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2019 US Youth Soccer National Championships – Five Missouri Teams

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Lou Fusz SC players from 2000 Elam, 2003 Blue McKee and 2005 Geerling, gather at the opening luncheon on July 22, 2019 via Brian Judy

The 2019 US Youth Soccer National Championships open Tuesday, July 23 at the Overland Park Soccer Complex in Overland Park, Kan. Missouri sends five teams to the tournament this week. Lou Fusz grabbed Midwest Regional titles in Girls soccer at U14 (Geerling), U16 (Blue McKee) and U19 (Elam). Sporting STL 2004 Red Devils are the U15 champions and Missouri won the majority (4 of 7) of the girls titles! They are joined by the U16 SLSG Elite boys who claimed a spot in Kansas City this Spring by capturing the Black Division title during National League play.

Editor’s note for new visitors – this story will be updated throughout the group stage (July 24-27) with results, tweets and related items so bookmark it and plan on visiting regularly this week. I’m always working on additional items to recognize the players, teams and clubs who have worked very hard to reach this point. Following me on Twitter is the best way to stay current @SoccerSTL

KNOCKOUT ROUND UPDATE – all five teams are still in position to advance to the semifinals on Saturday – CONGRATULATIONS TO THE THREE LOU FUSZ GIRLS TEAMS WHO ADVANCED!
LF Geerling 2005 – already qualified with a 2-0 record, tied with PSA (PA) who are their opponent Thursday. Winner takes 1st and plays 2nd place qualifier in the other division PLAY SATURDAY AGAINST NJ STALLIONS
Sporting STL Red Devils 2004 – with four points from a 1-0-1 record, they play SC Wave (formerly Waukesha) who have four points to their 3. Red Devils need to win in order to advance. They play at 7am, I’ll be on hand. Fall 1-3, headed home
LF McKee 2003 – tied with PSA (PA) with four points from the first two games. They face off Thursday at 11am in a game that will be streamed live. A draw will or better should ensure they advance unless San Diego wins by 4 or more for the GD tiebreaker. I’ll start there. Drew 1-1, ensuing 3-way tie sees them through
LF Elam 2000 – they are tied at the top of their group with 4 points (1-0-1) and face Sunrise (FL) at 11am in another game that will be streamed live. They need a draw to ensure they advance. Win 2-0, see you Saturday!
SLSG Elite 2003 – their win Wednesday was critical and now they only need a draw against Syracuse to advance to the knockout rounds. They are tied with 3 points but SLSG holds a +3 goal differential advantage. Lost 1-3

That means I’m here until at least Saturday and I suspect I’ll be booking a room for Saturday night for the Championship games on Sunday!

Here is the list of games being streamed – click here to go to the Video page where you will find a direct link next to your teams game.

Live Streams
Day Time Team Result
Tue 9:00 am Sporting STL 2004 3-2 W
Tue 8:30 pm Lou Fusz Geerling 2005 2-1 W
Wed 9:00 am Lou Fusz Elam 2000 0-0 D
Wed 8:30 pm Lou Fusz Geerling 2005 1-0 W
Thu 9:00 am SLSG Elite 2003 1-3 L
Thu 11:00 am Lou Fusz Blue 2003 1-1 F
Thu 11:00 am Lou Fusz Elam 2000 2-0 win

The 104 qualifying teams will play preliminary matches Tuesday, July 23 through Thursday, July 25 to determine who will advance in the pursuit for the National Championship. The 13U Boys and Girls will play their National Championship finals matches Friday, July 26, while the 14U-19U age groups have a day of rest once the four group winners are determined Thursday. Following their day off, the 14U through 19U teams will play semifinals on Saturday morning before crowning the remaining National Champions on Sunday, July 28.

The COMPLETE SCHEDULE can be viewed here but I also have links in each of the team sections to their personal page with rosters and individual schedules and results.

The 104 participants come from the traditional 56 regional champions and representatives have advanced to the National Championships via success through the first two legs of the annual US Youth Soccer National Championship Series – State Cup and Midwest Regionals – where more than 10,000 teams began their journey at the US Youth Soccer State Championships.

