The Weston Fury U18 boys beat Team Boca White 2-1 in the newly reconstituted team's opening match of the early season Saturday in blistering midday heat at Vista Park in Weston. The Fury beat the 2004-05 Final Four Boca side on a pair of goals by forward Jonathan (J.T.) Thiel; the first assisted by midfield winger Matt Mobley and the second by central midfielder Luis Alva. Weston had another interesting combination on the field -- five players from 5A high school state champion St. Thomas Aquinas and five players from 6A state semifinalist Cypress Bay. 

 

The Fury got strong play from its defense, with central defender Andres Velez and left back Mario Figueroa in the first half each clearing sure goals from the line with their keeper out. In the second half, keeper Michael Anderson came up with two excellent saves of his own. Weston Coach Alvin James started Thiel and David Gordon up top, Davide Bombonato and Eugenio Lascurain in the central midfield, Mobley and Manuel Sotelo at the midfield wings, Iker Ibanez at stopper, Velez at central defense and Figueroa and Juan Lopez at the fullbacks. Anderson played the full match in goal. Also playing well for the Weston Fury were Chris Bent and Jaime Villarreal in the midfield and Leo Caldeira on defense. James sent Mobley out as captain for the team’s first match of the South Florida United Youth Soccer Association’s Premier Division. 

 

Team Boca took shot after shot all afternoon – 25 in all – but managed to put only eight on goal. Weston was far more efficient, taking only six shots but putting five on frame. Forward Gordon hit the post twice. The Fury nearly opened the scoring in the 23^rd minute, but Gordon’s shot hit the left near post and bounced out. Then, just three minutes later, it was Boca’s turn to get first blood. But right back Figueroa, the last man between the Boca player and the goal, saved the shot. Boca had another excellent chance, with the keeper out, in the 39^th minute. This time it was central defender Velez who came sliding across at the last instant to knock the shot away with a brilliant save. Then, just three minutes later, it was Weston’s turn to take a lead. Again, it was Gordon, and again his shot hit the near post, this time on the right side, and bounced away.

 

Finally, just a minute before the half ended, the Fury struck. Mobley crossed a long ball from the midfield to Thiel in the offensive third. The forward beat a pair of defenders to get off the successful shot. Second half play slowed considerably as the 90-degree-plus temperatures took a toll. But Team Boca tied it up just six minutes in. Then Boca had excellent opportunities twice to go ahead, but keeper Anderson came up big, making superb saves in the 63^rd and 65^th minutes. That seemed to be all Boca had left.

Weston, though, wasn’t finished. In the 67^th minute, central midfielder Alva sent a nice ball through to Thiel, who once again put the shot away for what turned out to be the winning goal.

 

The Fury has been together for only a week, getting in two practices and a scrimmage before Saturday's match. Team Boca, training since tryouts in July, had strengthened its Final Four team of last year, adding two starters from the Renegades Elite, the team that knocked Boca out of the Final Four last spring. Weston now has two weeks to prepare for its next match, Aug. 28 at 10 a.m. against the Palm Beach Hornets at Dyer Park in West Palm Beach.