Finals Preview: U16 Boys I
Group A: TSF Academy, Kalamazoo, Juventus & the Atlanta Fire
USL News Release
Friday, September 11
TAMPA – Four teams are set in Group A of the U16 boys tournament at the 10th Annual North American Finals: TSF Academy (7-2-3), Kalamazoo (6-1-3), Juventus (8-1-1) and the Atlanta Fire (6-4-2). Group play will begin on Friday, November 21.
TSF Academy finished the Super Y-League regular season in second place of the Mid Atlantic Division, scoring 27 goals and allowing only 12. The side is one of the most-improved teams in the league, going from a record of 6-5-2 in 2007 to a qualification position this time around. Against possible Mid Atlantic combatants in this tournament (SuperNova, South Jersey, the NJ Stallions and the Westchester Flames), TSF is 2-0-2.
T he Midwest Division’s Kalamazoo Kingdom finished the regular season with a record of 6-1-3. This is the third straight season the Kingdom has reached the North American Finals. Kalamazoo’s strength is their offense. In 10 league matches this season the side scored 41 goals, including a 6-0 beating the side laid on Mequon United to distance themselves from the remainder of the Midwest Division pack.
The side’s three draws were to the fourth-place Toronto Lynx 0-0, on Sunday, July 13, third place Mequon United 1-1 on Saturday, June 28 and 3-3 to the first place Fort Wayne Fever on Friday, July 25. Their only loss of the season was also to the Fever, 1-0 on Wednesday, July 9.
In the North American Finals the past two seasons the side has a record of 3-3-1, losing in last season’s penultimate match, 4-2 to the eventual champion, the Arseanl FC of Southern California on Monday, November 20.
The third team in Group A is Northern California’s Juventus. A perennial contender in this region, Juventus has qualified for the second time in two tries with a 2007-2008 Super Y-League record of 18-4-4. This season the team was able to improve their regional record from 9-3-1 in 2007 to 8-1-1 in 2008. They will be looking to do the same with their 2007 North American Finals record, which was 1-0-2 last season. They finished as the top offensive (18 GF) and defensive (5 GA) team in Northern California.
From last season’s North American Finals team the club returns 14 players including: Patrick Balderramos, Anthony Clay, Jaime Frias, Sandro Haro-Ruiz, Cristian Mendieta, Ricardo Nava, Charles Northrop, Daniel O'Leary, Juan Palacio, Adrian Perez, Mathew Quitugua, Deivys Silvestre, Alex Wiles, and Michael Young.
Fourth in Group A is a high-quality side from the South Atlantic Division, the Atlanta Fire. The Fire took second place in the South Atlantic, finishing the season with a 6-4-2 record. In those 12 matches, Atlanta won as a balanced unit. They ranked fourth in the division offensively, having scored 21 times this season and fourth defensively, allowing 19. Their best match of the season came in the form of a 2-0 win against FC Fredericksburg on Saturday, August 9. The Fire, who finished just one point up on the third place Gunners and fourth place Triangle FC, desperately needed a win in that match to move into the final qualification position.
|
|
