The team began pool play on Saturday, June 26th against Elm Grove Premier (WI) with a 2-0 win. The boys, playing with only two subs due to key injuries and family commitments, controlled play against the Wisconsin State Cup winners. Jason Stacy twice found the back of the net to secure their first win.
On Sunday, JUSC Barcelona, the Iowa state champion came in to the match with hopes of taking the win. Their strategy was to sit back and fill the box looking to catch the boys on a counter attack. This strategy was not new and was handled by the back line led by Taylor Mazurek, Jacob Vanderlaan, Joe Sweet and Nate Rose. The results ended again 2-0 with goals being scored by Nate Rose and Sean Conerty.
The team finished pool play looking for revenge against CUP Crew Jrs (OH-S). The team from Cincinnati had achieved a positive earlier in the season during the Midwest Regional League (MRL) play. Both teams came out fast, but the CUP’s momentum was quickly extinguished when Caleb Postlewait found the upper 90 corner of the net from a ridiculous angle. The U16B continue to carry play getting two additional goals from Jason Stacy. CUP finally came through near the end of the game scoring their only goal.
As mentioned earlier, the team was playing shorthanded do to several key injuries. One of those injuries was to Chase Rau (Goalie) that left the team without a backup, so someone had to step up. Luke Bestrom took on the challenge receiving compressed training by Chase and Shawn Lewis, a senior at Rockford HS. The importance of this will become apparent shortly.
Having won their pool play, the boys moved on to the semifinals against Lou Fusz Gold (MO), a team that had the same identical statistics, 7 goals for 1 against in their pool. Lou Fusz came out strong and took the lead at the 14:00 minute mark. Lou Fusz continued to put pressure on and the team with the defense holding their own. In the 41:00st minute, Nate Rose moving from the back line to his normal front line position attacked the defender as he was trying to clear the ball 25 yards out deflected the ball back into the back of the net knotting the score at 1-1. Regulation play ended with both teams having opportunities, but with fine play from Luke Bestrom (fill-in Goalie), tipping one just enough to hit the post and a great kick save forced overtime. After two overtimes the game went into penalty kicks (PK). Penalty kicks were scored by Greg Timmer, Diego Bobadilla, which was enough as Luke Bestrom made 3 saves while Lou Fusz scored 1 and their last shot went off the crossbar giving the boys the win (2-1) and a place in the final.
In the finals, the boys face in state rival WAZA (MI). Both teams being quite familiar with each other made for an interest match-up. In the 19:00th minute, Greg Timmer broke the scoreless tie when he found the back of the net for the 1-0 lead. The game went back and forth with each team having quality opportunities but neither team could change the score. One final note, Philip Ephraim (flying in from England) and Hunter Tolley (driving from Virginia) played a pivotal role in supporting the team with quality minutes in the finals.
Good luck to the boys as they make 3rd straight appearance in Nationals. Bring home the Championship!
