2007 News Archive

Gaels won U-18 State Championship . . . second year in a row

Congratulations to the Spirit United Gaels [U-18 Girls] for winning the state championship for second year in a row! The Gaels won 2-1 over PA Strikers. The Gaels will join Premier U16 Boys and Celtic U13 Boys at the the Region 1 Championships on June 27th in Portland, Maine.  Congratulations to all and good luck at the Regional!

Patriots won at Kirkwood

The Spirit United U11 Boys Patriots won the Kirkwood Premier Boys Tournament Gold Division over Father's Day weekend. They won their bracket by beating Kirkwood United (DE) 8-1, LSTS FC Milan (NJ) 4-1, and South Jersey Soccer Select (NJ) 3-1. They won their semi-final match by beating DTS Sparta (NJ) by a score of 4-0. They faced the Great Falls Soccer Rangers (VA) in the finals and won by a score of 4-3.

SPIRIT UNITED PREMIER, U16 STATE CHAMPIONS!!!

The Spirit United Premier U16 Boys recently won their first EPYSA state title with a 1-0 victory in the final v. PA Classics. The road to the championship wasn't without some dramatics as the team pulled together throughout the tournament.
After receiving a first round bye, Spirit hosted BSA Rage and came out with a 3-2 win in overtime. The game was tied 1-1 after regulation before 3 goals were scored in the 30 minutes of extra time. This game was the last time that Premier would allow a goal against them.
     Their quarterfinal game v. Nether was a 1-0 victory which Premier dominated from the beginning.
     The semifinal match, held in Lancaster, was against a very tough VE squad. Despite many scoring chances for both teams, including a great chance with 15 seconds left for Spirit, the game entered overtime with the score at 0-0. Again, both teams had chances to score, but without a tally from either team the game went to penalty kicks.
     VE shot first with both of their first 2 shooters making their shot, with Spirit equaling on their chances.
     VE's 3rd shooter had his shot saved on a sprawling effort by the Spirit keeper with Spirit's 3rd shooter making his. After making kicks on their 4th shooter, both teams entered the 5th shooter with Spirit leading 4-3. VE's 5th shooter's shot sailed over the bar and the entire Spirit squad celebrated around the middle of the field.
     The final was no less dramatic.
     Facing a tough PA Classics team (2-1 winner over FC Delco in semi's) for the 2nd time in the past 2 months (1-0 Spirit victory in Jefferson Cup final), both teams again had chances early and often in the game. The Spirit defense held everyone in check without yielding any goals yet again.
With 9 minutes left in the game, Spirit scored a stunning goal to give them the only goal they would need.
     Since merging with the Lower Merion Arsenal during the summer of 2006, the team has a record of 16 wins, 2 losses and 7 ties in all competitions. The coaching staff of Joe Levan, Aaron Thomas and Mark Weinmann have taken the already talented players and molded them into a very solid team.
     The team will leave for the Region 1 Championships on June 27th which this year are being held in Portland, Maine @ Bowdoin College.

U10 Girls Champs at YMS

The U10 Dragons took the championship trophy once again, this time at the YMS Epic Tournament. The girls played in the Gold Premier bracket and put together another solid display of skills and Teamwork. They went undefeated in group play by beating the YMS Cougars 1-0, PA Classics 3-0 and tying their last game 1-1 with the CRUSA Rockets. They earned enough points to advance to the final game, where they faced a very tough CRUSA Lightning team that held the Dragons to a 1-1 draw at halftime. However, our girls brought the Champion’s trophy home by scoring three unanswered goals in the second half to make the final score 4-1. Congratulations to the Team and coaching staff!

U10 Boys Downingtown—Finalist in Red Rose Classic

Pictured from left to right (back row): Chris DeGaetano, Jake Weaver, Ryan Norton, Jack Hajnik, Alex Milosky. Front row: Ben Labelle, Trent Houpt, Derek Rudy, A.J. Berstein, Erick Alesius, Stephen Edwards and  Alex Goldstein. Missing from picture, Nick Peter.

Tsunami landed in Quakertown

Spirit U14 Boys Tsunami bested Montgomery in penalty kicks 5 to 3 in the
finals of the Quakertown Tournament held on April 28/ 29.

Nether Field of Dreams Tournament—
Spirit United Gold (U-9 Boys) Win the Gold

Pictured from left to right (back row): Coach Joe Levan, Kevin Anderson, Kevin Hall, Chris Caston, Jimmy Meals, Jeffrey Armstrong. Front row: Drake Hanak, Alex MacIntrye, James Grajewski, and John Sauerzopf.

Dragons U10 Girls — Nether Field of Dreams Champs!

The U10 Girls completed a very successful tournament when they won all of their games, on their way to take another Champion’s trophy. Solid fundamentals and aggressive play was the key to success once again. They defeated Vincent United 3-1, MNSA Crush 3-0 and the Cendel Riptide 2-0. Congratulations to the Girls, Parents and Coaching Staff! The team will take a break for U11 Tryouts and will participate in two more tournaments in May before closing their U10 season.

April 7th — Spirit United Blue (U9 Boys) were Finalist in Nether Field of Dreams 2007 Spring Challenge.

