Group plays wraps up today for U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships

Two days are in the books and a third will decide the fate of the 12 teams from the Philadelphia region competing in the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships in Overland Park, Kansas.

Several of our teams are very much alive, including the two Real Jersey FC teams, 1776 United FC and FC Revolution Dynamo, which all got the bounce-back wins they needed to stay in the hunt. Lehigh Valley United, Future Player Academy and PA Dominion (aka Harleysville FC) are in good footing after picking up six points in their first two games while Philadelphia SC Coppa Swarm, Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals and HMMS Eagle FC Impact are going to need to win big and get some help to advance.

13U Girls

Makenzie McCready scored the lone goal in the 59th minute off a through ball from Julia Tepes to lead Real Jersey FC to a 1-0 win over CSA and keep alive their hopes of making it to the final. A win over Michigan Jaguars today would set up a rematch with Albion SC in the final. Tepes had the lone goal in their 2-1 loss to Albion SC on Tuesday set up by a corner kick from McCready.

15U Boys

PA Dominion, aka Harleysville FC, made it two wins out of two with a 3-1 win over Oklahoma Energy. Ethan Lacher, James Barton and Zach Morales had the goals. They won their first game 2-0 over Raiders FC behind second half goals from Morales and Michael Michalak.

Real Jersey FC bounced back from an opening game loss to beat Nationals Union 4-0 in a rematch of last year’s final they lost to the Michigan team. Cade McGrath opened the scoring in the 24th minute, Andrew Kitch doubled the lead 11 minutes later and Milton Jones stretched the lead to 4-0 with a second half brace.

15U Girls

FC Revolution Dynamo bounced back from a tough 3-2 loss after leading 2-0 in the first half with a 2-1 win over Sporting St. Louis Red Devils. Taylor Mentzer and Emily Vishio put the Wyomissing-based team up in the first half and they limited their opponent to just the one goal in the second half to pick up a critical three points. Natalee Vicari and Mentzer had the goals and goalkeeper Caitlin Williams made a number of big stops in the loss to Waukesha on Tuesday.

Philadelphia SC Coppa Swarm fell 1-0 to LVSA after a thrilling 3-3 draw to open play on Tuesday. They’ll need a lopsided win and some help to advance out of their group to the semifinal.

17U Girls

Amanda Attanasi opened the scoring with her fourth goal of the tournament early in the second half but North Shore United responded with a pair of goals to hand SJEB Rush Academy a loss. The South Jersey team will take on Group B leaders Legends FC today both looking for points to advance to the semifinal.

HMMS Eagle FC Impact picked up a point in Group A with a 1-1 draw against Nationals Union, but appeared to be headed to a win when Julia Raich opened the scoring in the 88th minute. Nationals Union equalized two minutes later.

18U Boys

Future Player Academy followed up their 1-0 win over local rivals Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals with a 3-2 win over Utah club Sparta to make it two wins out of two. Luke Greenberg opened the scoring heading home a corner from Max Brown in the 26th minute but FPA fell behind on two unanswered goals. They drew level on a header from Dane Harmaty off a corner from Brown in the 63rd and Marco Mesoraca won it in the 90th minute off a long ball from Michael Burstein that got through the keeper and found Mesoraca’s head at the far post to secure all three points.

Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals got their first goal of the tournament with a 50th minute equalizer from Sebastian Gonzalez but conceded in the 78th minute to fall 2-1 to Solar 01 Stricker. They’ll need a favorable win and help from their local rivals to secure a place in the semifinal.

18U Girls

1776 United FC had a bounce-back 3-0 win over Lady Lobos Rush to stay in the thick of the race in Group A. Caitlin Donovan scored a goal in each half and Gabriella Curry also scored.

19U Boys

Lehigh Valley United are already into the semifinal after another solid performance and 2-0 win over familiar rivals Baltimore Celtic in Group B. Carter Houlihan and Luke McMahon had the goals for LVU, both in the second half. Bryce Evans, Euan Forrest and Ryan Bradby all scored in their 3-0 win to start the competition over FC Golden State on Tuesday.

Lower Merion SC Rats dropped all three points with a 1-0 loss to Ohio Premier after beating FC Dallas on a Sean Touey first half goal to open things up on Tuesday. All four teams in Group A sit on three points heading into the final group play match.

Streaming Schedule, Thursday, July 25

19U Boys: McLean Hotspur vs Lower Merion SC Rats, 7:30 p.m. EST
19U Boys: Kingdom SC Red vs Lehigh Valley United 2000 Black, 7:30 p.m. EST
15U Boys: Real Jersey FC vs NY Stars Premier Galaxy, 9:30 p.m. EST
15U Boys: Downtown LVSC 04 Gold vs PA Dominion 04, 9:30 p.m. EST