The fall season has kicked off in the US Youth Soccer National League Conferences, Managed by EDP Soccer. The top leagues in the USYS East Region were in action, and each conference saw some terrific games. The National League Conferences provide competing teams the opportunity to qualify for the 2022 USYS Eastern Regional Championships through league play and also a chance to earn their place in the 2022-2023 season of the prestigious USYS National League P.R.O. competition.
JUMP TO: Mid Atlantic | New England | North Atlantic | South Atlantic
North Atlantic Conference
In the 14U Boys Academy Division, USYS Eastern Regional Champions and Eastern New York State Cup Champions Brentwood SC Man City took on division newcomer DUSC 2008 Blue. The match finished 5-1 in favor of Brentwood as they started their run to try and return to the National Championships.
Edson Jean opened the scoring for Brentwood 2008 Premier Man City with a header into the back of the net from a corner kick by Oscar Alvarenga. Dylan Bianco added two goals, and Diego Argueta and Esteban Loaiza each scored once. Despite the score and Brentwood controlling possession, DUSC Centerback Dylan Owczarski had an excellent game.
In the 14U Girls Academy Division, New Jersey State Cup Finalist NJ Premier FC 2008 faced off with New York Surf SC G08 in the opening game in the division. NJ Premier FC came away with the win by the scoreline of 1-0.
NJ Premier FC got on the board with a goal by Charli Pagano, and the side continued to press to find a second but was denied several times by the great play of the NY Surf goalkeeper.
In the 14U Girls Premier I Division, Eastern New York State Cup Champions Auburndale SC Strikers 08 visited CFC South 08 Girls on Sunday morning at Trinity Catholic Field. Both teams defended excellently all game long, and it was Auburndale who was able to score the game’s lone goal for a 1-0 victory.
Early in the second half, Isabella Porrini-Fernández scored after a great pass from Erica Huang. Fernández took her first touch past the defender then fired into the far corner from just outside the penalty box. CFC applied pressure late in the game, but were unable to find an equalizer.
All scores for the North Atlantic Conference can be found here.
Mid Atlantic Conference
In the 14U Boys Academy Division, USYS Eastern Regional semifinalist Lower Merion SC Thunder visited PSA Monmouth 08, who also participated in the 2021 USYS Eastern Regionals after winning the Mid Atlantic Conference last spring.
PSA Monmouth scored the first goal of the game 9 minutes in when Nick Riberio scored on a header on a cross from Ben Lyons. Near the 30-minute mark, PSA scored again with Lyons playing a part when Brandon Cosentino forced a save off a Lyons’ corner kick and Jackson Whitehead scored on the rebound. PSA also has top performances from Alex Frank, Mikey Batista, Colton Davis and Jake Ferraro.
"I thought it was a great season opener, obviously from our point of view in terms of the end result, and we were delighted to get the 3 points,” PSA coach Wayne Price said. “Lower Merion has done fantastically well in recent events, and we knew it would be a very tough game, which it proved to be. We have prepared well in pre-season and shuffled the roster a little bit, so it was great to see all our players performing to a high level during their time on the field. It was probably the hardest I have seen the boys work in terms of their mental effort since I began coaching this age group a few years ago so that was very pleasing. Once again, it was a great advert for the league and we are looking forward to similar quality games for the duration of the season."
In the 14U Boys Premier I Division, Eastern Pennsylvania State Cup champions Lehigh Valley United 2008 Boys hosted Philadelphia SC Coppa 08 on Sunday afternoon at Lehigh University. It was a closely contested game with Lehigh Valley United edging out PSC Coppa 1-0 on a Lincoln Fritz goal.
"Philly Coppa brought a lot of pressure and energy to the match," according to LVU coach Greg Ramos. "It was an extremely competitive game against a quality opponent. We know to expect this level of play every time we play a Mid Atlantic Conference game."
