With an impressive all-team effort, the AC Perugia U-15 Boys side reached the final in the two-day MAPS Spring Challenge in South Jersey March 29th and 30th, 2008. Throughout the tournament the midfield; Alex Howell, Steve Poorman, Ricky Forte, Christian Xander, Randy Orak, Phil Bortz, Sebastian Moreno and Lucas Panick, worked hard to create opportunities for forwards Alex Mansour, Jamie Ficco and Sam Lemelman. Strong defense anchored by Noah Ehrich, Zach Ezrow, Matt Schenke and J.D. Patterson (with some solid play at stopper by Moreno and a couple of “miracle” goal-line plays by Ehrich and Ezrow); excellent play from GK Joshua Lee, and timely offense led by 6 different goal scorers allowed the Grifos to move through bracket play to the semi-finals. Against a very strong West Chester squad, a never-quit effort kept them in the game until a late goal by Alex Howell tied the score, leading to PK’s to determine the winner. Five Grifos (Mansour, Howell, Poorman, Ficco and Lemelman) found the back of the net, while Josh Lee saved one for a 5-3 margin allowing the Grifos to advance to the final.
In the final, the Grifos played against a very skilled, physically stronger side from New York State (for the second time in one day), and lost 3-1, but finished the tournament with 2 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses for second place among eight high-quality competitors. Goals were scored by: Ficco, Forte, Poorman, Moreno (2), Mansour and Howell, with assists from Orak, Lemelman and Poorman, in addition to the perfect PK finish in the semi-final. Thanks AC Perugia Grifos for an exciting and encouraging start to the spring season!
