Men’s Super-20 Preview
Second Annual Super-20 Finals Begin Thursday
 Friday, July 27
TAMPA – Some USL Super-20 League clubs still jostling for final rankings in their respective divisions, the field has been solidified for the top U20 event in North America – United Soccer Leagues Super-20 North American Finals. The event kicks of Thursday, August 2 from Seacoast United’s forest facilities in Epping, New Hampshire. The men’s field includes the top teams from six regions encompassing the U.S. and Canada.
Much of last week was needed to decide the Midwest Division, specifically a Group C battle between Penn’s Forest and the Toronto Lynx Juniors. Penn’s Forest needed a result from a Wednesday, July 18 match with 1790 Cincinnati.
“We knew we needed the win going into this match and the game started badly for us,” said Penn’s Forest Director of Coaching Danny Fisher. “They were all over us for the first 20 minutes and we looked very nervous. Eventually we went one down to a penalty after some poor defending. They also scored a second goal right before halftime from a clever turn and shot. We could have defended it better than we did.”
“After some words at half time we decided to change our system and play three men up top,” continued Fisher. “We came out a completely different team and Ben Fecik scored on a header in the first 15 minutes. His goal set up a really exciting second half.
“We made some personal changes just to get fresh legs on the field,” added Fisher. “Again the move proved to work. Paul Paradise tied the score with a neat finish from the edge of the area. After we drew even, the boys really went at them, creating chance after chance although Cincinnati never backed down. They were always lively on the break and our goalkeeper was fortunate to deny them on a couple of their own occasions. We eventually took a 3-2 lead off a goal by Chris Wilcox but our celebration was short lived as they equalized just a minute later with another header from roughly six yards out.”
“The excitement came to a point as the seconds wound down,” said Fisher. “Yet again we had to do things the hard way and with only a minute to go Mike Mcdade burst into the area and beat the keeper one on one. The following minute felt like one of the longest of my life. The game was a credit to both teams who played at a high tempo and with great passion throughout.”
Penn’s Forest (6-1-1) advances to the North American Finals with the second best record of the four qualifiers from the region. Ahead of them with a regular season record of 6-0-2 was the Kalamazoo Kingdom. In third place, the 6-2-0 Toronto Lynx Juniors and rounding out the division was the Chicago Fire Premier with a record of 5-0-3. All are welcomed additions to an already exciting league final.
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