U17 North American Finals Day 3
USL Super Y-League North American Finals
Sunday, December 4, 2011
BRANDON, Fla. – Nick Wysong scored a hat trick, and the Kalamazoo Kingdom won Group B of the Boys U17 Division, after taking a 4-0 victory against Ironbound SC on Sunday afternoon at the USL Super Y-League North American Finals.
Having swept through their opening two contests, 2010 U16 Boys champion Ironbound had already advanced to the semifinals, and needed just a draw to win the group. But Kalamazoo took them out of their rhythm early, applying high pressure on the ball and linking well when they won possession.
Wysong opened the scoring somewhat fortuitously in the 10th minute, his free kick from 30 yards out clipping the end of the defensive wall and looping into the right corner of the net. But the Kingdom continued to apply pressure, as Corey Werner-Hoskins went close for the Kingdom on a deep corner from the right, heading just wide, and Hunter Vandenboom had a shot from the edge from the edge of the penalty well saved.
“We just had a great game-plan thanks to our coaches,” Wysong said. “We do our job, we win the game and it worked out.”
The game then really swung in Kalamazoo’s favor when Ironbound was reduced to 10 men, Almir Batista Jr. being sent off for retaliating after a strong challenge by a Kalamazoo defender in first-half stoppage time. Kalamazoo took advantage of the additional space after the break, but continued to be wasteful in front of goal, Dominic Hunter failing to pick out a teammate after winning possession on the right and Vandenboom shooting over from 12 yards shortly off a low cross from the right.
Despite being down to 10 men, Ironbound had chances of their own. Kalamazoo almost gifted them a goal after giving the ball away near their own penalty area, but Brandon Pacheco was unable to finish as the defense recovered in time to fill the open goal.
As the half wore on, Kalamazoo began to sit back and defend their lead, but also stopped pressing the ball. Ironbound almost took advantage of the seams in-between the midfield and defense, but then with six minutes to go Kalamazoo finally put the game away, Wysong rifling a low shot into the right corner of the net from 15 yards.
Four minutes later he finished his hat trick, tapping home Matt Davis’ cross from inside the six-yard box, and then Matt Sovis added a fourth in stoppage time, volleying home Vandenboom’s cross after arriving late at the back post.
Kalamazoo will face Group A runner-up TSF Academy in Monday’s semifinals after TSF fell 3-2 to group winner the Florida Soccer Alliance earlier in the day, with Wysong hoping he and his teammates can get off to a similar start as they did on Sunday.
“The biggest challenge now is being healthy,” Wysong said. “We’ve just got to have that mindset to basically step on the field and be ready to play right away.”
U17 GIRLS
MPS Renegades On Verge Of Final
BRANDON, Fla. – The MPS Renegades put themselves on the verge of the U17 Girls championship game as Stephanie Ribeiro scored a hat trick in a 3-0 victory against the Northern Virginia Majestics on Sunday evening at the USL Super Y-League North American Finals.
The Majestics started strongly, and could have taken the lead within the first five minutes. They forced a pair of early corners, and from the second a good far-post header by Madison Ebel appeared goal-bound, only to be cleared off the line by MPS defender Lyndsay Hyde.
MPS then got on the front foot, with Madeline Dunn rattling the left post with a good shot from the right side of the penalty area and Brooke Stollar having her effort on the rebound well saved. The Renegades then began to find some rhythm in the midfield, but it wasn’t until midway through the half that they would take the lead. When the goal came, though, it was a fine one, Stollar’s incisive pass finding Ribeiro for a well-placed finish in the 23rd minute.
Ribeiro struck again seven minutes later, timing her run well to allow Madeline Dunn to find her with a low cross from the left that she lashed into the back of the net. Moments later Ribeiro almost completed her hat trick, Majestics goalkeeper Megan Dvorak at full stretch to turn away her shot from 25 yards.
“She’s a talented kid,” MPS coach Lee Billiard said. “She’s got a very good soccer brain, and these girls have played together for a while, so they understand her movement and she understands where people want to play the ball, so it’s a good match, she works off everybody else and everybody else works off her.”
The Majestics adjusted defensively, and Heaven Tylee did well to restrict Ribeiro after the break as her side pushed to get back in the game. Madison Black fired a good long-range effort that went just over the crossbar for Northern Virginia, while Nicole Schweitzer’s volley went just wide.
As they pushed forward, though, they left openings at the back, and with five minutes to go Ribeiro made them pay on the counter-attack to complete her hat trick.
The victory means MPS needs just a draw in their final game against TNT Dynamite to move into Tuesday’s final, where Northern Virginia could be there to meet them should they round out the group phase with a win against the London Gryphons. While disappointed to lose, Majestics coach Marie Schweitzer thought her team had learned a lot, and could use those lessons should the two teams meet again on Tuesday.
“When you play against strong players, if you’re not marking on the inside where you’re supposed to be … they’re going to score,” Schweitzer said. “You can get away with it against weaker teams, but against a team like that you can’t get away with it. I’m very impressed, they play beautiful soccer, their coaching staff has done a great job with them.”