The U-15 Weston Fury Premier Boys, from Florida, team capped off a terrific weekend in Raleigh North Carolina by defeating the Virginia Beach’s Fire Red team 2-0 for the Championship, however the road to the finals was a challenging one.
The first game, Weston Fury’s U-15’s, coached by Carlos Parra, played the Georgia State Champions, Alpharetta Ambush. The Fury dominated, but could not take advantage of their opportunities and where indeed ambushed as they found themselves loosing 1-0.
Next up was the Virginia State champs, McClean MPS Hurricanes. Weston had the lions share of possession, controlling the tempo for most of the game then the Fury’s Alec Lowell launched a bomb from 30 yards to put the Fury into the lead which was followed by Colby Abrahamoff’s game clincher in the second half, ending 2-0 for the Fury.
Sunday morning saw the Fury play in frost but with the Fury needing a win to advance against the Baltimore Bays of Maryland they came out on fire to warm up the morning air! The referee blew the whistle for the start of play and with the Fury being highly motivated in their pre game team talk from head Coach Carlos Parra they attacked. Dario Redondo worked the ball to set up Carlos Ochoa to score after only 10 seconds! During the second half, the Hurricanes tied the game after the Fury failed the clear the ball and they was all to play for. Facing elimination, the Fury knew they had to get the win or it would be a long ride home. Weston made some tactical adjustments, that increased the intensity and speed of the match and this kept Baltimore at bay as they scrambled defensively due to Weston’s furious attack. The game winner came through a goal mouth scramble with Nick Perea scoring with five minutes left sending the Premier team through to the finals!
The Championship game featured Virginia Beach Fire, one of the top ranked teams in the Country against the up and coming Weston Fury from Florida. The game started off at an incredible pace, each team matching the others intensity. The Fury struck in the first half off a counter attack goal, started by Lowell’s penetrating through pass to Redondo who drove a cross to Ochoa, which the keeper made a great save, only to have Valimaa hammer home the rebound, 1-0 WSC. Beach came out on a mission in the second half, working for several good chances on goal, only to have Fury GK, Paul Lima and the defense, Jason deFaria, Mario Pedraza, Oliver Katz, and Kiki Villa, shut them down. With two minutes left in the game Carlos Ochoa slotted the second goal for the Fury, ending the game 2-0.
Congratulations to Weston, CASL Elite Gold Champions.
