Preliminary Games, Day 1 of 3
Scores & Standings
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GREENSBORO, N.C. (June 22, 2018) — More than 210 teams, including seven returning US Youth Soccer Southern Regional Champions and Finalists, kicked off the 2018 US Youth Soccer Southern Regional Championships Monday at the BB&T Soccer Complex at Bryan Park in Greensboro, N.C.
Teams from all over the southern United States took the field with the goal of taking the next step toward claiming the coveted US Youth Soccer National Championship in their respective age group.
18U Boys FC Dallas 00 Premier (TX-N) is looking to use Southern Regionals as a launch pad back to Nationals after finishing as the 17U Boys finalists at the 2017 US Youth Soccer National Championships.
“It’s very important that we got this first win to get three points on the first day,” head coach Casey Cantor said. “The more points you can get in these first couple of days the less pressure you have to worry about on the last day. I am very proud of these boys for starting the Southern Regional Championships off the way they did.”
Cantor continued by talking about the goals of his FC Dallas team moving forward.
“We will use this result to develop and continue working on always improving,” continued Cantor. Results like this are good for the boys’ confidence. Hopefully, we can use this confidence to continue to move forward as our goal is to be back playing for the US Youth Soccer National Championship like we were last year.”
The 2018 US Youth Soccer Southern Regional Championships feature over 210 of the top boys and girls teams from the 12 State Associations that make up the US Youth Soccer South Region, with each squad competing for the 2018 regional title. Preliminary games will be held June 22-24, with quarterfinals, semifinals and finals taking place June 25-28.
Notes from a few of today’s games:
13U Girls
05 NCFC Elite (NC) defeated 05 Lady Lobos Rush Premier (TN), 3-0 in the opening day of 13U Girls play. NCFC kept the pressure on most of the game, hitting the crossbar multiple times but also finding the back of the net twice. NCFC earned its first goal after a scrum in front of the goal off a corner that was poked in from close range. NCFC added another goal ten minutes before halftime to bring the advantage to 2-0. Thanks to the goals from Lily Alexander and Crosby Nicholson in the first half, the pressure was on Lobos to try and battle back. The NCFC defense held strong and Brooke White added the game’s lone second half goal to seal the victory for the North Carolina side.
14U Boys
VHSC Steamers 04 Black (AL) used the momentum of an early first half goal to carry the Alabama team to a, 2-0, victory over Mandeville SC Lakers Elite (LA). Kosi Udeh scored the game’s lone first half goal in the fifth minute of play to give VHSC an early, 1-0, lead. VHSC controlled the game for most of the first half, but could not find another goal allowing Mandeville to stay in the match. VHSC doubled its advantage in the 66th minute thanks to a goal by Nathanael Carpenter and the VHSC defense held Mandeville at bay to earn a 2-0 victory.
15U Girls
In a close 15U Girls game, Murfreesboro FC 03 Storm (TN) outlasted Discoveries 03 Lady Gold (SC), 4-3, to earn a win on day one. Murfreesboro’s Dakota Mitchell scored both of the game’s first half goals finding the upper left corner in the 15th minute and then hitting a shot into the opposite corner just seven minutes later to double her team’s advantage. Discoveries started clawing its way back into the game as Emily Robinson scored her team’s first goal just two minutes into the second half. Robinson’s teammate, Alondra Nieves Melchor, leveled the score in the 70th minute as Discoveries worked its way right back into the game. Just two minutes later, Delaney Mitchell put the Tennessee side back on top with a 3-2 lead. Dakota completed her hat trick in the 76th minute to nudge the advantage to 4-2 before Discoveries’ Melchor added her second of the game to try to push her team to a last minute comeback. Murfreesboro’s defense held on to earn the 4-3 victory and an important three points on day one.
16U Boys
02 Lobos Rush Premier (TN) fought back to earn a 2-2 tie against Concorde Fire North 02 Elite (GA) after taking an early first half lead. Lobos took an early lead in just the sixth minute of play thanks to a goal by Joseph Gruber but Concorde started to fight its way back into the game midway through the first half. Concorde almost leveled the score but saw a floating chance hit the crossbar. Concorde found its equalizer and took the lead just before half time thanks to goals from Pranay Fadis and Zachary Lyons. Lobos tied the game back up when Maximino Ramirez found the back of the net but neither team could break the deadlock before the final whistle and the game finished 2-2.
17U Girls
Fever United 01 Guerra’s (TX-N) goal scoring abilities were on full display in its victory over Energy East 01 (OK). The scoring started midway in the first half when Chandler Spradley gave Fever the lead, hitting a bomb from deep after Energy’s Mia Pendleton had just made a great 1v1 save. Just four minutes later, Cloey Seltzer increased the lead to 2-0 thanks to a great pass putting her in behind the defense. Seltzer added her second 15 minutes into the second half and then Spradley followed suit adding a second of her own pushing the advantage to four. Fever’s offense kept clicking late into the second half as Molly Lowe added one of her own and then Victoria Margiotta added a goal in added time to finish the scoring.
18U Boys
FC Dallas 00 Premier (TX-N) defeated 00 WHYFC White (NC), 3-0, to start its 2018 Southern Regional Championships campaign off with a solid win. FC Dallas took a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute of play thanks to a great sequence of passing. After a series of 3 or 4 passes, Jalen Starks received a final pass behind the defense and slotted his shot beyond the onrushing keeper. Late in the first half, FC Dallas extended its lead to 2-0. A corner kick from the left side was flicked across the box where Juan Pablo Rodriguez finished his chance to double the North Texas side’s advantage. WHYFC had a couple of counter changes in the first half but the FC Dallas defense and keeper, Trevor Jackson, kept their opponents from finding the back of the net. WHYFC pressed a little more in the second half but could not find the necessary passes in the final third to test the FC Dallas keeper. The North Carolina side’s best chance came early in the second half when they saw a header come across the box and the ensuing header went just wide of the target. FC Dallas added a final goal in the 76th minute as Diego Pareja hooked up Adrian Morales with a pass who then squeezed a ball underneath the keeper and followed the chance to tap it in.
19U Girls
AFC Lightning 99 Elite (GA) opened up the 2018 Southern Regional Championships with a powerful statement following a big win over Sunrise Sting (FL). AFC’s Taylor Malasek opened the scoring in the 25th minute then added a second goal just nine minutes later. Mollie Belisle added to the advantage scoring just two minutes later to push the advantage to 3-0 heading into half. The floodgates opened in the second half as the game began to get away from Sunrise. Emily Mason scored first in the second half after pounding home a ball clipped into the box. Jolie Ryff beat her defender up the left side and hit a low cross into the box to Belisle who finished her chance to adding her second of the game to make it 4-0. Belisle finished her hat trick two minutes later and then Chloe Thompson added another for AFC after cutting her defender in the box, taking a touch towards the middle and then hitting her shot to the near post beyond the keeper. Belisle added her fourth of the match and then teammate Abbie Crane added the game’s final goal in the 72nd minute.
Regional winners of the 13U through 19U age groups earn a berth to the 2018 US Youth Soccer National Championships, which will be played July 24-29 at the Toyota Soccer Center in Frisco, Texas.
The US Youth Soccer National Championships will consist of US Youth Soccer Regional Champions in the 13U through 19U Boys and Girls age groups, as well as the US Youth Soccer National League qualifiers in the 14U through 18U Boys and Girls age groups to complete the field of 96 teams.
Daily reports and complete results from the US Youth Soccer Southern Regional Championships are available on championships.usyouthsoccer.org/South.
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