USL News Release
Tuesday, November 25, 2008 TAMPA – Jakeem Johnson netted the only goal of the match for TSF Academy, who won the U17 boys’ North American Final, 1-0 over fellow Mid Atlantic club, Parsippany SC. The match was one of 10 championship games played today at Ed Radice Sports Complex in Tampa, Florida. The U16 boys division was won by Mountain WFC, 2-0 over TSF Academy. The U15 boys match between the Harrisburg City Islanders Academy and West Coast FC ended 3-0 in favor of the Southern Californians. The Cal Odyssey bested PDA, 1-0 to claim the U14 boys championship and Diablo FC beat the U13 PDA boys’ in a shootout, taking home the title via a 5-3 penalty kick decision that followed the 2-2 stalemate.
U17 Boys Championship The first half of the boys’ U17 finale between TSF Academy and Parsippany played to the favor of TSF, who gelled during the North American Finals tournament the last five days. Parsippany was limited to defending for long stretches as TSF controlled the ball and attacked wide, sending numerous balls into the area for Johnson.
“Things were not looking good for us after the second day of this tournament,” said TSF Academy Head Coach Zico Nunes. “We lost 5-0 on Saturday to the Fort Wayne Fever, but the guys really came together after that loss. The next day, we went out and beat Miami Strike Force 6-0, and they were a team that beat Fort Wayne 2-0. There was a lot of parity in the tournament, a lot of players who have strong Division I careers ahead of them.”
On the goal, which came at the midway point of the second half, Joshua Delva found room from his midfield position to take a shot on net. The ball dipped quickly as it entered the area and Johnson, a formidable target forward, was in perfect position to tip it over the on-rushing goalkeeper for a 1-0 lead.
Parsippany increased their pace of play following the goal, but the side could not put enough passes together to seriously challenge the opposing keeper.
“Parsippany is a strong team,” said Nunes. “We played them during the regular season and won 2-0, but they have a lot of experienced players on that team, a few players that were here last season.”
“This was our first time at the Super Y-League North American Finals,” added Nunes. “A lot of our players stepped up, especially today since we were without our captain, Daniel Friga, who had six goals in this tournament (Friga was shown a soft red card in TSF’s 1-0 semifinal win over the South Jersey Barons yesterday).
Left back Kolben Pritchard was one of several unsung heroes TSF called upon to champion the U17 division. The sturdy defender played shutdown defense in the back and still managed to get forward and join the attack on numerous occasions.
“Pritchard had an excellent game today,” said Nunes. “He shut down Parsippany’s dangerous wingers today, and did just as well yesterday against South Jersey to get us into this match.”
U16 Boys Championship (Vancouver Whitecaps Press Release –
www.whitecapsfc.com/youth)
Mountain WFC U-16 Boys are 2008 USL Super Y-League North American champions after a 2-0 victory over TSF Academy in the final on Tuesday.
Looking for their fifth-straight win in the finals at the Ed Radice Park Stadium in Tampa, Florida, Burnaby’s Alex Yoon gave Les Krivak’s side a halftime lead before Port Moody’s Sasha Vukovic sealed the title with a second-half penalty. The win is Mountain’s first-ever Super Y-League championship in only their second year as a Vancouver Whitecaps FC and BCSA affiliate club, and the second Super Y-League title for the Whitecaps since the 2004 season. That year, the Whitecaps U-13 Boys were crowned North American champions.
With players and parents from other Mountain teams cheering on the U-16 Boys in the final, the Lower Mainland-based team enjoyed a good start to the final versus their opponents from New Jersey, as the significance of the match had little impact on the performance of Krivak’s youngsters. In fact, Mountain took a 1-0 lead into the break, as good combination play from a throw-in allowed substitute Yoon to get in behind the TSF Academy backline before slotting the ball into the back of the net.
A goal behind, TSF Academy pressed forward soon after the restart, as they searched for a way back into the contest. Mountain, however, remained resolute in their defending and were eventually rewarded with a crucial second goal. Yoon got on the end of a cross in the TSF Academy box before playing the ball off of an opponent’s hand to earn Mountain a penalty. Vukovic stepped up to convert the spot kick and confirm Mountain’s championship.
Speaking after Tuesday’s final, Krivak felt the team’s confidence grew with every win they claimed over the past weekend. "We knew we had a chance of success because the squad is a tight-knit group," he told whitecapsfc.com. "However, I thought the boys believed we could win the title after the first two games. We knew we had lots of quality up front and the ability to score lots of goals. Our only concern, however, was with our defensive backline, as we had some injuries in that area before the tournament. Even though we had only one training session to work on our defensive shape before the finals, we did very well in recording four clean sheets."
Krivak, who also serves as an assistant coach in the Whitecaps Prospects program, was thoroughly delighted for his players’ success. "I’m really happy for the boys, as they really earned what they have achieved," he said. "I’m proud to be part of Mountain WFC this year and to have been selected as coach of this team. From the first day, the team was very professional and never caused any sort of trouble. We received plenty of compliments from those that watched us play down here in Florida, especially as to how we carried ourselves as a team and as individuals."
The squad in Florida included three members of the Whitecaps Delta Prospects Academy. They are North Delta goalkeeper Toscanny Pandu-Oesman, Surrey defender Kyle Knees, and New Westminster midfielder Nolan Moore.
Mountain’s road to the championship could not have been more perfect, as the U-16 Boys claimed wins in all five of their matches in Florida. Drawn in Group B, Krivak’s side started with a 3-0 victory over Northern Virginia Royals on Friday before two goals by Yoon led Mountain to another 3-0 result - this time against Florida’s Schulz Academy on Saturday. Their place in the semifinals was confirmed when they defeated Pennsylvania’s Super Nova FC 4-3 in an entertaining contest on Sunday.
Mountain then reached the final with a 1-0 victory over another undefeated side in California’s CZ Elite Soccer on Monday, with striker Matthias Kempe heading home the winning goal.
It was during the summer that Krivak’s squad earned their November trip to Florida, as they finished top of the U-16 Boys Pacific Northwest division with a record of 7-2-1. They edged Abbotsford Mariners by two points in the standings, having scored a total of 31 goals during the course of their 10-match regular season schedule. The division also included Whitecaps and BCSA affiliate Coastal WFC, Thompson Okanagan, Washington Crossfire, and Yakima Reds.
The Whitecaps wish to congratulate Mountain U-16 Boys and their coaching staff on being crowned North American champions, as well as Coastal WFC, Mountain WFC, and Surrey WFC on their 2008 Super Y-League campaigns.
U13 Boys Championship
“It wasn’t pretty,” said Diablo FC Head Coach Marquis White. “But this team did anything they could to win this championship.”
Following a back-and-forth 2-2 stalemate after 100 minutes of soccer, Diablo FC converted all five of their penalty attempts to win the U13 boys championship. PDA failed to convert their second attempt, and the two-goal lead was insurmountable after Travis Volpe netted his attempt to push the score to 5-3.
“Sean Hart stepped up for the first time all year for us,” said White. “He was the player of the tournament for us and he couldn’t have picked a better time to play his best. Elisama Padilla is also deserving of some praise. He hit a laser from 30-yards out in the semifinal to get us into this game.”
