Friday, December 6, 2013
BRADENTON, Fla. – Ironbound SC’s Dylan Santos and Federico De Oliveira each scored twice as their side claimed a back-and-forth contest against the Cleveland Soccer Academy and take top spot in Group B of the Boys U17 Division at the 2013 Super Y-League North American Finals, presented by Nike, at IMG Academy.
The game started evenly, with Cleveland going close to opening the scoring in the opening minute. It would be Ironbound that struck first, however, as Santos got on the end of a cross by De Oliveira to give his side the lead.
Cleveland hit back in the 23rd minute after a good piece of individual play by Chad Bencina down the right allowed him to get past his defender and move into the penalty area. Bencina fired a low cross, which found Anthony Brockway for a low first-time finish from the left side of the penalty area.
Santos quickly restored Ironbound’s lead, though, as he beat his defender to the near post four minutes later to drill home a low cross by Paulino Marques to make it 2-1. Cleveland had a good chance to tie the game up again in the 37th minute, only for Ethan Dunn to spoon his close-range effort high and leave Ironbound on top at the break.
Three minutes into the second half, Cleveland would get back on even terms again as a good through-ball found Jake Lombardo moving into the right side of the penalty area. Lombardo then hit a blistering shot into the left side-netting, leaving the goalkeeper helpless. Cleveland then had a golden opportunity to take the lead in the 55th minute as Prayag Jina took advantage of a defender’s slip to break in on goal, only for his effort to go straight at the goalkeeper.
Ironbound would restore its lead three minutes later from the penalty spot after a handball in the area. De Oliveira stepped up, and while the goalkeeper got a hand to his powerful shot, he was unable to keep it out on the top-right corner of the net. Six minutes later, De Oliveira struck again as he flicked a header home off a corner for a 4-2 lead.
Cleveland tried to rally, and was thrown a lifeline with 13 minutes to go when Matt Turklaj was able to find the back of the net to cut his side’s deficit in half. Then inside the final five minutes Colin Eedy’s flicked header went just wide of the left post, and Ironbound goalkeeper Cody Gross made a good save to keep his side on top. Ironbound was able to hold on, and set up a key final game in group play against Princeton on Saturday.
U17 Boys Results and Standings
Virginia Alliance Sprints Past St. Louis
BRADENTON, Fla. – It took the St. Louis Lions more than 50 minutes to equalize their game against Virginia Alliance Friday, and it took less than a minute for Virginia to stomp out the comeback attempt. Emily Renkey’s 66th-minute goal proved to be the difference as Virginia Alliance opened U17 Girls play with a 3-1 victory against the Lions at the 2013 Super Y-League North American Finals, presented by Nike.
After jumping ahead early on a Jessica Logue free kick goal in the 13th minute, Virginia Alliance fought hard to maintain the lead. The Lions, who opened with a 1-0 victory against Knoxville Soccer Academy Thursday, finally broke through in the 65th minute when Jessie Thayer set a perfect ball to Jamie Gilley running through the box, and Gilley calmly finished into the far corner.
The momentum had swung in the Lions’ favor and they appeared poised for more when Virginia’s Caroline Fitzgerald beat a player wide off the ensuing kickoff and found Renkey at the far post for the back-breaker.
“The response was immediate, which is what you want,” Alliance Coach German Peri said. “I think that took it out of [St. Louis] a little bit, because I think they had the momentum. For us to come right back, I think it brought us back to where we were. Otherwise it would have been an uphill battle the whole second half, because they were picking it up with the wind and they had some pacey players who were putting us under pressure.”
Virginia Fergusson finished the scoring for Virginia Alliance in the 75th minute, taking a feed from Zoe Lunn and hitting a 20-yard drive into the upper 90 past the charging St. Louis keeper.
St. Louis, which falls to 1-1-0 in the supergroup, will look to rebound against WAZA FC East on Saturday, while Virginia Alliance will try to move to 2-0-0 when it faces Knoxville Soccer Academy.