Boca Falls at USASA U23 Regional Semi-Finals
July 16, 2006
The Jersey Shore Boca U23 men’s soccer team advanced to the semi-finals of the United States Adult Soccer Association’s Regional U23 Championship Tournament on Sunday morning at the Ukrainian National Sports Center in Horsham, PA before loosing a heartbreaker 1-0 in a tightly contested match to national powerhouse FC Delco.
Boca Falls at USASA U23 Regional Semi-Finals
Team Looses First Game Since May 13th
HORSHAM, PA (July 16, 2006) – The Jersey Shore Boca U23 men’s soccer team advanced to the semi-finals of the United States Adult Soccer Association’s (USASA) Regional U23 Championship Tournament on Sunday morning at the Ukrainian National Sports Center before loosing a heartbreaker 1-0 in a tightly contested match to national powerhouse FC Delco (PA).
This was the first loss for the Boca U23 team since May 13th 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, NJ.
In the USASA U23 semi-final game which saw Boca create more than their share of legitimate scoring opportunities, it was Delco that tallied the first and only goal of the match in the 7th minute when Medford (NJ) native Stephen King received a ball from the right side in which the Boca defenders could not clear out of their end.
The University of Maryland midfielder settled the ball at his feet and beat Boca keeper Jon Curry-Edwards (Spring Lake Heights) with a shot to the near post.
One of Boca’ best scoring opportunities of the first half came from LaSalle University transfer Cody Peters (Lakehurst) mid-way through who ripped a 25 yard rocket heading into the upper-ninety far corner only to be tipped over the crossbar by the Delco keeper.
Curry-Edwards, who recently transferred to the University of Delaware from Old Dominion University and will have three years of college eligibility remaining for the Blue Hens, kept Delco from notching their second goal and putting the game out of reach by coming-up with two point-blank saves in the second half.
“I am very proud with how we performed not only in today’s semi-final game, but in the entire Regional Tournament. 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” mentioned Walt Konopka coach of the Boca U23 team.
“I thought we had Delco on their heels for a good part of the semi-final game and controlled the pace of the match. They are an excellent team with some of the best college players in the nation on their roster. Except for their one goal, we defended very well against them and attacked with purpose but could not convert the 4 or 5 solid scoring chances that were given to us” finished Konopka.
FC Delco fell in the USASA U23 Regional Championship Game 1-0 Sunday afternoon to the Baltimore Bays (MD).
On Saturday in their opening tournament game, Boca topped the United German Hungarians (PA) 2-1 on goals from Jay Mancuso (Toms River) assisted by Justin McGrath (Brick) and Christian Pontier (Forked River) and Andy Perez (Brick) assisted by Mancuso.
In their second tournament game on Saturday afternoon, Boca defeated the Baltimore SC Rapids, the Maryland U23 State Cup Runner-up, by a score of 3-0 on two unassisted goals by McGrath and Andy Fraggos (Marlboro) and a third from Mancuso assisted by Mark Schmiegel (Toms River).
Boca U23 goalkeeper Chris Konopka (Toms River) picked-up the shut-out in the net.
The Jersey Shore Boca U23 team returns to action next Sunday and will put their ten 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.
MSSL is a third year regional soccer league fostering high-level competition during the summer months at both the youth and adult ages in both men’s and women’s divisions in which Jersey Shore Boca is a founding member.
The adult level of MSSL is specifically designed for collegiate players under the age of twenty-three and is fully sanctioned by the USASA, the national governing body for adult amateur soccer.
The Jersey Shore Boca men’s summer soccer program is officially sponsored by Surf Taco, a popular Mexican themed restaurant chain with locations throughout the jersey shore.
Boca has been a fixture in the soccer community since 1978 and is one of the most respected soccer clubs on the East Coast.
The Club is celebrating their 28-year anniversary in 2006.
For more information about the Boca U23 team and all other the Jersey Shore Boca programs logon to the Club’s official web site at www.jerseyshoreboca.com
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