Friday, July 15, 2011

What happened at ECNL finals and Showcase? Day 3

HUMONGOUS NEWS: CASL U16s NATIONAL CHAMPS: SEE BELOW FOR DETAILS

The Elite Clubs National League is hosting their Finals and Showcase in Aurora, CO (Denver area) this weekend. CASL has 3 teams at the competition. The Under 16 girls, coached by Damon Nahas, are in the eight team finals and will play a 1/4 final, semi final and final to determine the top eight teams in the league 1-8. The Under 15 girls, coached by Sean Nahas, and the Under 17 girls, coached by John Dalpe filling in for CASL DOC Rusty Scarborough who is at the USSF Academy finals, are playing in the Showcase competition and will play three pre-scheduled games. I'll keep everyone posted on results and scorers during the weekend.

Thursday July 14:

Under 15 v FC Bucks (E-PA)
Final 2-5
Goal Scorers: Maddie West and Bayley Rigsbee
Under 16 v Michigan Hawks in 1/4 finals
Final 5-3
Goal scorers: JoAnna Boyles, Alexis Shaffer, Paige Reckert, Caroline Brown and Bria Dixon
Falling behind 2-0, the CASL girls fought back to go ahead 3-2 and then were tied 3-3 before two late goals by Brown and Dixon sealed the semifinal berth against FC Virginia.
Under 17 v Michigan Hawks
Final 1-0
Goal scorer: Caroline Gentry
Shutout: Annie McHenry (Gk) and defense and entire team

Friday July 15

U 15 v Colorado Rush 11 am MDT
Final 1-2
Goal scorer: Maddie West
U16 v FC Virginia 12:30
Halftime 2-0
FINAL: 2-1
Goal scorers: JoAnna Boyles 2
CASL jumped out to a 2-0 halftime lead and preserved the win. Two goals by JoAnna Boyles, one a penalty kick, were the difference. The team will play Real So Cal (S-CA) for the ECNL national championship on Saturday.....good luck girls!
U17 v Arsenal (S-CA) 5 pm
FINAL 1-1
Goal scorer: Caroline Gentry

Saturday July 16
U15 v Ohio Elite 11 am MDT
FINAL: 4-2
Colleen Markey 2, Madison Blackwell, Maddie West
U16 v Real So Cal in national championship game
FINAL: 4-1
Lightning Delay with score tied 1-1 in the 1st half! CASL scored on a corner kick by Claire Wagner which was headed in by Paige Reckert to knot the score after Real So Cal scored 6 minutes into the game!
The game resumed and CASL scored three more unanswered goals to win 4-1! Reckert's goal was scored midway through the first half. The 2nd goal was by JoAnna Boyles also on a corner by Claire Wagner. Reckert scored the third goal on an assist by Alexis Shaffer. Reckert completed her hat trick on an assist from Alexis Degler. CONGRATULATIONS TO THE TEAM AND COACH DAMON NAHAS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Goal scorers: Paige Reckert 3, JoAnna Boyles
U17 v KCFC (KS) 5 pm
FINAL: 1-1
Goal Scorer: Markie Studnicky
Goalkeepers: Due to some unusual circumstances, field players Monica Trickett and Syd Sawaya split time in goal in what was a great team defensive effort led by defenders and all field players.
                                                                             Charlie Slagle

CASL teams had 5 wins, 2 losses and 2 ties in the competition!

Monday, July 11, 2011

What happened at the Academy Finals? Day 8

U18 Boys come in 4th, lose in penalty kicks. See below

The USSF Academy Finals have begun and CASL has a team in both age brackets. In fact, in the four years of the Academy finals, CASL has placed 7 teams out of a possible 8 in the 8 team finals. The club that is next closest to CASL has qualified just 4. The event is in Milwaukee this year after the first three years being at the Home Depot Center in the LA area. The format is two four team round robins with games occurring every other day. The top team in each round robin group plays for the championship, second place teams play for 3rd place, etc. The Under 18 age group starts on Saturday July 9th and then plays on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The Under 16's play on Sunday July 10th and then Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The championship finals are on national television.

THE GAMES:

Saturday July 9th-CASL Chelsea Academy Under 18 v Weston FC (FL) 8 pm CDT
Final 3-0
Goal Scorers: Monbo Bokar
Ryan McAnallen
Andrew Morales
Goalkeeper: Paul West
CASL scored three goals in the first half to seal the victory. Next up: FC Dallas (MLS club) on Monday. FC Dallas defeated the Baltimore Bays 1-0 in their first game.

