Swanson got the shutout in goal for Sporting Blue Valley, while NEFC Elite used two keepers – Sarah Williams and Emma Picaro – in goal.

NEFC Elite (0-0-2, two points), which has tied both of its matches, closes out round-robin play against Triangle United (0-2-0).