DATE: December 20, 2011

SFC U17/18 Academy Player Connor Apthorp (pictured with his Mom and Club Mates) is sent off with a victory as the Synergy FC U12 Academy, SFC U15 Team and SFC U17/18 Academy Team are top of the tables at a premier event in New Hampshire on Saturday, December 17.

The SFC U12 Academy won three games and tied one in a round robin format of games against Liverpool FC (Mass) and the NE Aztecs (Mass). The SFC Team was comprised of a mixture of U10's, U11's and U12's for this event.

"Our Boy's played patient – possession oriented football and showed great composure and technical ability throughout the day. We thought that Liverpool and the NE Aztec's were both well trained teams and we enjoyed each game against them," commented U12 Academy Director Hugh Brown.

The SFC U15 Team and the SFC U17/18 Academy Team took the field after the U12's finished. The U15 Team started strong with a 1-0 shutout victory in their first match against an under-17 Team followed up by a 2-1 win against another under-17 side.

Cole Bankert scored the game winner in the first match by slotting in a rebound from a Jeremy Richard blast that cracked off the post. SFC U15 goalkeeper Sandro Pobric made four saves to secure the shutout victory. Richard came up big again in the second match when he blasted a free kick into the upper right corner from 35 yards out.

Video Link to Jeremy Richard Free-Kick Goal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAMh60iHRRw&context=C30c01f0ADOEgsToPDskJsynd6ZwUfq5CxFkzX1Uzq

"The U15's are working hard to become a top tier team. We have confidence in these players and did not hesitate to play them in a U17/18 event. They represented themselves very well and learned some good lessons about taking care of the ball in the defensive third in their final match of the day."

The SFC U15's dropped a 3-0 decision in their third match and finished with two wins and a loss on the day.

The U17/18 Academy Team also won two and lost one on Saturday. The loss came after a soft penalty kick was awarded in the final minutes of match #2. The U17/18 Team was fairly dominant and controlled a large majority of possession during each game, but failed to put the ball into the back of the net at times.

"The U17/18 Academy is a very strong team and has the ability to keep the ball for long stretches. This team needs to continue to increase in the final third and needs to put teams away when they can. At the senior level of youth football the margins between teams is very small ... every opportunity in the final third must be taken advantage of ... the players did this in the third match and it was impressive," commented SFC Coach/Director Brown.

Connor Apthorp (Pictured with Game Ball, Tammy Apthorp (Mom) and SFC Club Mates) and Family are moving to Tennessee where Geoff Apthorp (Connor's Dad) is employed.

Connor is a very fine person and the Apthorp's are a class act and will be missed at SFC. The players wanted to send Connor and Tammy off with a victory and they did it."

Out of a total of Ten Games Played between the U12, U15 and U17/18 Teams Synergy Football Club Won 7, Tied 1 and Lost 2 and they did it by playing a style of football that is worth watching.

Well done SFC!