Sunday July 10th-CASL Chelsea Academy Under 16 v PA Classics at 8 pm CDT
FINAL 0-1
An early goal by the Classics was too much to overcome in this 1-0 loss. The other two teams in the bracket tied in their first game, so the group is still up for grabs!

Monday July 11th- U18's v FC Dallas at 4:30 pm CDT
FINAL: 2-2
Goal scorers: Monbo Bokar 2
A penalty kick in the first half drawn by Monbo Bokar and converted by Bokar put CASL on top 1-0 until 30 seconds remained in the first half when FC Dallas knotted the score. In the second half, FC Dallas took the lead but Mombo scored a late goal to tie it. With time running out defender Logan Paussa saved CASL by making a sliding save on the goal line in front of goalkeeper Paul West.
The Baltimore Bays, CASL's next opponent defeated Weston 2-0. Therefore, the standings after two games are: CASL 4 pts +3 goal differential; FC Dallas 4 pts +1 goal differential; Baltimore Bays 3 pts. +1 goal differential; Weston 0 pts -5 goal differential. Next games will be Wed.

Tuesday July 12th- U16's v NC Fusion 3 pm
Final 0-1
A late-ish 2nd half goal by the Fusion was the only goal scored as the CASL U16's go 0-2-0. they will be looking to rebound on Thursday v the Real Salt Lake (AZ) with a chance to come in 3rd in the group.
Group standings-NC Fusion 4 pts.; PA Classics 4 pts.; Real Salt Lake 2 pts.; CASL 0 points

Wednesday July 13th- U 18's v Baltimore Bays 6 pm CDT
FINAL: 1-1
Both goals scored in the 1st half. Cooper Vandermaas-Peeler got the goal for CASL. With the tie and FC Dallas' 4-1 win over Weston, CASL places 2nd in their group and will be playing for 3rd place on Friday in Milwaukee. Dallas will play for the championship, Baltimore for 5th place and weston for 7th.

Thursday July 14th- U16's v Real Salt Lake (AZ) 6 pm CDT
Final 1-3
Three 2nd half goals by Real Salt Lake made up for a 1-0 CASL halftime lead

Friday July 15th-U18 Championship and final placement games
3rd place game: CASL v Dallas Texans 7:30 pm CDT
FINAL: 2-2 Texans win 4-3 in penalty kicks
Goal scorers: Logan Paussa
Cooper Vandermaas Peeler
CASL allowed a goal in stoppage time that tied the score and the game advanced straight to pks where the Texans prevailed 4-3. A great year for the team-in the last three games, the team tied the other top teams in the country in FC Dallas, the Baltimore Bays and the Dallas Texans. We wish all the players luck as they head off to college to start their schooling and soccer careers!

Saturday July 16th-U16 Championship and final placement games
7th place game: CASL v Dallas Texans
FINAL: 1-3
Goal scorer: Yanni Hachem
The Under 16 Academy team finishes in 8th place nationally! Congratulations on a great season!
                                                                            Charlie Slagle

Sunday, July 10, 2011

What is happening at USSF Academy Finals? ETC.

The USSF Academy Finals have begun and CASL has a team in both age brackets. In fact, in the four years of the Academy finals, CASL has placed 7 teams out of a possible 8 in the 8 team finals. The club that is next closest to CASL has qualified just 4. The event is in Milwaukee this year after the first three years being at the Home Depot Center in the LA area. The format is two four team round robins with games occurring every other day. The top team in each round robin group plays for the championship, second place teams play for 3rd place, etc. The Under 18 age group starts on Saturday July 9th and then plays on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The Under 16's play on Sunday July 10th and then Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The championship finals are on national television.

THE GAMES:

Saturday July 9th-CASL Chelsea Academy Under 18 v Weston FC (FL) 8 pm CDT
Final 3-0
Goal Scorers: Mombo Bokar 2
Ryan McAnallen
Goalkeeper: Paul West
CASL scored three goals in the first half to seal the victory. Next up: FC Dallas (MLS club) on Monday. FC Dallas defeated the Baltimore Bays 1-0 in their first game.