In addition to these 56 regional champions, 48 teams from the US Youth Soccer National League will complete the field of 104. Established in 2007, National League teams have captured a combined 65 of a possible 88 US Youth Soccer National Championships in the league’s first 11 years. Three Missouri soccer teams advanced by this path – Lou Fusz 2005 Geerling, Lou Fusz 2003 Blue McKee and SLSG MO 2003 Elite. 17 of the teams overall come from Region II.

Let’s look at each of the teams competing this week, with schedules, rosters, streaming as well as previous meetings among teams.

WEDNESDAY UPDATE:

U19 Women – Lou Fusz 2000 Elam

I still remember seeing them in January 2015 playing futsal. Now as graduating senior primarily, two time State Cup winners have reached the final challenge. Kohl, Kastberg, Orf, Tottleben, Goodwin, Martin, all part of a long-term core. Fielding a team at the oldest age group doesn’t always happen and this team has had several visiting players with them for Regionals and this week. That was also necessary with the loss of All-State player Maria Haro who went down injured in her final regular season High School game. I’ll look for her next on the SIUE Cougar bench!

Date Time Age Group Match Location/Result
Jul 23 7:00 AM 2000G Legends (CA-R2) 2-0 W Tottleben brace
Jul 24 9:00 AM 2000G Celtic (UR-C) 0-0 D
Jul 25 11:00 AM 2000G Sunrise (FL-NL1) 2-0 W
Jul 27 9:00 AM 2000G Semi: Field 1 or Field 5
Jul 28 10:00 AM 2000G Final: Field 1

TUE a brace by Jaimie Tottleben (‘18, ‘67) provided the margin in the opening group match
WED a scoreless draw displayed excellent goalkeeping by Camielle Day and Ashton Lindsley and the resilience of this team as they were placed under a lot of pressure throughout the game. Jaimie Tottleben saw a second half shot go off the upright after being sent in by Mary Evans. They are first based on goal differential at the moment (+1 compared to Celtic) although results for the other game in the group have not been reported yet.

THU

U16 Girls – Lou Fusz 2003 Blue McKee

Date Time Age Group Match Location/Result
Jul 23 7:00 AM 2003G Arsenal (CO-R) 3-0 W Goals Foley & Netzel brace
Jul 24 9:00 AM 2003G San Diego (NL) 1-1 D
Jul 25 11:00 AM 2003G National (NJ-C) 1-1 D
Jul 27 9:00 AM 2003G Semi: Field 4 or Field 9
Jul 28 9:20 AM 2003G Final: Field 2

TUE: a shutout to open play, going up 2-0 at halftime courtesy of goals by Sarah Foley (Belleville West) and Chloe Netzel (Liberty). Netzel added a second for the final margin. Shut out Maddie Davis in goal, assists by Netzel, Kasey Niedhardt and Kelsey Kehoe.
WED: Chloe Netzel added a third goal this week, giving McKee the initial lead that was matched a few minutes later by San Diego. The team sits in second, separated by goals against (1 vs 0) with PSA National, their opponent tomorrow.
THU:

U15 Girls – Sporting STL 2004 Red Devils

Date Time Age Group Match Location/Result
Jul 23 9:00 AM 2004G Utah Celtic (NL) 3-2 W Goals Welker Illig & Kittner
Jul 24 7:00 AM 2004G FC Revolution (PA-EC) 1-2 L
Jul 25 7:00 AM 2004G SC Wave (NL) 0-3 L

TUE: a difficult game that somehow saw the Red Devils prevail. They opened the scoring in the 18th minute when Camille Welker headed in a corner kick at the far post, coming against the run of play up to that point. They extended the lead when Maggie Illig scored from seven yards as a defender and the GK both closed on her, a calm finish that has me looking for a lot more from this lass. The second half saw Utah once again control the play, finally scoring in the 56th. That woke up the Red Devils who finally held the ball and got into the offensive end, earning a pair of corner kicks. A long diagonal ball that Meghan Belrose ran down and held brought Illig into the attack, but she needed to win a 50/50 ball with a crunching tackle that sent her opponent to the ground. She slid it left and Brooke Kittner took a couple of steps into the box before scoring with a strong shot past the keeper in the 61st. Utah was able to get a second in the 69th but Sporting STL held on for the win.
WED: the team fell 1-2 in their second match, allowing a goal in the 24th minute but responding only 3 minutes later with Brooke Kittner’s second of the tournament (video at bottom of page). Unfortunately the Pennsylvania side got a second in 41st to earn the three points. Awaiting results of the 7am game between SC Wave (formerly Waukesha), I’ll update advancement scenarios this afternoon

