Youth National Championships - Day 1

Games kicked off early this morning for the 2007 US Youth Soccer National Championships at Pizza Hut Park, in Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas.  Excitement filled the air as the top four teams from across the country squared off in their first games of the event. 

The first day of US Youth Soccer National Championships play started off with nerves and a lot of energy. Nearly 900 players will step on to the fields today and see if they have what it takes to be a national champion. So far past champions are again proving that experience pays as the Under-16 Boys Real So Cal, Under-18 Arsenal FC and Under-18 Girls Slammers FC all taking a win and three points from today's round robin play.

The nation's top youth soccer players were putting everything on the line and the quality of play was second to none as yesterday?s chance to view the national championship trophies, at yesterday's Player Luncheon, proved to be a great motivator.  Each team wants to go home knowing that their team name will be engraved on one of the crown jewels of youth soccer.

Arsenal FC, Under-18 Boys, made the most of their match today against Atlanta Fire United as the team seeks to secure their fourth national title in as many years.  Arsenal's Ryan Peterman kick started the attack in the 45^th.  The game would go back and forth as the physical battle continued to escalate.  Atlanta would tie in the 78^th thanks to a nice ball from Jonathan Hull from outside the box.  Arsenal would counter in the 79^th on a goal by Gerson Mayen who took the win and the much coveted three points.

Real So Cal Under-16 boys made waves with Ernest Balba scoring in the final minutes of play. The two-time defending champions were evenly matched against FC Delco Hammerheads. They are familiar with each others play as the two faced off in the 2006 national championship finals in Des Moines, Iowa. Real So Cal had two penalty kicks that could have given them the lead early in the second half, but both were missed high and wide.

It's such a great thing to get here and we are so proud to be here, said Real So Cal coach Albert Bru. The team didn't think they were going to make it back to nationals after their challenging California South US Youth Soccer State Championships play.

Two-time adidas Golden Glove winner Elmer Avelar made several key saves in today's match. In regards to going for his third adidas Golden Glove at nationals, he said, "It would be exciting. It is kind of a big thing for me." Avelar is already starting to think about colleges and UC Irvine and San Jose State are both standouts for him for not only their soccer programs, but also their academics.

The Under-14 Girls Stars of Massachusetts are making a name for themselves at Pizza Hut Park wining 3-1 over Indiana's Carmel United SC Academy 93 this morning. In the second minute of play the Stars got it started with Hayley Brock who scored off a header.  In the 12^th, the Star's Stephanie McCaffrey slipped through and found the back of the net. Carmel's Haley Keller countered in the 15^th taking advantage of a moment of hesitation from the Stars. It was over by the 21^st when Phoebe Tateronis powered the ball to the back of the net.

"We started the game very well scoring two in the first minutes of play. We should have had several more in the first 10 minutes. Then we let them have a sloppy goal in the middle. Overall it was a good game and a good start to this week's play. Now we press on," said Jason Dewhurst, the head coach of the FC Stars of Massachusetts. "Any win in the first game puts pressure on the others and takes it off us a little bit, but now we have to think about our second game."

The Under-15 Girls So Cal Blues head coach Tad Bobak was proud of his team's play against Illinois ELA Elite today saying, "The opening games are always hard. It is an emotional moment and anxiety that builds at the beginning of the game needs to be channeled in a positive way. We stayed within the game plan and the moments that we clicked together we made things happen."

The first goal was in the third minute of play when So Cal Blues Gabreilla Zarnegar scored off a rebound from a shot on goal from Elizabeth Eddy, then Zarnegar poked in the lose ball. Eddy scored in the 27^th off a series of good passing sequences. To finish up the game the Blues Gillian Hogan scored in the 63^rd after ELA Elite cleared a corner kick to the Blues.

The evening matches of the 2007 US Youth Soccer National Championships concluded today with preliminary round play in the Under-17 and Under-19 divisions at Pizza Hut Park. More than 10,000 were on hand as the crowds grew tonight as Texas fans enjoyed unusually cool summer evening. Local teams showed up to support their older counterparts and learn from the elite players that are competing for a national title this week.

The seven teams from North Texas were greeted to packed sidelines of over 1,500 anxious fans.  There were well over 1,000 fans along the sidelines for the Dallas Texans Red 90 vs. RSK Richmond Strikers Fire (VA) match-up in Under-17 Girls. Texans Head Coach Kenneth Medina said the environment was exciting for everyone. "For the hometown crowd to see the girls play in this competition where we have the best coaches and players in the country is tremendous. I hope we put on a good show for the hometown crowd."

