GREENSBORO, North Carolina – Last year, the Houston Express U16 boys soccer team didn't even qualify for the NPL Finals.

Now the Express find themselves just one win away from playing for its national age-group championship.

Thomas Menke scored four goals and assisted on a fifth as the Houston Express dominated Thelo United Galaxy 6-1 on Saturday to win the Flight A title and get the top seed in Sunday's semifinals.

The Express (3-0-0, nine points), the only team in the 12-team field to go undefeated in round-robin play, will play Flight C winner TSF Academy (1-0-2, five points) in one semifinal match. The other semifinal will see Flight B winner SLSG Illinois (2-0-1, seven points) face wild-card qualifier CFC United Azul (2-1-0, six points).

MORE NPL FINALS COVERAGE: Day 3 Stars | Day 2 Highlights | Day 2 Top Players | Day 1 Recap | Day 1 Best Players

The semifinal winners will play on Monday at the Bryan Park Soccer Complex.

Menke put Houston ahead just two minutes into the first half, getting free down the left side and punching his shot past Galaxy keeper Hunter Watkins into the right side of the goal.

Menke scored again seven minutes later, going down the right side before putting his shot into the lower-left corner of the net, and completed the hat trick at the 18^th minute with another goal from the left side.

The Express would go out of the first half leading 4-0 after defender Connor Grace headed in a corner kick at the 32-minute mark.

Menke picked up an assist at the 58^th minute, setting up teammate Douglas Reynolds in front of Thelo United's goal for an easy 10-yarder to put Houston up 5-0.

The Galaxy (1-2-0, three points) broke the Express' shutout in the 61^st minute when Jose Cazun-Rodriguez got a shot past Houston keeper Cesar Carrera, but Menke would pick up his fourth and final goal two minutes later.

 

U14 BOYS

Michigan Wolves 3, Santa Rosa United Arsenal 2

Anthony Tocco II scored three first-half goals and the Wolves held off Arsenal's second-half rally to take the Flight B berth in Sunday's semifinal round.

The Wolves (2-0-1, seven points) will next play Flight A champ Real Colorado SC Athletico (3-0-0, nine points) in the semifinals. The other semifinal match will have Flight C winner Chicago Magic PSD (3-0-0, nine points) take on wild-card qualifier One7 Academy (2-1-0, six points).

Tocco scored all three of his goals over an 11-minute span in the first half to give Michigan a 3-1 halftime lead.

After Luis Arriaga scored in the 15^th minute to put Santa Rosa (1-2-0, three points) ahead, Tocco responded by scoring on a breakaway down the left side at the 22^nd minute to tie the match.

The Wolves then took the lead nine minutes later when Tocco scored on a breakaway down the right side, then repeated his left-side breakaway at the 33^rd minute to complete his hat trick.

Arsenal added a goal nine minutes into the second half, with Bryan Rosales punching in a header off a free kick.

 

U14 GIRLS

Elite Girls Academy Maroon 2, NM Rush 0

The Maroon scored twice in a five-minute span late in the second half to cap an undefeated run through Flight B and advance to Sunday's semifinal round as the No. 2 seed.

Elite Girls Academy (3-0-0, nine points) will next play ISC Gunners A (2-1-0, six points) in one semifinal match, while Flight A winner and top seed NEFC Elite (3-0-0, nine points)  faces FC Stars (2-1-0, six points) in the other semifinal.

NM Rush, which finished in a three-way tie with ISC Gunners and FC Stars, lost out on making the semifinals because of goal differential.

After battling through a scoreless first half, the Maroon broke through in the 69^th minute thanks to a Rush own goal on a free kick. NM Rush goalkeeper Katherine Robertson had intercepted Aubrey Olson's kick, only to see it bounce off one of her teammates and into the net.

Elite Girls Academy added an insurance score with less than a minute remaining in stoppage time, with Mackenzie Coons heading in a corner kick.

 

U15 GIRLS

PDA Impact 0, Tulatin Hills United SC Onyx 0

The Impact and Onyx battled to a scoreless tie to share the Flight C title, with both teams advancing on to Sunday's semifinal round.

PDA Impact (2-0-1, seven points) will play Tulatin Hills United SC (2-0-1, seven points) in the other semifinals.

 

Semifinal Matche

U-14 boys:
Chicago Magic PSG vs. One7 Academy, 11 a.m.
Michigan Wolves vs. Real Colorado, 11 a.m.

U-14 girls:
FC Stars vs. NEFC Elite, 9 a.m.
Elite Girls Academy Maroon vs. ISC Gunners, 9 a.m.

U-15 boys:
FC Dallas Academy vs. Sockers FC, 11 a.m.
Brentwood vs. BW Gottschee Celtic, 11 a.m.

U-15 girls:
Carlsbad Elite vs. Northwest Powell FC United, 11 a.m.
PDA Impact vs. THUSC Onyx, 11 a.m.

U-16 boys:
Houston Express vs. TSF Academy, 9 a.m.
CFC United Azul vs. St. Louis Scott Gallagher (Ill.), 9 a.m.

U-16 girls:
Oakwood SC Pride vs. Rio Rapids Fury, 9 a.m.
MFC Fire Premier vs. NJ Stallions Dynamite, 9 a.m.

U-17 boys:
Placer United vs. Space Coast United, 11 a.m.
Elite SC Premier Black vs. Santa Monica United Blue, 11 a.m.

U-18 boys:
Manhattan Paris St. Germain vs. Washington East SC, 9 a.m.
Cajun SC Fury vs. Soccer Association of Columbia, 9 a.m.