THU:

U14 Girls – Lou Fusz 2005 Geerling

Date Time Age Group Match Location/Result
Jul 23 8:30 PM 2005G Snohomish United (WA-FWC) Field 1 STREAM
Jul 24 8:30 PM 2005G TFA Elite (OHS-NLWT) 1-0 W Cannada
Jul 25 6:30 PM 2005G Pipeline (MD-EC) Field 11
Jul 27 7:00 AM 2005G Semifinal: Field 6 or 12
Jul 28 7:30 AM 2005G Final: Field 4

TUE:

WED: a game that ebbed and flowed with TFA starting strong but by the 5th minute Geerling put the pressure on and kept the action in their offensive end. By the 20th TFA took charge and earned several corner kicks but didn’t mount a truly dangerous shot. After a scoreless half Geerling came out and got the game-winner in the 39th minute (4 minutes into the half) when a ball into the box from the right side was not cleared thanks to some forechecking. The ball fell to Annelise Cannada who had made a run into the box from her left wing position and she one-timed a wonderful shot that finished just inside the near upright beyond the keepers reach. The video below should start before the ball into the box. These games are always fraught (the TFA parents let the ref know how frustrated they were) but Geerling continued to show the patience and confidence that have led to something like a 25-1 record in the last 8 months. Tactical adjustments included having Jessica Dodd take on man-marking responsibilities in the final 10 minutes on TFA’s top forward, moving back from her defensive mid position she shared with Kylie Anderson. See some shots below under the Wednesday twitter links.

THU:

U16 Boys – SLSG MO 2003 Elite

Date Time Age Group Match Location/Result
Jul 23 7:00 AM 2003B FC Dallas (C) 2-3 Loss
Jul 24 9:00 AM 2003B Baltimore Celtic (NL) 2-1 win
Jul 25 9:00 AM 2003B Syracuse Academy (NY-R) 1-3 L

TUE: After taking a 1-0 lead at halftime on Cole Ross’ goal, John Cordia extended the lead in the 57th minute. Unfortunately for Elite, FC Dallas came back with three goals in the final 13 minutes, getting the winner in stoppage time (80th minute). Game Report by USYSA
WED: the boys went down in the first half by a goal by Almir Mujcinovic and Stephen Saladin in the second half fueled the come back. Tied with Syracuse for second spot and will face them tomorrow to advance.
THU:

Round robin match times are scheduled for 7 a.m., 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., on the opening day of play, with preliminary games continuing through Thursday. Teams will earn three points for a win, one point for a tie and no points for a loss. The teams with the most points at the conclusion of Thursday’s play in the 13U age group will advance to play for the National Championship on Friday, July 26. In the 14U through 19U age groups, the top two teams in each group move on to semifinals for a chance to earn a place in their respective National Championship final on Sunday, July 28.

The James P. McGuire Cup final will begin at 7:00 a.m. CT on Sunday, July 28 to determine the 19U Boys National Champion. The James P. McGuire Cup is the oldest trophy in youth sports, dating back to 1935 with the inaugural youth championships, and played annually except during World War II. Officially known as the United States Soccer Federation National Junior Challenge Cup, the competition was renamed the James P. McGuire Junior Champion Cup in 1975, after the late United States Soccer Federation President.

Annually, the US Youth Soccer National Championship Series provides the nation’s top collegiate and professional coaches with the premier stage to identify and scout the most coveted players in the country.

MONDAY LUNCHEON

TUESDAY GROUP PLAY OPENS

WEDNESDAY GROUP PLAY

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