U18 Boys Perform Well in Phoenix

GALAXY SC U18 BOYS REACH QUARTERFINALS IN PHOENIX
Galaxy U18 Boys headed out to Phoenix, AZ, for the highly regarded Presidents Day Cup tournament. Galaxy arrived with a tough schedule playing 3 teams ranked in the top 4 of their respective states.

The first game was played against Colorado Fusion (state cup semifinalists). After a goalless first half and a stone wall penalty denied by the referee, Galaxy came through, winning 2-0 with goals from Angelo Catalano and Charlie Hansen.

The second game later that day saw Galaxy play FC Bandidos, another state cup semifinalist from New Mexico. After a slow start, Galaxy scored slightly against the run of play with a nice goal from Noah Kabfeld from a pinpoint cross from Eron Ortiz. After the goal, Galaxy started to grow in confidence and quickly made it 2-0 with a neat finish from Tyler Flatt. Michael Wiest showed why he is headed to Bowling Green with a wonderful penalty save late in the first half. The second half saw Galaxy spurn numerous chances to put the game to bed, but still ended up winning 2-0.

Having already qualified for the quarterfinal, Galaxy’s 3rd game came on Sunday morning against the 14th ranked team in the nation, Sereno from Arizona. With one eye on the quarterfinal the first half lacked much bite. The second half, however, saw Galaxy win their third straight game with two top-class goals from Arturo Cruz. One came from some nice inter-play between George Elliott and Tyler Flatt and the other was a fantastic solo effort from 20 yards out! Galaxy did concede with 10 minutes to go in the game, but ended up hanging on and claimed a great victory!

The quarterfinal saw the Galaxy boys tired and sore, but they came out fast in the first half against the Colorado Rush. After numerous good chances, Galaxy couldn’t find the back of the net and through a cruel deflection found themselves 1-0 down at the break. The second half saw Galaxy go 2-0 down with 30 minutes to play. After battling back and having a goal ruled out for offside, the Galaxy team did in fact score to make it 2-1. Unfortunately it was a case of not taking their chances as they fell 2-1 to Rush.

Although the team were upset at losing a game they probably should have won, they can hold their heads high as the run of results in Arizona has pushed them up to a state ranking of number 2! All the boys were great in their first games outdoor since June and it bodes well for the rest of the season. The team is coached by Jim Conner.