Travel Teams Have Great Success Over Holiday Weekend
The Arlington Travel Soccer Club of the Arlington Soccer Association had a very successful Memorial Day weekend bringing home lots of hardware in the process. A number of teams made it to tournament semi-finals and finals, including winning several championships.
The Chaos Red, (U9G) had outstanding play in the 2009 Virginian Soccer Tournament. The Chaos Red, coached by Erik Footland, with assistance from Dan O’Neill and Erin Footland, qualified for the Finals in the Premier Gold Division (the highest division in the age group) and played the Cape Fear Courage from North Carolina. The Chaos Red finished group play with a record of three wins, zero losses and a tie.
The Eagles Red (U9B), with guest players from Eagles White, finished as Premier Silver Division champions at the Virginian Tournament over Memorial Day weekend. They beat SYC Cyclones White 6-0 in the semi-final match to reach the title game. Eagles Red beat MSC Magic North 3-1 in the final to claim the title. The team was coached by Chris Holden and Mo Tayari.
Arlington Eagles Blue (U9B), with three guest players from Eagles White, enjoyed a successful Virginian tournament over Memorial Day weekend, finishing as Premier Gold Division finalists, with a 4-1-0 record. On Saturday, they knocked off SYA 99 Red 3-1, and CYA Arsenal White 4-1. Eagles Blue continued their winning ways on Sunday with a pair of 4-2 victories, the first against Clarkstown (N.Y) and second in the semi-final against LMVS Patriots Red. In the final, Eagles Blue held a 2-1 lead with just six minutes left in the game, but ultimately fell 4-2 to a very strong Baltimore Fewster FC team.
The Forza Azurra (U10G) won five games over three days to capture the 2009 Premier Silver Division Championship at the 2009 Virginian Tournament. The girls played some their best soccer of the season, using a balanced offensive attack and stellar defense, to win their first title. On Saturday, Azurra defeated a stingy Waldorf team 6-1, using a strong second half push. In the afternoon match, they jumped to an early lead and beat the Wyckoff (New Jersey) Tornadoes 9-1. On the tournament’s second day, they faced off against the PWSI Courage 98 White and prevailed in a hard-fought match by a 2-1 tally. That victory set up a semi-final showdown on Sunday afternoon against a very strong Vienna Comets side, which had also compiled a 3-0 mark. Playing perhaps their best game of the season, Azurra built to a 3-0 lead and held off the speedy Comets, 3-1. Meanwhile, PWSI, who had earned the wildcard spot in the other semifinal, beat the ODFC Lightning to set up a rematch with Azurra in Monday’s final. The hard-fought final match was remarkably similar to the earlier showdown between the teams and entering the late stages of the game, was tied at one goal apiece. Azurra’s front line was able to make a push and just get the ball past the PSWI goal line to take a 2-1 lead with a few minutes remaining. From there, strong defense and goalkeeping got the team a well-earned victory.
The Ajax (U12G) reached the Semifinals of the Potomac Adidas Memorial Day Tournament, winning their group with an undefeated record. In their first official 11v11 competitive event, the Ajax was turned away from the championship match by an 0-1 result against Beachside FC of Connecticut. Down at the break, Ajax dominated the second half and nearly sent the match into overtime when a last-gasp effort was turned away by the post. It was a tremendous effort from the Ajax girls and their friends, and showed that Ajax is ready to compete at the highest levels when it joins the full-sided format officially this coming summer.
Strikers Blue (U12B) won the Virginian Championship over Memorial Day weekend in a game that went into PKs when it was tied 0-0 after the overtime. The Strikers played five matches and only lost once on their way to a first place finish. The weekend started off well with a 5-0 win against the Herndon Mavericks and a 3-1 win against the Chantilly Knights. The Strikers only loss was 2-3 to the Loudoun 96 Black team, followed by a 3-2 win against the Damascus Dynamos to advance to the Championship round. The Strikers played the Chantilly Knights again in the championship round and found a much tougher Chantilly squad with the match ending in a 0-0 tie after regulation and the overtime period. The match was decided on PKs with Arlington coming away with the first place trophy.
FC Arlington 94′ Blue (U14B) won the Virginian in the Premier Silver group. Two wins on Saturday insured advancing to the semis where the team beat Great Falls by a score of 1-0. On Monday and despite giving up a goal in the second minute of the game, the team persevered and came back for a final 2-1 with Zachary Richland and Steven Luizaga scoring the winning goals. It was a great effort by all the players and another team success after winning the ASIST earlier in the season.
The ATSC Premier 92 (U16B) finished the 2009 Potomac Memorial – Premier Elite Tournament as a semi-finalist. This tournament offers the highest level of completion and Premier 92 is the only DC area team to advance to the semi-finalist round. They advanced to the semi-finalist round after winning their first two games. Premier 92 beat the Ottawa Fury SC 1-0 in the first game. The Hicksville Strikers, who Premier 92 beat 1-0 in the second game on Saturday, are the 5th ranked team in Region 1 and 22nd nationally. This spring the Hicksville Strikers won the Region 1 Premier League North Division and then won their semifinal and finals playoff game to capture the Premier League Championship. Premier 92 played in the Region 1 Colonial League; the Premier League is the top level in Region 1. The last game Premier 92 tied the Bethesda Arsenal 0-0. The semi-final game Premier 92 lost to Triangle FC 92 Navy 0-1 in a hard fought game. The Triangle FC 92 Navy team is the 21st ranked team nationally and the current North Carolina State Cup champion. The Triangle FC 92 Navy eventually won the 2009 Potomac Memorial tournament by beating the HBC Rockets 4-0.
