Bays and Carmel United claim national titles

• by Soccer America , Jul 21, 2008

[U.S. SOCCER DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY] The Baltimore Bays and Carmel United won the U-17/18 and U-15/16 age groups, respectively, at the U.S. Soccer Development Academy Finals Week, capping the first season of the U.S. Soccer national league.

Nursing a knee injury that was thought to keep him out of the final,  Development Academy U-17/18 Player of the Year  Chris Agorsor came off the bench to score his sixth goal of the week for the Bays and then get taken down for the penalty kick that sent the final into overtime.

Andrew Bulls scored his second goal of the game on a 35-yard blast and the Bays went on to beat LAFC, 4-2, in overtime.

"Soccer ability is a lot," Bays head coach Steve Nichols, "but heart is a lot more, and these kids showed a lot of heart today. They never gave up."

In the U-15/16 final, Carmel United beat PDA, 1-0, behind a goal from A.J. Corrodo. The Indiana club finished the season with a 20-game unbeaten streak.

"You feel like you're living in a dream right now, "said Carmel United coach David Costa. "I'm just so excited for the guys. They all had the belief they could do it. I'm very proud of them."

U-17/18 Age Group
Placement Matches
Friday, July 18
Championship: Baltimore Bays 4 (Agorsor 30, Bulls 90, 97, Raley 108) LAFC 2 (Mejia 7, 67).
3rd Place: Columbus Crew 4 (Wall 55, Bonifini, 76, Schmitt 84, Wargo 90) Colorado Rush 0.
5th Place: Concorde Fire 3 (Papanikolopoulos 53, George 62, Wilder 89) Chicago Fire 2 (Roos 20, Horton 66)
7th Place: CASL 1 (Guderian 56) FC Westchester 1 (Dos Reis 62).
(FC Westchester wins 5-4 on penalties.)

U-15/U-16 Age Group
Placement Matches
Saturday, July 19
Championship: Carmel United 1 (Corrado 52) PDA 0.
3rd Place: Schulz Academy 2 (Hart 39, Diaz 58) Real Colorado 0.
5th Place: LAFC 0 Chicago Magic 0.
(Chicago Magic wins 4-2 on penalties.)
7th Place: Albertson 2 (Kupfer 47 Laza 57) CASL 0.