Sunday July 10th-CASL Chelsea Academy Under 16 v PA Classics at 8 pm CDT

Monday July 11th- U18's v FC Dallas

Tuesday July 12th- U16's v NC Fusion

Wednesday July 13th- U 18's v Baltimore Bays

Thursday July 14th- U16's v Real Salt Lake

Friday July 15th-U18 Championship and final placement games

Saturday July 16th-U16 Championship and final placement games

Congratulations to the Carolina Railhawks on a great winning streak that came to an end last night in Minnesota 1-0. The goal was scored in stoppage time. The Railhawks are now 12-2-1 on the season and leading the NASL by a wide margin. The streak had to end sometime but WHAT A RUN!

Good luck to the US Women today v Brazil in the 1/4 finals of the FIFA Women's World Cup. They play this morning in Germany. Two surprises in the semis already as France (in pks over England) and Japan (in ot v Germany) are waiting for today's winning nations. The US v Brazil winner will play France and the Australia v Sweden winner will play Japan. It will be an unusual four teams in the semis, no matter what!
                                                                           Charlie Slagle

Friday, July 8, 2011

How do I get tickets to Juventus v Chivas? AND Who is on Back of the Net tomorrow?

Tickets go on sale for the World Football Challenge game on Thursday July 28th today (Friday) at 10 am. You can access the ticket purchasing web site by going to the CASL web site and clicking on the link. Should be a great contest in what should be a full Carter Finley Stadium. The best from Italy and Mexico playing in front of a great and enthusiastic crowd....it doesn't get much better than this.....and it is in your backyard (sorta)!!!!!
Back of the Net (on 99.9 the Fan every Saturday from 7-8 am) has a great lineup of guests for tomorrow's show....with the possible exception of the first guest. I am in Minnesota, where the Railhawks will be taking on the Stars later on Saturday. Therefore, producer extrodinaire, James Alverson, will man the mike. His first guest will be me from MN talking about the World Football Challenge, the Challenge Ambassador trip to Sweden, the Railhawks, etc. After that, Martin Rennie and a Railhawks player will be on from Blaine, MN.
Then Steve Kreis will talk about the CASL Challenge Ambassadors trip to Sweden. Steve coached one of the Under 12 girls teams, the Stars, and they played many close games but won the tournament on Sunday in the Pitea Summer Games. The whole contingent from CASL, numbering 240, were in attendance plus many other fans. For more details on the Ambassadors trip please see the earlier blog on the tournament.
Robby Church, the longtime coach of the Duke women's program will talk about the FIFA Women's World Cup. The 1/4s are Saturday and Sunday with the US playing a very, very good Brazil team in this first knockout game due to their loss to Sweden in game three of group play on Wed. Robby will let us know if the US can top Marta and her teammates on Sunday plus he'll answer many other questions. Should be a good show. Listen in!

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

What a soccer summer it has been!

I am back states-side and soccer continues in CASL and for soccer fans. The Challenge Ambassadors will all be home today as the boys teams arrive at RDU. It was a successful trip with positive comments and e-mails from tournament directors, opposing coaches and hotel staff. See the most previous post for details!
The CASL Under 16 and Under 18 USSF Development Academy teams begin play this weekend in Milwaukee trying to become the national champion in this prestigious league. Eight teams in each age bracket are there and each team will play 3 round robin games and then a placement game. The #1 seeded CASL Chelsea Under 18 team made it through the Playoff and begin play Saturday and then play every other day for 7 days. Coached by CASL Director of Coaching, Rusty Scarborough, this team has been great all year. The Under 16 team, coached by new UNC men's soccer coach Carlos Somoano, peaked at the right time and won three close games in the playoffs in Frisco, Texas. I will blog results from these games starting Saturday. GOOD LUCK GUYS!
Also, starting next week will be the ECNL (Elite Clubs National League) playoffs in Denver, CO. CASL's best older girls teams will be competing in this top league. More to come from this competition next week and, of course, the blog will keep up with scores and scorers.
Today, the US Women's National Team will find out their 1/4 final opponent in the FIFA Women's World Cup. The US, 2-0-0, will play the 2-0-0 national team from Sweden this afternoon. Both these teams would like to stay away from a 1/4 final matchup with talented Brazil on Sunday.
Ho hum..........the Railhawks keep dominating the opposition. They play on the road in Minnesota this Saturday after a good win in front of a great crowd last Sunday that led up to the Railhawks fireworks display. The lead that the Hawks have built, is staggering after only 14 games.
SOCCER, SOCCER, SOCCER-it is everywhere and there could be more big games on the horizon......more to come. KICK em straight!
                                                                           Charlie Slagle