US Youth Soccer Region II Championships Day 2 Recap

Preliminary Games – Day 2 of 3
Schedule, Standings and Scores

WESTFIELD, Ind. (Via US Youth Soccer) – The 2016 US Youth Soccer Region II (Midwest) Championships continued Saturday with the second day of preliminary play at the Grand Park Sports Complex in Westfield, Ind.

More than 200 games have been completed, by the nearly 4,000 players participating, and tomorrow’s action will determine which Under-13 through Under-19 Boys and Girls teams advance to the semifinals.

The 216 participating US Youth Soccer Boys and Girls teams in the Under-13 through Under-19 age groups represent 14 State Associations – host Indiana Soccer Association, and Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio North, Ohio South, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Some highlights from Saturday’s games:

Under-13 Girls
PAO FC 02/03 RDA (MO) took on Indiana Fire Juniors 03 Red (IN) and Indiana Fire’s Quincy McMahon helped her team earn an early lead with a goal in the ninth minute. Five minutes later, PAO FC’s Emily Gaebe made the game an even match with a goal. Just before halftime, Gaebe posted another goal to put PAO FC ahead. As PAO FC held onto the lead in the second half, Indiana Fire continually maintained possession of the ball and looked for the equalizer by applying high pressure to PAO FC’s defense. A huge moment came when Indiana Fire received a penalty kick, but PAO FC’s goalkeeper, Riley Nilges, made the diving save to maintain the lead. Indiana Fire piled on their shots at goal, but PAO FC held on and earned the 2-1 win.

“It was pretty rough,” PAO FC head coach Aaron Wagner said, describing the match. “We ended our game yesterday losing 3-1 against a good competitor. We lost one of our starting center backs who wins all of the balls out of the air early in the second half, so today we had to sit back and counter attack and we pulled the victory, but it was a tough finish for us.”

Under-14 Boys
Pennine United 01/02 (OH-N) earned the upper hand against Sporting KC Academy (KS) in the first half when Matthew Mclaughlin bent his corner kick into the goal. Sporting KC didn’t allow Pennine United to have the lead for long as Brayden Barney received a pass in the middle of the 18-yard box and calmly placed the ball in the corner of the goal. In the second half, Pennine United regained the lead as Austin Zeleznik dribbled through the Sporting KC defenders into the 18-yard box and took the shot. While Sporting KC continued to fight for at least a draw, Pennine United created more offensive pressure toward the end of the half and eventually claimed the 2-1 win.

Under-15 Girls
Sporting BV Roma (KS) and Libertyville FC 1974 (IL) fought hard in their matchup, which ended as a 2-0 win for Libertyville FC. In the first half, both teams took their chances, and there wasn’t a clear dominating team. Sara Leese gave Libertyville FC the 1-0 lead just before halftime. In the 56th minute, Libertyville FC’s Jordyn Gerdes earned the team a second goal to seal the win.

Under-16 Boys
Alliance FC Pro 18 (MI) posted three goals in the first half against DM Menace Red (IA). The first came from Trenton Saylor in the 15th minute of the match, and the next two goals were scored by Grant Perrine, which took place within four minutes of each other. In the second half, DM Menace showed fight to get on the board and got closer to Alliance FC’s goal. Alliance FC constantly defended shots, but near the end of the game, Zack Shane broke through the DM Menace’s defense with a straight run to goal to make it a 4-0 victory.

Under-17 Girls
In a matchup between Ambassadors FC 98 Blue (OH-N) and Classics Eagles Red 98/99 (OH-S), Ambassadors FC took an early lead with a goal from Anna Rico at the top of the 18-yard box. Ambassadors FC continued to press high with several through balls beyond Classics Eagles’ defenders. However, after Classics Eagles received a penalty kick and Cassie Koenig evened the game with the goal, the majority of the play between the teams stayed in the middle of the field. With a 1-1 tie at halftime, both teams still had a chance to take the victory. The game began to pick up pace as Ambassadors FC’s Hope Lewandoski scored for a 2-1 lead. Classics Eagles then responded with a goal of their own as Grace Deluca took advantage of a breakaway and tied the match once again. With back-to-back corner kicks and more opportunities, Classics Eagles built the momentum to obtain another goal. After being fouled on a breakaway, they were awarded a penalty kick. Sarina Dirrig stepped up to score the goal, giving Classics Eagles a 3-2 win.

Under-19 Boys
Elm Grove Blues (WI) shut out NFC/NDA 97/98 (NE), 5-0, during the second day of preliminary games. Alexander Eastman started Elm Grove off in the 14th minute of the match with a goal, and the score remained at 1-0 through halftime. Going into the second half, Elm Grove looked to create some breathing room for themselves, and Peter Raymonds did that as he ran onto a ball that was played over the NFC/NDA defenders and scored the second goal. One minute later, Armend Kamberi used the momentum from the last goal to score his own as he found an opening through the defenders. Griffin Hoerchner added a goal as well and Daniel Lenz stepped up to take a penalty kick in the final minute of the match for the last two goals.

“My guys did what they had to do,” Elm Grove head coach Troy Dusosky said. “We know we played last year’s Region II champions, and we fell to them, 1-0 yesterday, so we had to come out here today to try and get that wildcard spot. After day two, we’re still in the hunt, and our goal is to get out of our group and get to the semifinals. We did what we had to do today and tomorrow’s another day.”

For a full box score of day two games, click here.

Regional winners of the Under-13 through Under-19 age groups earn a berth to the 2016 US Youth Soccer National Championships, held July 26-31 at the Toyota Soccer Center in Frisco, Texas.