US Youth Nationals: Championship Sunday

by US Youth Soccer

July 28, 2014

GERMANTOWN, Md. (July 27, 2014) — The remaining champions were crowned Sunday at the 2014 US Youth Soccer National Championships, presented by the National Guard, at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Germantown, Md. The country’s top teams in the Under-14 through Under-18 Boys Girls age groups met to conclude the final stage of the 2014 US Youth Soccer National Championship Series. Sunday’s final matchups featured teams who earned the right to play for their respective National titles through success in group play and victories in their semifinal games.

Beach FC (CA-S) was the lone club to claim two National Championship titles (Under-16 Girls and Under-18 Girls), while DMCV Sharks Elite (CA-S) was the only defending National Champion to successfully defend its crown in 2014.

On Saturday night, the Under-13 and Under-19 National Championship finals were played, as Under-19 Concorde Fire Elite (GA) claimed the 79th James P. McGuire Cup title. A complete recap of last night’s games is available here.

MORE US Youth coverage: Sunday's best | Top boys performers | Semifinal standouts: boys & girls

A few highlights from Sunday’s final matches…

Girls Championship Finals

NEFC Elite (MA) won the Under-14 Girls Championship, after defeating 2013 champs Legends FC 99 (CA-S) 2-0 with overtime goals. Both teams had chances during regulation but the score stayed at 0-0 resulting in overtime. NEFC reentered the field focused, and produced quick results a minute into overtime. Taylor Kofton attacked through the midfield, went around Legends’ defense, and crossed to Taylor Sherman who put it away in the back of the net. The goal lifted NEFC’s spirits and in the 82nd minute Makenna Hunt won a tackle, passed to Marykate McGuire, and McGuire worked her way around the keeper and tapped it in for the win. The shot was McGuire’s seventh overall goal making her the leading goal scorer in the U-14 Girls age group.

Jacksonville FC 98/99 Elite (FL) took home the Under-15 Girls championship after defeating YMS Premier Xplosion 98 (PA-E) 1-0. Sophia Thompson scored for the lone goal for Jacksonville in the 64th minute and their backline protected the tally for the remainder of the match to win. Jacksonville FC was undefeated in all five tournament matches.

Beach FC 97 Academy (CA-S) defeated Tampa Bay United 97 Premier (FL) in penalty kicks to take home the Under-16 Girls championship. After regulation and overtime, the match remained scoreless resorting to penalty kicks to determine a winner. Keeper Imani McDonald was the heroine of the match making four big saves for Beach FC in the first, second, fifth and sixth deciding round. Beach outscored Tampa Bay 3-2 in PK’s with goals by Jessica Johnson, Maxine Nagramada and Rocio Rodriguez.

DMCV Sharks Elite (CA-S) earned back-to-back national titles after defeating VSA Heat 96 Blue (VA) 1-0 in the Under-17 Girls final. The Cal South side retained their crown with a goal halfway through the second half from a corner kick play. Julianne M De Armas sent the corner to the middle of the box and DMCV midfielder Gianna Montini headed it into the back of the net for the win. National League team DMCV Sharks Elite finished the tournament undefeated in all matches.

Beach FC Ingrassia (CA-S) beat defending champion Cleveland United White (OH-N), 2-0, with a pair of goals by Ashley Gonzales to earn the Under-18 Girls championship. National League opponents Beach and Cleveland finished the first half of the match scoreless. Ashley outshined for Beach at the end of the match when she broke the stalemate in the 72nd minute of play. She kept the momentum going and got an additional goal in the 89th minute to secure the 2-0 win for Beach FC. Beach got through preliminary play with a perfect 3-0-0 record, scored 13 goals in five tournament matches, and conceded zero goals to merit the U-18 Girls Frank Kelly Cup.

Boys Championship Finals

United FA 00 Elite (GA) faced off in the Under-14 National Championship final against Real Colorado National 99/00 (CO). In a tough first-half battle, the deadlock was broken when Andrew Carleton found the back of the net in the 33rd minute of play. United picked up in the second half right where it left off when Carlos Reyes scored just two minutes after the break. William Crain made the score 3-0 for United and Carleton grabbed his second in the 60th minute to finish off the scoring. With the 4-0 win, United claimed the Under-14 Boys National Championship title.

In the Under-15 Boys final, it took Pateadores San Diego (CA-S) just 12 minutes to find the back of the net with a goal from Angel De Leon. Edgar Mejia Nunez and teammate Christopher DePetro added to the Pateadores lead, as it went to halftime leading, 3-0. A United own goal increased Pateadores’ lead to 4-0 early in the second half, but United responded just three minutes later on a goal from Juan Sebastian Olivares to prevent Pateadores from getting a clean sheet. Nunez scored his second goal of match in the final minutes to secure Pateadores’ 5-1 win and the Under-15 Boys title.

Ninety minutes couldn’t separate Baltimore Celtic 97/98 (MD) and OP Eagles Green (OH-S) in the Under-16 Boys National Championship final, and it took penalty kicks to decide the winner. Aquinas Akinlosotu put the Maryland side up after converting a penalty kick late in the first half. The leading scorer in the age-group, Emmanuel Dapaa, leveled the score early in the second half with a free kick goal. Neither team could score for the rest of regulation or over time, and they went to penalty kicks. The Baltimore Celtic keeper made two saves, and his teammates converted all their kicks to give Celtic the Under-16 Boys National Championship title.

The Under-17 Boys final was a battle until the very end between Region I Champions Manhattan SC PSG 96 (NY-E) and Region III Champions FC Dallas Youth 97 Premier (TX-N). The game was full of tough physical play and neither team could find a goal in the first half. PSG started pushing hard late in the game and earned a corner kick in the 84th minute of play. Jack Harrison whipped in a hard corner that was headed home by center back Sean Fitzgerald for the game winner. PSG held off any last minute FC Dallas attacks to win the Under-17 Boys National Championship.

Santa Barbara FC White (CA-S) made good on its first trip to Nationals by winning the Under-18 Boys National Championship title with a 3-0 victory over Lehigh Valley United 95 (PA-E). Santa Barbara pulled ahead early after Geoffrey Acheampong scored on a well-placed penalty kick. The California side led 1-0 into halftime thanks to a couple key saves from Santa Barbara keeper Robert Soto. Santa Barbara pulled away when Miguel Padron volleyed a cross to the back post, and Abu Danladi sealed the win minutes later by sliding his shot past the keeper in one-on-one situation. Santa Barbara’s defense held on for the shutout to become the Under-18 Boys National Champions.