“U18 Boys = New Champions of the U19 men’s division at Black Watch Labor Day Tournament”

The tournament started off with a stormy afternoon on August 30th.

GSA U18 boys took the field at about 3:00 pm, which was one hour after the scheduled kick off. Our boys played fantastic possession soccer for the first 22 minutes. The referees stopped the game at 23 minute mark for what they thought would be a quick water break, but the two

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teams would not return to the field for another hour, due to lightning delay. After the game

finally resumed, GSA boys quickly capitalized on the opposition’s miscue to score the first goal of the match and go to the half with a 1-0 lead.

The second half lasted only 15 minutes due to poor weather conditions. Red Stars (opposing team) took advantage of this shortened 2nd half to score two quick goals and win the first group match by 2 – 1.

On the second day of the tournament, GSA U18 boys played a tough game against Hillsborough County United (HCU) in the morning and an even tougher game against a much older U19 Jaguars from Jacksonville (Jags) in the afternoon. The GSA boys dismissed HCU by a score of 3 – 0, before tying the Jags by a final score of 1 – 1. However, this is all our boys needed to advance to the semi final game, which was played on September 1st. .

On the sunny Labor Day morning, GSA U18 boys displayed superb passing skills and easily beat the B group winners (Indialantic) by 3 goals to nil. This win set up a rematch with the Jacksonville Jags, who won the other semi final by a PK shoot out.

The first half of the Championship game was as balanced as advertised and, in spite of numerous close opportunities for the GSA team, ended with no scores. After intermission, the GSA boys controlled the pace of the game and managed to tire the opposition by a combination of possession and fast break soccer. .

The rest was history, as U18 GSA boys dismantled the U19 Jags by a final score of 4 – 0.

Please congratulate the U18 boys and their coaches for a job well-done when you see them at Jonesville.