BlogsAthleticsUpper SchoolSoccer Academy
Soccer Academy: A December to Remember
Jan 20, 2012 1:29 PM
By Chad Liddle - Faculty
The past six weeks, our Soccer Academy players have had a very busy schedule. Both of our U17 and U18 Soccer Academy Boys' teams played three games each in the Indianapolis Showcase with six wins prior to Thanksgiving. This event was the perfect warm-up for our December Showcase schedule.
The first weekend back from Thanksgiving break was the CASL Showcase for Boys, Dec. 1-4, in Raleigh, N.C. On Dec. 4, our boys rolled back into Darlington on the Soccer Academy bus only to have both of our boys' teams pack up and head to the NCAA Final Four Collegiate Showcase in Birmingham, Ala., on Dec. 8.
The NCAA Final Four event was made even more special for senior Myles Englis, who committed to Creighton University earlier this year. After a tremendous season, his soon-to-be home team, Creighton, had earned the right to play in the NCAA Final Four Championship.
Both Soccer Academy teams won all three of their respective games in Birmingham in front of a tremendous number of college coaches. After the final whistle on Dec. 11, our boys quickly loaded up on the bus to return to Darlington to prepare for finals.
Following exams, 15 of our players trained to prepare for the U18 Boys Disney College Showcase, the most prestigious showcase event for soccer in the United States. The top 50-60 teams in each age group from all over the United States and world in the U16-U18 age groups, converge into Orlando, Fla., after Christmas each year to play in front of well over 400 college coaches. Click here to see the list of college coaches who attended Disney.
At the Disney Showcase, our U18 Boys had a very, very tough bracket. Our first game was against the Chicago Magic, one of the top teams in the midwestern United States. As a club, the Chicago Magic has won 91 State Championships and 21 National Championships between US Club, US Youth and US Soccer Developmental Academy. Click here for more about their accomplishments.
Our boys played the Chicago Magic players even for 68 minutes. In the 68th minute, weather came in fast and a sunny Florida day quickly turned to a monsoon rain storm. With no presence of lightning, we played through the storm that blew straight into our faces. Battling the wind and blinding rain, we gave up two goals in 10 minutes to find ourselves 0-2 down with approximately 10 minutes left to play. Our boys fought through the adverse conditions to find the back of the net at the 82nd minute to bring it to a one goal game at 1-2. With only a few minutes left to play, senior Shakeem Albouy was dragged down from behind on a breakaway. This looked to be the chance we had been battling for the entire game with a free kick just outside the box. Unfortunatley, we could not convert this opportunity to a quality strike on goal and the game ended with Darlington losing 1-2.
On Dec. 28, our players left early for a 9 a.m. game at Disney's ESPN Wide World of Sports against the No. 2 ranked team in "soccer powerhouse" Virginia. Our boys came out to play with the opening minutes including great opportunities on goal. We hit the cross bar twice in the first 15 minutes of the game. Around the 20th minute, the deadlock was broken by a great bending cross from senior Enrique Bello that was perfectly timed with a tremendous run by senior Alex Martignon, who scored with a clinical first touch finish. Our boys struck again in the second half, making the game 2-0 in front of over 50 college coaches surrounding our field.
This win set up our third group game against CASL Elite, the largest youth sports organization in the United States with over 14,500 registered players. Located in Raleigh, N.C., CASL has won over 20 National Championships between US Club, US Youth Soccer and ECNL. With only 40-45 boys in our program facing a club of over 14,000, this was truly a modern day "David versus Goliath."
From the opening whistle, our boys showed that we respect all our opponents... but we fear no one. Right away, we attacked! Senior Brandyn Murray made a brilliant curling run that put him 1V1 against the CASL goalkeeper, only to be called offsides by inches. In the 18th minute of play, Shakeem struck a tremendous volley that beat the CASL goalkeeper only to be denied by the post. We dominated the entire first half with no goals. As the second half started, the game was an end-to-end battle with our boys attacking in numbers. The CASL back line won a cross deep into their box and quickly sent the ball to the outside midfielder for a quick counter, only to be crushed by a tremendous open field tackle by senior Brody Gardner.
With only 15 minutes to play, Brandyn found himself in behind the CASL defense battling for a through ball with the huge CASL center back. This challenge ended with the CASL center back loosing his composure and wrestling Brandyn to the ground. The CASL goalkeeper quickly jumped into the tangle of players and punched Brandyn in the back of the head. These actions and the ensuing dissent directed at the referee earned CASL three red cards.
Playing numbers up with the dismissal of three CASL players from the game, our boys attacked with renued vigor. Minutes went by and chances after chances were barely missed. With less than six minutes to play, senior Naeem Griffiths had a volley from six yards out that could have found the net, only to strike the diving CASL goalkeeper in the chest. With only minutes left, a final substitution put local Soccer Academy player Will Stubbs on the field as an extra center midfielder. Thirty seconds after coming on the field, Will received the ball at the top of the box, turned and shot a goal in the side netting. The "David versus Goliath" analogy came full circle with a 1-0 win verse the largest soccer and youth athletic club in the country!
This final group game win over CASL put our Darlington School Soccer Academy boys into a final game verse the Dallas Texans, rated the No. 2 boys' club in the country (second only to the Baltimore Bays) and the No. 1 girls' club in the country. The Dallas Texans have accumulated well over 20 National Championships. In 2008, they won four National Championships between both the boys and girls.
Our boys played an incredible game versus the Texans, scoring with around 20 minutes to play to lead 1-0. With only 30 seconds left, the Texans took a long, long throw-in into our defensive box. The ball bounced around and ended up on Texans foot who smashed a shot that deflected off of one of our players and beat goalkeeper, senior Dylan Faber, to tie up the game. Immediately following the final whistle, we went to penalty kicks, that we lost 4-2.
