The Weston Fury 87/88 Premier boys generated equivalent statistics in the final two matches of their early season, but got completely different results. Both days, the team generated 20 shots and put 12 on goal. Saturday Weston lost to the next-to-last-place Palm Beach Hornets 2-1 in West Palm Beach and Sunday the Fury took out its frustrations on the Kendall Hammocks Lightning 7-2 on its home field at Vista Park.
Weston finished with a record of 5 wins and 5 losses, good enough for fourth and a spot in the playoffs in the highly competitive, 11-team South Florida United Youth Soccer Association Premier League, behind Kendall Soccer Coalition white, Wellington and Team Boca white. The Fury side is new this season, combining last year’s Weston U17 team with the Plantation Eagles U17s.
Palm Beach opened the scoring in the 14th minute on an exceptional effort by the center forward. He dribbled from left to right across the entire box and back in again to knock in a low shot at the near post.
Over the next 30 minutes, both teams came up with a pair of excellent saves. Weston forward Rodrigo Paredes had a shot tipped away by the keeper and attacking midfielder Matt Mobley dribbled through the defense but had his shot stopped by the last back. Fury goalkeeper Michael Anderson tipped away one shot and kick saved another.
Weston finally tied the match in the 75th minute. Forward Jonathan (J.T.) Thiel scored off a Paredes assist. But Palm Beach, successful in only one previous match, was not to be denied. In the 88th minute, a Hornet beat the Fury sweeper and a fullback to score the winner.
The Fury wanted redemption the next afternoon against Kendall. Thiel had a monster match, tallying a hat trick by halftime and adding a trio of assists. Several Weston players had added incentive on the sidelines – their high school coach, Jobe Hughes of 2004-05 Class 5A state champion St. Thomas Aquinas, and Lenny Taylor, now technical director of St. Kitts-Nevis Football and a youth club coach and trainer for many years.
Thiel scored in the first minute on an assist from fellow forward David Gordon, but Weston failed to convert on five excellent scoring opportunities in the next 18 minutes. Keeper Anderson kept his team ahead with a save in the 17th minute.
The Lightning did manage to tie it up two minutes later, when the sweeper’s failed attempt to clear resulted in an easy Kendall score.
The goal that put Weston ahead to say came in the 33rd minute from an apparent offside position. Fullback Juan Lopez put the ball through the defense and Thiel found himself all alone. Checking both referees and seeing no flag, Thiel took the ball to goal, dribbled the keeper to the ground and beat a desperate defender trying to cover on the goal line.
Mobley made it 3-1 six minutes later. Outside midfielder Chris Bent carried the ball down the left flank, turned the corner and passed to midfielder Jaime Villarreal. Villarreal spotted Mobley alone at the top of the box. Mobley’s shot curved away from the keeper into the upper left corner of the net.
Thiel scored again in the 45th minute. He took a pass from fullback Mario Figueroa, turned and blasted the ball with his left foot into the left upper corner.
Kendall tried to make it a match, scoring a second goal early in the second half. But Weston responded with three more goals and held Kendall to no more. Paredes scored off an assist from Thiel, who took down a corner kick from outside midfielder Jeremy Weber. Midfielder Iker Ibanez scored the final two goals, both on assists from Thiel and both from outside the box.
Also contributing for head coach Alvin James and assistant Rene Osorio were starters Leo Caldeira at stopper and Andres Velez at sweeper, Manuel Sotelo in the midfield and J.J. McFadden in the backfield. Luis Alva, Davide Bombonato, Eugenio Lascurain and Jose Pablo Ruiz were unavailable.
The Weston Fury players now are released to their respective high schools, where tryouts are under way around South Florida. The team is scheduled to play next in the SuperClubs regional tournament at Walt Disney World’s Wide World of Sports Thanksgiving weekend and the Tampa Bay Sun Bowl the week after Christmas. The league playoffs will be held after the high school season. The Weston boys will play first-place Kendall Soccer Coalition white, a team that defeated them 1-0 at Kendall Soccer Park on Sept. 17. Eugenio Lascurain is the team’s manager.
