Many teams have been fortunate enough to win a prestigious National Championship,but only a few can lay claim to a “Perfect Season” while doing so. The 2009 USL Super Y-League National Championship Finals for U-13 boys (now U-14), held recently in Tampa, Florida, was a script written in soccer heaven. Of 60 teams competing in six age groups in the boys Finals, only two among them had the distinction of coming into the competition with perfect records, and both were competing in the U-13 division.
South Florida’s West Pines United FC, winners of the Super Y-League Southeast Region with a perfect 12-0-0 record and defending FYSA State Cup champions, pitted against New Jersey’s Ironbound SC, the champions of the Mid-Atlantic Region with a 16-0-0 record. Both teams had continued their winning form through three group play matches and their respective semi-final games, adding four more victories to their win column. What followed was arguably one of the most thrilling games of the 5-day tournament with West Pines prevailing in the 5-4 overtime slug-fest.
Coming into the championship game, West Pines had blown through group play recording emphatic wins over the Indiana Invaders (4-1), Match Fit Chelsea Academy (5-0), and Coastal WFC of Vancouver, Canada (4-0). The attacking style of play employed by West Pines proved too much for their opponents as goals were divided among many different players.
Tragedy almost struck the Pembroke Pines team in their semi-final match against the Players Developmental Academy (PDA) when, minutes into the second half and locked at 0-0, goalkeeper Joseph Ghitis, a member of the National U-14 player pool, was ejected from the game. As substitute keeper, Kenny Felix took the field, PDA’s players and coaches were loudly expressing their confidence that the match would now be theirs for the taking. This open display of exuberance was silenced two minutes later when striker, Bryan Gonzalez struck a magnificent shot to open the scoring for West Pines. Energized by this immediate response to the apparent setback, West Pines continued to press the attack on the stunned PDA squad as ace-midfielders Bebeto Bernard and Walker Dawkins took control of the game to supply Gonzalez with two more goals and his hat-trick. It marked the first time that a single player had scored more than one goal in any game played to that point. It was now time for Tuesday’s showdown with Ironbound SC. and a quest for the “Perfect Season” for both teams.
Stung by an Ironbound goal in the first two minutes of play, West Pines slowly recovered to level the score at 1-1 when Bernard unleashed his trade mark left-footed blast from 25 yards out. With both teams playing entertaining attacking soccer, it was Ironbound who struck again, going up 2-1, the result of a header coming from a corner kick. West Pines leveled the score once again at 2-2 when a nifty overlapping exchange between Gonzalez and mid-fielder Darren Rios, ended with Rios calmly blasting high inside the near post. Minutes before the break, Ironbound would forge to the lead again, courtesy of another header.
Down by a goal to start the second half, West Pines went on the offensive at the whistle and was awarded a free kick some 23 yards out. Team captain and National player Kevin Paz, struck a ferocious grass-cutter inside the near post to bring his team level for the third time in the match. Pouring on the pressure West Pines finally claimed their first lead of the game when the team’s engine, Walker Dawkins, was rewarded for his hard work. His goal from close range was the culmination of a brilliant attacking sequence involving four other teammates. The 4-3 lead was short-lived however, as three minutes later Ironbound FC, awarded a penalty for foul play in the box, made no mistake, and the score was now tied at 4-4. The teams battled to a stalemate over the remaining minutes of regulation play, sending the game into overtime.
Ironbound’s tentative start to the overtime period suggested that they were aiming towards the penalty shoot-out phase. This apparent decision cost them dearly as West Pines coach Richard Jobson, seized the opportunity to unleash a foray of attacking plays down both wings resulting in a free kick some 35 yards out on the left flank. The ensuing kick by Dawkins was met by mid-fielder Sam Vinson who, on a full run, rocketed the cross into the roof of Ironbound’s net from 14 yards out to take the score to 5-4 in favor of West Pines.
Tired legs prevented both teams from adding to the scoreline as a number of scoring opportunities went a-begging for both teams. As the final whistle echoed around the Park, West Pines players, coaches and supporters celebrated what they could now claim as the “PERFECT SEASON.”