Pictured from left to right (back row) Coach Joe Levan, Chris McFadden, Elijah Goforth, Drew Brennan, Jordan Ambrose, and Ian Wilson. (Front row), Chris McFarland, Levi Maruca, Clay Moyer, and Alex Potter, and Samuel Goforth.

Dragons — Hockessin Spring Fling Champions!

April 2, 2007—Our U10 Girls Dragons opened their spring outdoor season with an overwhelming display of technical and tactical skills at the 2007 Hockessin Spring Fling. The tournament is the first of this spring for our team in which they scored a total of 9 goals while only allowing one through the whole tournament. Although the weather was nothing like spring, the girls were very happy to come home with the Champion’s trophy!

Lightning Strike at Virginia Beach Classic

March 26, 2007—The U-13 Spirit United Lightning Girls Premier Soccer team, coached by Wes Davis, had a great showing this weekend at the Virginia Beach Classic. The Girls competed in the Premier Division. They started off the weekend by playing to a 1-1 draw with a strong Atlantic United Air Storm Team and closed out the day with an impressive 5-1 win over last years Premier Champs—The Charles River United Hatari. This put the girls through to the semi finals on Sunday where they faced a local opponent in the FC Delco Destroyers. The Lightning struck early and built a 3-0 halftime lead and went on to win 3-1 resulting in a trip to the finals. The girls faced a tough opponent in the CASL Spartan Premier Girls from North Carolina, during a wind blown game in which the Carolina team won 3-1. Great job Girls on another strong tournament showing as they head to State Cups!

Spirit United Premier U16 Boys win Jefferson Cup Title!

Bottom Row: Nick Bibbs (Lower Merion HS), Joe-Joe Jappah (Coatesville HS), Chris Lavery (Lower Dauphin HS), Devin Reilley (St. Augustine Prep-NJ), Ryan Broderick (Penn Charter), Dom Skrajewski (Salesianum-DE), Coach Mark Weinmann. Top Row: Head Coach Joe Levan, Brendan Birmingham (West Chester Henderson HS), Matt Misbin (Wissahikon HS), Jason Kass (Lower Merion HS), Zach Winthrop (Friends Select), Peter Adubato (Chestnut Hill Academy), Sean Strangeway (Elizabethtown HS), Ben Miller (Downingtown West HS), Alimamy Bangura (Chestnut Hill Academy), David Fiorello (Twin Valley HS), Eric Carr (Phoenixville HS), Coach Aaron Thomas. Missing from picture: Eric Stahler (Lower Merion HS)

March 18, 2007—The U16 Boys Spirit United Premier won their 2nd Jefferson Cup title in the last 3 years, defeating PA Classics Elite Blue 1-0 in the Elite Division final played at the St. Catherine's Athletic Complex. Despite the adverse weather conditions on Friday which postponed many age groups and divisions, the tournament went on with new schedules and slightly-shortened games; this allowed the Premier team to be placed in the Elite bracket against all Region 1 Premier League teams.
     In the preliminary round on Saturday, the boys fought back not once but twice from one goal deficits to tie both games 1-1 (Oakwood Black <CT> and Northern Steel Phantoms <WPA>) which remained tied; those 2 goals got them through as the bracket winner as all 3 teams tied all games and Spirit United were declared the bracket winner on the 3rd tie breaker which was "Goals for".
     Sunday's semi-final pitted them against the 2006 State Cup champion from New Jersey, Ironbound Blaze. Premier, playing their best game so far as a team, shut down this strong team to lead 2-0 at the half and finished the victory with a 3-0 shutout.
      This set up an all Eastern PA match up in the finals v. PA Classics, a 1-0 semi-final winner over Cobb Futbol Club (GA). The game was deadlocked 0-0 at the half despite many good scoring chances by both teams. In the 2nd half, Premier picked up their level of play and finished off a great opportunity to take the 1-0 lead.
     This goal lasted and the game remained 1-0 as they withstood an onslaught of PA Classics chances. The victory gave them their second title, which they also won in 2005 v. Baltimore Bays in a 3-0 final.
     Up next for Spirit United Premier will be Region 1 Colonial League games as well as State Cup games in April and May.

U12 Frenzy—Tournament Champions

March 4, 2007—The Spirit Frenzy girls won their first outdoor tournament of 2007, playing four games on the turf at USTC on March 3rd. They earned first place in their group after battling FC Revolution to a 0-0 tie, and beating Deep Run 1-0. Playing the semi-final in cold, wind-driven rain and sleet, the girls emerged with a 2-0 victory over the West Chester Predators. After changing into dry uniforms, the Frenzy headed back to the turf for the championship final against the Highland Wildcats (NJ). The Frenzy scored first after being awarded a penalty kick, and held on for a 1-0 victory and the championship. All opponents found the team’s defense tough to penetrate, as no goals were scored against the Frenzy all day. Congratulations, girls!

Frenzy—PA East Futsal Finalist

January 9, 2007—Spirit United Frenzy [U12 girls] were the finalist in the 2007 Futsal State Championships—PA East. Frenzy earned an invitation to the 2007 USFF Northeast/Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships on February 17-19, President's Day Weekend at United Sports Training Center.