As always, we are proud of our boys for what they do both on and off the field. This will certainly go down in Soccer Academy history books as a December to remember!
The first weekend back from Thanksgiving break was the CASL Showcase for Boys, Dec. 1-4, in Raleigh, N.C. On Dec. 4, our boys rolled back into Darlington on the Soccer Academy bus only to have both of our boys' teams pack up and head to the NCAA Final Four Collegiate Showcase in Birmingham, Ala., on Dec. 8.
The NCAA Final Four event was made even more special for senior Myles Englis, who committed to Creighton University earlier this year. After a tremendous season, his soon-to-be home team, Creighton, had earned the right to play in the NCAA Final Four Championship.
Both Soccer Academy teams won all three of their respective games in Birmingham in front of a tremendous number of college coaches. After the final whistle on Dec. 11, our boys quickly loaded up on the bus to return to Darlington to prepare for finals.
Following exams, 15 of our players trained to prepare for the U18 Boys Disney College Showcase, the most prestigious showcase event for soccer in the United States. The top 50-60 teams in each age group from all over the United States and world in the U16-U18 age groups, converge into Orlando, Fla., after Christmas each year to play in front of well over 400 college coaches. Click here to see the list of college coaches who attended Disney.
At the Disney Showcase, our U18 Boys had a very, very tough bracket. Our first game was against the Chicago Magic, one of the top teams in the midwestern United States. As a club, the Chicago Magic has won 91 State Championships and 21 National Championships between US Club, US Youth and US Soccer Developmental Academy. Click here for more about their accomplishments.
Our boys played the Chicago Magic players even for 68 minutes. In the 68th minute, weather came in fast and a sunny Florida day quickly turned to a monsoon rain storm. With no presence of lightning, we played through the storm that blew straight into our faces. Battling the wind and blinding rain, we gave up two goals in 10 minutes to find ourselves 0-2 down with approximately 10 minutes left to play. Our boys fought through the adverse conditions to find the back of the net at the 82nd minute to bring it to a one goal game at 1-2. With only a few minutes left to play, senior Shakeem Albouy was dragged down from behind on a breakaway. This looked to be the chance we had been battling for the entire game with a free kick just outside the box. Unfortunatley, we could not convert this opportunity to a quality strike on goal and the game ended with Darlington losing 1-2.
On Dec. 28, our players left early for a 9 a.m. game at Disney's ESPN Wide World of Sports against the No. 2 ranked team in "soccer powerhouse" Virginia. Our boys came out to play with the opening minutes including great opportunities on goal. We hit the cross bar twice in the first 15 minutes of the game. Around the 20th minute, the deadlock was broken by a great bending cross from senior Enrique Bello that was perfectly timed with a tremendous run by senior Alex Martignon, who scored with a clinical first touch finish. Our boys struck again in the second half, making the game 2-0 in front of over 50 college coaches surrounding our field.
This win set up our third group game against CASL Elite, the largest youth sports organization in the United States with over 14,500 registered players. Located in Raleigh, N.C., CASL has won over 20 National Championships between US Club, US Youth Soccer and ECNL. With only 40-45 boys in our program facing a club of over 14,000, this was truly a modern day "David versus Goliath."
From the opening whistle, our boys showed that we respect all our opponents... but we fear no one. Right away, we attacked! Senior Brandyn Murray made a brilliant curling run that put him 1V1 against the CASL goalkeeper, only to be called offsides by inches. In the 18th minute of play, Shakeem struck a tremendous volley that beat the CASL goalkeeper only to be denied by the post. We dominated the entire first half with no goals. As the second half started, the game was an end-to-end battle with our boys attacking in numbers. The CASL back line won a cross deep into their box and quickly sent the ball to the outside midfielder for a quick counter, only to be crushed by a tremendous open field tackle by senior Brody Gardner.
With only 15 minutes to play, Brandyn found himself in behind the CASL defense battling for a through ball with the huge CASL center back. This challenge ended with the CASL center back loosing his composure and wrestling Brandyn to the ground. The CASL goalkeeper quickly jumped into the tangle of players and punched Brandyn in the back of the head. These actions and the ensuing dissent directed at the referee earned CASL three red cards.
Playing numbers up with the dismissal of three CASL players from the game, our boys attacked with renued vigor. Minutes went by and chances after chances were barely missed. With less than six minutes to play, senior Naeem Griffiths had a volley from six yards out that could have found the net, only to strike the diving CASL goalkeeper in the chest. With only minutes left, a final substitution put local Soccer Academy player Will Stubbs on the field as an extra center midfielder. Thirty seconds after coming on the field, Will received the ball at the top of the box, turned and shot a goal in the side netting. The "David versus Goliath" analogy came full circle with a 1-0 win verse the largest soccer and youth athletic club in the country!
This final group game win over CASL put our Darlington School Soccer Academy boys into a final game verse the Dallas Texans, rated the No. 2 boys' club in the country (second only to the Baltimore Bays) and the No. 1 girls' club in the country. The Dallas Texans have accumulated well over 20 National Championships. In 2008, they won four National Championships between both the boys and girls.
Our boys played an incredible game versus the Texans, scoring with around 20 minutes to play to lead 1-0. With only 30 seconds left, the Texans took a long, long throw-in into our defensive box. The ball bounced around and ended up on Texans foot who smashed a shot that deflected off of one of our players and beat goalkeeper, senior Dylan Faber, to tie up the game. Immediately following the final whistle, we went to penalty kicks, that we lost 4-2.
As always, we are proud of our boys for what they do both on and off the field. This will certainly go down in Soccer Academy history books as a December to remember!
