Weekly comments and updates about the previous weeks games and tournaments.
Baltimore Showcase
The u-17b Jersey United Patriots won the 2009 Baltimore College Showcase in dramatic fashion this weekend and are off to a great start during their 2009-2010 campaign. After beating the W.V. state cup champs 3-0 and losing 1-0 to Bryst F.C. from Canada, they were forced to win both games Sunday morning in order to win the group. With a 2-0 solid performance vs. Northern Atlanta at 8am, the Patriots won 2-1 in a game at 11am which became a final. With by far the best performance of the weekend vs. Thunder Ajax (MD) in their final game, the Patriots center midfield of Kurt Keller, Ben Saliterman, Marc DiFalco & Ryan Frazier controlled the game and eventually got the game winner from Jason Rainier with 15 minutes to go. The back 3 of Austin Wilkinson, Taylor Anderson and Eric Stephens was strong all weekend and gk Tim Janes let in only 1 goal including an incredible p.k. save. Goals during the weekend came from Chris Renna 2, Colton Klein 2, Andrew Wilkinson 1, DiFalco 1, & Rainier.
MAPS College Showcase
The Patriots went 3-0 in group play this weekend and lost a heartbreaker in the Finals of the MAPS College Showcase to Empire United (Rochester) 2-1. Empire has already won 3 tournaments this Spring and is undefeated, but got a scare on Sunday afternoon. After getting dominated in the first half and down 2-0, Chris Renna served a perfect 40 yard free kick onto Taylor Anderson’s head and got the Patriots in the game. Playing with 10 men for the last 15 minutes, the Patriots dominated the 2nd half and produced numerous chances, but couldn’t even the score.
In group play Friday, the Patriots won 1-0 in both games over AC Caldo (CT) and NEFC (MA) with Andrew Young and Tim Simon finding the back of the net. Defensively Kurt Keller, Jason Rainier, Austin Wilkinson, Anderson, Marc DiFalco, Simon, Ryan Frazier and goalkeeper Tim Janes didn’t allow a goal all day Friday and going into game 3 Saturday morning, needed a win or a tie versus North Babylon (NYE) to go to the final. Chris Renna had a breakout performance scoring a hat trick 11 minutes into the game and Andrew Wilkinson scored the goal of the tournament with a 35 yard rocket into the top corner.
Sunday 4/11, the Patriots won their opening game of the US Club State Cup 4-1 over NJ Rangers Thunder. The Patriots overall didn’t play their best in the 1st half and were tied 1-1 at halftime. Eventually, the boys started to dominate the 2nd half and cruised to victory with goals from Andrew Wilkinson, Andrew Young, Kannov Kapoor and Matt Byers. Kurt Keller and Colton Klein dominated the midfield in the 2nd half and eventually wore out the Thunder. Chris Renna continued his excellent form up front and the back line of Marc DiFalco, Austin Wilkinson, Taylor Anderson and Tim Simon played the entire game and got the job done, even though the goal given up was questionable offsides call.
The next US Club State Cup game will be against Ironbound Cosmos and NJYS State Cup game this Sunday 4/18 against FC Premier Mercury, a team the Patriots have never beaten.
The Patriots survived and advanced in the 1st round of NJ State Cup yesterday with a 1-0 win over FC Premier Mercury. Andrew Wilkinson buried a cross from Chris Renna after Renna won the ball and delivered a perfected cross. Wilkinson seemed to win every ball and caused problems all day. Even though the Patriots allowed a handful of good chances in the first half, Tim Janes saved the day with an incredible kick save in the first half and kept a clean sheet. The defense tightened it up in the 2nd half and were able to get the result and move on.
The Patriots play Ironbound Cosmos in US Club State Cup Tuesday and again in NJ State Cup Sunday.
The Month of May started out tough for the Patriots as they lost in the US Club State Cup and NJYS State Cup to Ironbound Cosmos in the same week. In the US Club State cup game, the Patriots started going up 1-0 in the first 10 minutes with a beautifully worked run by Andrew Young and finished by Andrew Wilkinson. The Patriots then gave up 3 quick goals at the beginning of the 2nd half and were down 3-1 with 25 remaining. Wilkinson was then awarded a pk after colliding with the keeper. His bravery gave the Patriots a Tim Janes pk goal and made the game 3-2. After a scramble in the box, Ryan Thomas somehow poked in another goal and the score was tied with 10 minutes remaining. Chris Renna created the best 2 chances at the end of the game but they Patriots couldn't finish their chances and were sent to the dreaded penalty shootout and lost 4-3.
4 days later, the Patriots traveled to Newark again and were outplayed by a motivated Ironbound team. After getting a bogus red card at the beginning of the 2nd half and down 2-0, the Cosmos put the nail in the coffin after a beautifully taken free kick gave the Cosmos the win and a 4-0 final score.
This weekend at the New England Showcase, the Patriots started against local rival North Hunterdon and were 1-0, 8 minutes into the game and flying. Andrew Wilkinson managed to play Andrew Young in on a breakaway and Young nutmegged the keeper. After a 45 minute thunderstorm delay, the Patriots lost momentum and were outplayed for much of the game. North Hunterdon won every 50-50 ball and eventually scored with 8 minutes to go to tie the game 1-1.
The 2nd game of the day was against a big strong side in FC United of Massachusetts. Once again the Patriots opened the scoring 15 minutes into the game with a great run by Chris Renna who found Young who coolly laid the ball off to Wilkinson and he confidently finished in the bottom corner. The Patriots then gave up goal #2 of the day and #3 of the day in the same manner-lazy, back post defending by outside midfielders. The Patriots worked hard through out the 2nd half and deserved to tie the game with numerous chances that went wide.
In game 3, the Patriots faced their toughest game of the tournament on paper, FC Stars of Massachusetts who had won both games the day before. With only 13 healthy field players and down 1-0 after 10 minutes, the Patriots made a fantastic comeback. Colton Klein's excellent finish after an FC Star's defending mistake at the back, evened the score 1-1 going into halftime. Now down to only 12 healthy field players and missing 5 regular starting players, the Patriots finally got the lucky goal they've been waiting for all season. James Pirro's extra effort to cross a ball ended up going in the back of the net with 9 minutes remaining. It was a gutsy, scrappy performance, but the boys worked extra hard defensively and got the win. Tim Janes made some excellent saves and the defensive efforts of Ryan Frazier, Jason Rainier, Marc DiFalco, Austin Wilkinson and Tim Beekman were outstanding.
The Patriots play 2 MAPS game in the next 2 weeks and then are off to the Potomac Memorial Day Tournament.
