OVERLAND PARK, KS, July 25, 2019. BREAKING NEWS: The Arlington Soccer ’02 Boys Red Team (ARL) advanced to the semifinals of the US Youth Soccer National Championships with a 1-0 win over Santa Clara Sporting Green (SC). By earning 3 points today, ARL finished in first place in Group B with 7 points and will play in the semifinals on Saturday at 10 am (EDT). 

Today’s match versus SC was a physical game from the outset with the teams playing to a 0-0 tie at halftime. ARL began its ball control late in the first half and that momentum carried through into the second half as ARL took the lead in the 69th minute off of a penalty kick by Jose Alvarado. With a 1-0 lead in the match, ARL directed the tempo for the final 20 minutes. ARL demonstrated a great deal of poise during the match and played solid defense throughout. GK Jonathan Lee anchored the defense with 7 saves, one of those was an incredible save early in the second half. 

ARL completed preliminary round play with two wins and one tie for a total of 7 points. ARL netted 5 goals in three games while only surrendering one goal. ARL will play in the national semifinals on Saturday morning versus Baltimore Celtic (BC) at 10 am (EDT). BC concluded preliminary round play with two wins and one loss for a total of 6 points and a second-place finish in Group A.

Group B final standings: ARL – 7 points; Michigan Jaguars – 5 points; OK Energy FC Central – 3 points; SC – 1 point. 

Group A final standings: Solar 02 Castro (TX) – 7 points; BC – 6 points; Washington Premier Black – 2 points; Coral Estates Strikers Blue – 1 point.

• Recording of the match: https://youtu.be/yPWlNB7doA8
• You can follow the action on Saturday morning on Twitter by following: @ArlingtonSoccer and on FACEBOOK LIVE here: https://www.facebook.com/ArlingtonSoccerAssnVA
• Match Report:  usyouthsoccer.org website