The Crew Juniors Under-12 Girls West Gold captured the Ohio South Youth Soccer Association (OSYSA) State Cup Championship by defeating TFA Elite 6-5 on Sunday in come-from-behind fashion. The Crew Soccer Academy Under-18, Under-16 and Under-14 squads returned from play in Missouri and have a bye this upcoming weekend.
The U-12 Girls West Gold win marked the first OSYSA State Cup Championship for the Girls Crew Juniors program. Trailing by a seemingly insurmountable deficit of four goals early on in the contest, the team chipped away at the TFA lead until they were able to tie the game at five just before the end of regulation. From there, the team carried momentum into stoppage time where they scored an early goal to secure the comeback and put away TFA Elite for good by a final of 6-5. The U-11 Boys East Gold and U-12 Boys East Gold also had successful Cup Championship appearances as they both made it to the semifinal round in their respective divisions.
The Crew Soccer Academy U-18, U-16, and U-14 squads will resume U.S. Soccer Development Academy play on Saturday, November 2 when the sides square-off against affiliate program Crew Soccer Academy Wolves.
Heading into the bye this weekend, the most recent action between the three teams featured battles in Missouri on October 5-6 against the St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri and Metro sides for a combined record of 2-2-2, with the U-18s going a perfect 2-0-0 on the trip.
The U-18s recorded a pair of 1-0 victories, a welcomed turnaround after a 1-4-0 start to the campaign. October 5th’s 1-0 win over St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri featured a 75th-minute headed goal from Javier Meneses-Wallace – his first of the season -- on a cross from Noah Hutchins. In the Sunday test against Scott Gallagher Metro, the club found another late-game goal with Matt Dudon finding his first goal of 2013 in the 74th minute off of a corner kick. In the last three matches, the U-18s are 2-0-1 with three shutouts over the last three weeks to improve to 3-4-1.
While the U-18s benefitted from a goal in the final 15 minutes to win on October 5, the U-16s found a late goal-against to be the difference in 1-0 loss to St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri. Despite several opportunities in the match, the U-16s were unable to convert and suffered the loss. The team would salvage a point on the weekend to go 0-1-1 after a 1-1 draw with Scott Gallagher Metro on Sunday, October 6. After trailing early at the 20th-minute mark, Devyn Etling found space and find the equalizer in the 54th minute.
In similar fashion to the weekend for the U-16s, the U-14s bounced back from an October 5 loss to secure a draw on October 6 to finish 0-1-1 on the weekend. After dominating possession in the first half against St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri, two goals in the first 15 minutes into the second half of play downed the visiting Crew. The October 6 result – a 0-0 draw against Scott Gallagher Metro – saw windy conditions in the first half as both teams had chances to go ahead. Injuries to Erick Gonzalez and Sean Zawadzki limited the Crew’s attacking potency, and even with a barrage of attempts late in the game, the match ended scoreless.