In the 14U Girls Premier I Division USYS Eastern Regional semifinalist and New Jersey State Cup champion NLSA 2008G visited Torpedoes SC 08 Red who had won the 2019 and 2020 New Jersey State Cup. NLSA won the very closely contested game 2-1 behind goals from Maia Davis and Sara Chrnelich
"We are excited to kick off our fall season with three away points,” said Brian Thomsen, Director of Coaching and Operations of Next Level Soccer Academy. “We've played this talented Torpedoes team twice in the last three years. Once this past spring (tied) and another when they knocked us out of the State Cup two years ago. Our girls are mixing their direct, combination, and pressing style of play at a high level at the moment and can't wait to continue with our league, State Cup, and USYS National League P.R.O. season."
All scores for the Mid Atlantic Conference can be found here.
South Atlantic Conference
In the 14U Girls Premier I Division, Maryland State Cup champion Maryland Rush SOMD Rush 08G Kraken visited Coppermine SC 08 Girls at Notre Dame Prep on Saturday at noon. In the first half, Maryland Rush scored the game’s first goal when Charlotte Bryan headed in a beautiful free kick from Addison Will. With Maryland Rush SOMD holding on to the 1-0 lead, Bridget Price scored for Coppermine with 10 minutes left. Coppermine almost pulled out the win when Reagan Ramsey hit the post with a few minutes remaining. The 1-1 draw was back-and-forth all match long with both teams having several scoring chances.
"I was proud of the way we fought back to earn the tie,” said Coppermine coach Joe DiFonso. “It shows the character of these players. It wasn't our best game, but we can take some positives away. Kraken is a good team and is well coached. We'll get back to work this week and get ready for the next one."
“It’s always a good match between us and Coppermine. There is mutual respect among all of us,” said coach Nick Catena. “In the first half, Charlotte earned our team's “first goal by header” bounty with this goal.
“We knew we had to be disciplined to keep the lead and hope to add to it. Unfortunately for us, in the second half, Coppermine got off a great shot that hit the back of the net and we ended in a 1-1 tie.”
In the 13U Boys Premier I Division, eight out of the 10 teams saw action, with all four of the games being extremely close battles making it one of the tightest conferences in the country. Severna Park Green 09B defeated Baltimore Union Elite 09 1-0, SAC 2009 Pre-Academy tied 1-1 with Laurel SC White 2009, Total Futbol 2009 Gold defeated Bethesda SC 2009 2-1 and Broadneck SC 2009 Bandits Premier beat Arundel ASA Juventus Elite 2009 3-1.
All scores for the South Atlantic Conference can be found here.
New England Conference
In the 14U Girls Premier I Division, New England Surf returns to conference play after winning the Massachusetts State Cup, the USYS Eastern Regional Championship and finishing as a semifinalist at the USYS National Championship. In their opening match, they visited MA Rush North 2008 Girls Grey and went home with a big win. Nicole Proia led the way with four goals, while Chloe Leng, Hannah Babo and Priscila Hill also got on the scoresheet.
"It was nice to get our USYS journey started again,” Surf player Priscila Hill said. “While we opened our account with a good win, we are confident the team can get stronger with more games under our belt and we are looking forward to our next game this coming Sunday."
In the 14U Boys Premier I Division, newcomers NEFC NS Boys 2008 NL Elite hosted Seacoast United Mass South 2008 Elite Boys. Both sides battled hard in what was a very tight first half, and Seacoast United came out of the half up, 1-0, with a goal by Tate Laramee in the 30th minute. The second half was a little more open, and both sides had their share of possession. Laremee earned his second goal in the 52nd minute and scored a penalty kick in the 59th minute for the hat trick that wrapped up the fixture. In the end, both sides had tremendous ability and gave a great performance.
“I was very impressed with both teams,” Seacoast head coach Gary Nolan said. “I felt our boys were very good on both sides of the ball and took their opportunities well.”
All scores for the New England Conference can be found here.