McGrath, Perez help Boca team reach regional semis – Brick Township Bulletin
July 20, 2006
Brick Township Bulletin
Sports – July 20, 2006
McGrath, Perez help Boca team reach regional semis
Brick players Justin McGrath and Andrew Perez excelled as the Jersey Shore Boca U23 men’s soccer team advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Adult Soccer Association’s (USASA) Regional U23 Championship Tournament on Sunday morning at the Ukrainian National Sports Center in Horsham, Pa., before losing a 1-0 heartbreaker in a tightly contested match to national powerhouse F.C. Delco (Pennsylvania).
This was the first loss for the Boca U23 team since May 21, when they dropped a 1-0 decision to the Delaware Dynasty of the USL’s Premiere Development League in a full exhibition game at the John Patrick Sports Complex in Lakewood.
“I am very proud of how we performed, not only in the semifinal game, but in the entire regional tournament,” said Walt Konopka, coach of the Boca U23 team. “Our guys came to play this weekend, and it showed. We faced some of the top U23 teams in the Northeast and did very well against them.”
F.C. Delco fell in the USASA U23 Regional championship game, 1-0, Sunday afternoon to the Baltimore Bays.
On Saturday in their opening tournament game, Boca topped the United German Hungarians (Pennsylvania) 2-1 on goals from Jay Mancuso assisted by McGrath and Christian Pontier, and a goal by Perez assisted by Mancuso.
In their second tournament game on Saturday afternoon, Boca defeated the Baltimore S.C. Rapids, the Maryland U23 State Cup runner-up, by a score of 3-0, with McGrath opening the scoring with an unassisted goal, his fifth of the summer.
The Jersey Shore Boca U23 team returns to action next Sunday and will put their 10-game Mid-Atlantic Summer Showcase League (MSSL) undefeated streak (9-0-1) on the line as they complete regular season league play and look to clinch the top seed in the 2006 MSSL Cup.