This past weekend (July 15-17th), saw the 2010 Boy’s Black team travel to Norco, CA to compete in the ECNL Nationals at the Silver Lakes Soccer Complex. In the quarterfinal match the boys proved to be too much to handle for Pipeline Soccer Club out of Maryland. The team jumped out to a quick lead and never looked back earning a 3-0 victory. Goals from Lucas Turasz, Robbie Motroni, and Rocco Giovannone combined with a clean sheet submitted by RJ Castle set the table for a semi-final showdown with SLSG out of Missouri. The defense held up well throughout the game and tournament only concerning one goal the entire event.

In the semi-final game, the boys again jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead off of another Turasz goal but had an unfortunate own goal bounce in off of a corner kick. The boys recovered, owned possession, and hit the crossbar before ending the game in a 1-1 tie and thus entered into penalty kicks. Ivan Soboliev, Liam Hynes, Enoc Bonilla, Wesley Antista, Henry George, and Rocco Giovannone all nailed their PKs but unfortunately, the opposing keeper came up big and ended their magical run. After finishing the season at 15-1 and dominating Florida soccer in the ECNL-Regional League, the season finally concludes with a top-four finish.

” Of course, it’s not the way we wanted to end the season but Greg and the boys proved that they are more than comfortable in this league. What a season for this group. Ending in the top four certainly proves they belong! The future is bright as we picked up four additional players that add value to the roster. I can’t wait to see what Greg does with this group as we now tackle the Elite Academy League in 23/24.” – DME Coach Manager, John Taylor

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