Crew clubs clean up in Midwest

• by Soccer America , Jun 27, 2012

[ROAD TO ROCK HILL] Crew Juniors won the under-19 title, two other Crew affiliates won regional titles and another qualified for the National Championships on the final day of play at the 2012 U.S. Youth Soccer Region II Championships held at Saginaw Township Soccer Complex in Saginaw, Mich.

Crew Juniors scored 29 goals en route to the U-19 title. Columbia's Kofi Agyapong opened the scoring in the 14th minute and Matthew Walker and Jordan Tyler added second-half goals to lead the Crew to a 3-1 win over Pacesetter Premier.

It was another year, another regional title for U-18 Grand Rapids Crew Jrs, the defending national champions in their age group, as they beat Galaxy Blue, 4-2, in an exciting final to return to the National Championships for their fifth year in a row.

After taking a 1-0 lead into halftime, Matthew Harkema scored back-to-back goals in the 67th and 70th minutes to extend the Grand Rapids lead. Galaxy made things interesting as it scored two quick goals of its own in the 80th and 81st minutes before Grand Rapids executed a counterattack and Sean Conerty scored in the 90th minute to put the game out of reach.

CUP Crew Jrs Gold did not concede a single goal at the regional championships and and beat Chicago Magic, 3-0, in the U-15 final. Luke Treadway scored his fifth goal in as many games to lead the Cincinnati club.

As both regional finalist teams in this age group had already qualified for the national championships via the National League, semifinalists Challenger Crew Jrs and Grand Rapids Crew Jrs met to determine a regional representative in South Carolina. Challenger Crew got the victory and the berth in the national championships.

Michigan Jaguars Green recorded their fifth shutout of the week in five games with a 2-0 win over Ambassadors and return to the National Championships.

Raiders FC Premier will also return to the National Championships as  it beat Waukesha Pumas, 2-0, in the U-17 final.

Boys Finals:
Under-13
Chicago Magic Preacademy (IL) 3 Sporting KC Juniors (KS) 1
Goals: Magic - Alan Salmeron (10), Aldreiron Smith (32), Michael Gutierrez (70); SKC - Edson Murguia (35)
Under-14
Vardar 98 (MI) 4 Sporting Kansas City Juniors (MO) 1
Goals: Vardar - Matthew Cook (30), Nick Metcalfe (73, 84), Thomas Dokho (77); SKC - Paul Whitener (39).
Under-15
CUP Crew Jrs. Gold (OH-S) 3 Chicago Magic (IL) 0
Goals: CUP - David Jeffries (20), Luke Treadway (43), Charlie Byers (53).
Under-16
Michigan Jaguars Green (MI) 2 Ambassadors (OH-N) 0
Goals: Jags - Michael Winters (5), Nathan McLean (40).
Under-17
Raiders FC Premier (IL) 2 SC Waukesha Pumas (WI) 0
Goals: Raiders - Roberto Torres (31), Conor Nitchoff (46).
Under-18
Grand Rapids Crew Jrs. (MI) 4 Galaxy Blue (IL) 2
Goals: Crew - Jacob Vanderlaan (40), Matthew Harkema (67, 70), Sean Conerty (90); Galaxy - Ryan Solomon (80), Tyler Yanisch (81).
Under-19
Crew Juniors (OH-S) 3 Pacesetter Premier (OH-N) 1
Goals: Crew - Kofi Agyapong (14), Matthew Walker (51), Jordan Tyler (78); Pacesetter - Ryan Peterson (80).