Taking center stage was 2007 Gatorade Player of the Year, Melissa Henderson whose assist and goal led the charge for the Texans. Henderson's goal began ten yards from the Texans side of the field where she took on the Strikers defense and won controlling the ball into the box and slotting home the goal. Striking back, Richmond scored two goals and continued to pressure the Texan side. "These teams are coached so well and the players are so good that in a snap a team can come back," said Medina who cautioned his girls that playing in the national championships would need better play than status quo, the girls would need to bring something special. Tomorrow the Texans will take on the Michigan Hawks at 7:30 p.m.

The other Under-17 Girls game featured a rematch from the 2004 national championships with the Michigan Hawks facing the Eagles SC. "We haven't seen the Michigan Hawks since we were Under-14 and in my opinion they were the best possession team that we've played against," said Vince Thomas, Eagles head coach. "To our girls credit, champions find the way to win and we played great defense and had a couple of girls played great tonight in Nicole Sweetman and Emily Cressy."Cressy scored both goals for the Eagles coming in the 31^st and 76^th. Kaitlin Paletta, who missed play in the regional event with a broken foot, was back on the field tonight and made an immediate impact against the Hawks.

The defending national champions the Under-19 Boys Dallas Texans Red 88 took on the Baltimore Casa Mia Bays tonight. The Texans are going for their third consecutive national championship this week and are looking to be the third team, boys or girls, in history to achieve this feat. The Bays aren't strangers to the US Youth Soccer National Championships though as they also have two national titles under their belts from 2003 and 2004.

"We started off very well and the first 10-15 minutes we played excellently and were able to make it up 2-0. The second half they pressured us and we got lucky that we could rely on the earlier goals," said Dallas Texans Red 88 head coach David Hudgell. "It is a long week and three of the teams in our bracket have been here before. It was important to get off to a good start but a lot came down to chance."

Bahram Sajjadi and William Dworsky scored for the Texans in the 9^th and 26^th respectfully setting the Texans up to defend their title and mark their place in history.

Adding to the Texan's excitement was two of their teammates flying from Brazil in the past 24 hours. Both were playing for the U.S. National team in the Pan-American games this past week. Omar Gonzalez flew in yesterday and Hudgell said that his presence on the field gives the team so many different options. Gonzales played in two different positions tonight. His height and ability add a lot to what the team can accomplish, said Hudgell.

US Youth Soccer National Championships
Day 1 Evening Session Results ? Preliminary Matches | 7:30 p.m. CDT

Under-17 Girls
Eagles (CA-S) 2, Michigan Hawks 90 (MI) 0
Goal Scorers: Eagles- Emily Cressy (31:00) (76:00)

Dallas Texans 90 Red (TX-N) 3, RSK Richmond Strikers Elite (VA) 2
Goal Scorers: Dallas Texans 90 Red- Melissa Henderson (9:00), Nicole Crocco (36:00), Jessica Schuveiller (66:00)
Richmond Strikers Elite- April Price (15:00), Nancy Wright (48:00)

Under-17 Boys
FC Milwaukee (WI) 0, Andromeda 90 (TX-N) 1
Goal Scorers: Andromeda 90- Jason Guehler (78:00)

Real Colorado National (CO) 1, FC Delco 89 (E-PA) 2
Goal Scorers: Real Colorado National- Daniel Starr (56:00)
FC Delco 89- Steven Miller (3:00), Jeffrey Bowen (60:00)

Under-19 Girls
Sereno 88 White (AZ) 0, PWSI Cardinals (VA) 3
Goal Scorers: PWSI Cardinals- Julian Johnson (6:00), Shelley Wong (21:00), Emily Jukich (40:00)

87 CASL Spartan Elite (NC) 0, Carmel United Cyclones (IN) 1
Goal Scorers: Annie Yi (5:00)

Under-19 Boys
Dallas Texans Red 88 (TX-N) 2, Baltimore Casa Mia Bays (MD) 0
Goal Scorers: Dallas Texans Red 88- Bahram Sajjadi (9:00), Wiliam Dworsky (26:00)

Chicago Magic 87/88 (IL) 2, South San Jose/San Juan Ruckus (CA-N) 1
Goal Scorers: Chicago Magic 87/88- Taylor Waspi (50:00) (57:00)
South San Jose/San Juan Ruckus- Jeffrey Cosgriff (61:00)