Arsenal FC 89s looking for 4th straight National Championship

The U18 Boys Region IV Championship pitted a quality Colorado Rush Nike Against the perennial champion Arsenal FC out of Southern California. Arsenal, the three time national champion is going for an unprecedented fourth championship.  The Rush got to the finals by beating Sereno 1 – 0 in the semi while Arsenal managed to avoid a potential upset in topping Las Vegas Premier 3 – 1 in overtime.

The game started with the Rush dictating the early play of the contest building several decent opportunities while Arsenal seemed to let the Colorado squad bring the game to them. Arsenal was very patient and maintained their composure even while the Rush pushed forward with many quality attacks. In the 15th minute, a nice build up by Rush resulted in Kellen Frye taking a long shot from the left wing that was gathered in by the Arsenal goalie Joseph McCormack.

In the 20th minute, Arsenal managed to penetrate the Rush defense as Ryan Thomas made a tremendous run down the left wing and took a shot from a very tough angle that just nicked the crossbar and went over.  Rush continued to attack, pushing time and time again while Arsenal waited for the right opportunity to mount one of their lethal counter attacks. One of the most notable traits of the Arsenal team is their attacks are lightning fast. The timing of their runs is impeccable with diagonal balls that catch defenders off balance and ever so slightly out of position, yet just enough for Arsenal’s very gifted players to strike.

Another noteworthy observation is that the large majority of their shots are on frame, and they are not easy shots to take. They don’t get many chances but when they do they certainly are of the highest quality. Such was the case in the 43rd minute. Following a quick counter attack started by the Arsenal defense, Hector Jimenez skillfully just flicked the ball over a Rush defender and dribbled inside the box. At this point it didn’t appear as though he had an angle to finish and would certainly pass the ball off, however, somehow Jimenez found the crease and shot the ball from a very sharp approach and managed to score sending the ball past the keeper and into the net.

Halftime Arsenal 1 – Rush 0.

The second half started off quickly for Arsenal with their big forward Cito Soriano somehow finding a loose ball off a free kick. Soriano put a quick touch on it and shot it past the Rush keeper to go up 2 – 0.

From this point, Rush again controlled most of the possession, building quality attacks with John Brovsky and Joshua Belfrage pushing forward and creating great opportunities. In the 55th minute, Brovsky had a ball go just over the crossbar. Soon after, Belfrage earned a corner kick that subsequently hit the upright and was saved by the Arsenal keeper Luis Ocampo.

Rush players Raymundo Reza, Paul Novotny and Benjamin Medina made quality contributions in not only squashing the Arsenal counters but by retaining possession and distributing the ball to create yet another attack for the Colorado champions. Meanwhile, Ryan Peterman for the Arsenal was a very effective force, challenging and fighting for every ball that came his way, winning several and clearing them from danger. Also, proving to be a valuable asset to the Arsenal was their midfielder Gerson Mayen who controlled the offense in the second half and created chances of his own.

In the 75th minute, a cross was centered for the Rush, as the attacker was going up for the ball, the shorter Ocampo jumped and reached over the Rush player to catch it and pull it to safety, narrowly escaping another opportunity for Colorado.

Rush continued to press on, while Cameron Lamming and Jonathan Kluz from Arsenal would help in stopping everything thrown at them. Marc Kocel from the Rush would provide some help but the Colorado team just couldn’t find the crack in the Arsenal defense. Arsenal provided the last real threat by either team with a very nice attack from Gerson that just went off the crossbar and out of bounds. Shortly after, the whistle blew and Arsenal was indeed the champion once again.

For the tournament, Arsenal scored 21 goals and allowed one on a penalty kick against Las Vegas Premier in the semi-finals. As someone was overheard, Arsenal seems to be a professional squad disguised as a youth team. They keep it very simple, nothing extraordinarily flashy. They play quality soccer at the highest level and convert their chances, even the most difficult ones. They maintain their composure and don’t allow themselves to lose focus of their mission to be national champions again. And for the time being, it appears as though they won’t be stopped.