DATE: July 30, 2010
Day 1 Results from National Championships

The SFC U17 team opened group stage play on Friday, July 30 in Virginia Beach against regional champion Century United (PA).

Synergy started strong controlling a majority of possession during the first half. Century United held off the SFC attack by keeping a compact team shape, which proved difficult to break down. In the 30 th minute CU intercepted an SFC pass in the middle third of the field and served a ball wide. One SFC defender over-committed as the CU player slotted a pass across the penalty spot and the ball was poked into the SFC goal.

Down 1-0 at the half Synergy came out strong in the second half creating many dangerous chances on goal. In the 60 th minute SFC found the equalizer when left back Nathaniel Horton hit a shot from 18 out which deflected past the CU keeper. Three minutes later SFC forward Paul Bianchi lifted the ball over the CU keeper and into the net to give SFC a 2-1 advantage. One minute after the Bianchi goal (65:00) wide midfielder Lueth Lueth drove into the box and slotted a low finish into the side netting. The goal by Lueth put the game out of reach and SFC earned a 3-1 victory and three points in the group.

"All in all it was a positive game for the team... we have not played a competitive match in a few weeks so it was nice to get some of the rust off," commented SFC Director/Coach Hugh Brown. "Definitely room for improvement as we move ahead, but the boys played well and had a lot of fun with each other today ."

Group play continues on Saturday (July 31) with a 2:30 pm kickoff against the Midwest Regional Champions Downers Grove (ILL).