Finals Preview: U16 Girls I
Group B: TKO Premier, Juventus, Washington Freedom and Ottawa
USL News Release
Tuesday, September 16
TAMPA – Following today’s announcement that Women’s Professional Soccer has allocated Ali Krieger, Abby Wambach and Cat Whitehill to the Washington Freedom, USLSoccer.com is featuring the top Freedom side in the upcoming Super Y-League North American Finals – the club’s U16 girls and the rest of the tournament’s Group B pairing. Group play at the 10th annual North American Finals will begin on Friday, November 21 and run through Sunday, November 23. The knockout phase will begin on Monday, November 24 and a champion of each of the league’s 10 divisions will be crowned on Tuesday, November 25 at Ed Radice Sports Complex in Northwest Tampa.
 Washington Freedom
The Freedom advanced out of the 11-team Mid Atlantic Division with a record of 7-1-2. Their only loss came in the last match of the regular season, a 1-0 defeat at the hands of the Long Island Rough Riders. Both of the team’s draws were of the 0-0 variety. The first was to the clubs perennial rival, Parsippany SC, on Sunday, July 13. Parsippany won the division with a final record of 9-0-1. The second went to TSF Academy, who finished third in the division.
The Freedom shut out their opponents in five of their 10 matches this season. They ended the regular season with five goals allowed, second behind only Parsippany. Their offense posted 32 goals for an average of 3.2 goals per match. The Washington Freedom’s U16 girls are slated to play Juventus in the first match of group play.
Ottawa Fury
The Ottawa Fury is an 8-2-2 team who placed second in the seven-team New England Division this summer. They are led by a stout defense that allowed just five goals in 12 matches this season. That defense is one of the most improved units during the offseason as the same team allowed 11 goals in 12 matches last season at the U15 level. Their offensive production also rose from 15 goals in 2007 to 24 goals this season. The Fury will open North American Finals group play with a 5:00 PM match with Midwest Champion, TKO Premier on Friday, November 21.
TKO Premier
TKO Premier, a subsidiary of the USL W-League Kalamazoo Outrage, finished the regular season with a record of 7-0-1. In eight matches the club netted 25 goals while allowing only nine in just their first season of USL Super Y-League competition. The second Midwest qualifier was the Chicago Magic, who TKO bounced twice this season: 3-1 at home and 2-1 in Chicago. TKO’s only draw of the season was to the Toronto Lynx on Sunday, June 29. That match ended 2-2 and the Lynx finished the summer with a record of 2-4-2.
Juventus
Juventus, the Northern California champion, comes into the Super Y-League North American Finals with the most wins in the group following their 9-0-3 season. Their three draws tied Bayside Soccer Academy for the most in the region after the clubs played to an even score-line on multiple occasions, a 2-2 draw to open the season in April and a 1-1 stalemate on Saturday, June 7. Juventus also tied De Anza, 1-1 on Sunday, June 15. De Anza finished the season in third place while Bayside dropped to fifth by the end of the summer.
Like the Ottawa Fury, who Juventus will face on Saturday, November 22, Juventus improved exponentially during the offseason. A year ago the club was a 6-2-5 team who allowed 13 goals. A year later the Californian’s defensive abilities rose to allow just 0.5 goals per match. The team’s offense is their strength netting 3.5 goals per game this season.
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