Arsenal in U15 FinalU15 Boys: Arsenal FC 4 Kalamazoo Kingdom 2
Monday, November 19 TAMPA – The U15 boys North American Finals marched on today with four teams advancing out of group play and into the semifinal round. Field two at Ed Radice Sports Park in Northwest Tampa was the scheduled site for both semifinals but the first match of the U15 playoffs between the renowned Chicago Magic and flourishing Parsippany SC boys had played 0-0 through regulation and both ten minute overtimes. Not until the teams were separated by a 4-2 penalty kick decision that went the way of Parsippany was the field ready to host the second U15 boys playoff match but by that time Arsenal FC and the Kalamazoo Kingdom had transferred their fight to field eight of the sprawling Ed Radice Sports Complex.
The winner of this match would face Parsippany in the final and early on, Kalamazoo had the greater desire to get there. Roughly ten minutes into the contest David Fuller stood over a free kick from 30 yards off the end line and was able to pick teammate Paul Mudgett out of a pack of Arsenal defenders. Doing his part Mudgett, not the tallest player on the pitch, out leaped Arsenal’s backline and fooled the Arsenal goalkeeper who was established at the near post. The goal resulted in a 1-0 Kalamazoo lead.
Instant retaliation was on the mind of the South Californians. They took the initiative and began to take very good care of the ball. The side rarely relinquished possession to the second place team from the Super Y-League’s Midwest Division. Kalamazoo’s most active player for the five minutes following their goal was their goalkeeper. He made a reaction kick-save to his right and followed by tapping a shot off the ensuing corner over the crossbar. Both were key saves that preserved the Kingdom’s 1-0 lead but it looked unlikely that Kalamazoo would be able to withstand such pressure for the reminder of the match.
Arsenal upped their ball-control system and held possession 80-20 in their favor until finally, Joey Woodward found Edgar Llamas in space at the edge of the area. A bad first touch by Llamas led to some brilliance from the young and gifted goal scorer as he recovered nicely with a 360-spin and shot to the far post that gave the Kalamazoo keeper no chance. The match went into halftime 1-1.
More and more time on the ball was the strategy from Arsenal in the second half and they capitalized early. A ball played in from the left flank was chested down by Luis Nolasco and came to rest on the floor in front of fellow striker Anthony Rodriguez. No hesitation was apparent in the eyes of Rodriguez as he called for Nolasco to ‘let’ and he hammered home a goal from the top of the box for a 2-1 Arsenal lead.
Rodriguez continued to press on following his first strike of the second frame and a few minutes later picked up his second goal when he overpowered a Kalamazoo defender, opened space for his right footed shot, and placed an accurately hit ball in the back of the net with a defender still riding his back. He rested for a few minutes following his second goal, roughly five minutes, and then decided to impose his will once more on the Kalamazoo defense.
On the play Rodriguez won another ball played in from the left flank and watched it rise high into the air inside the six yard box. One of the tallest players on the pitch, he simply kept his feet and calmly nodded the ball into the back of the net to complete his second half hat trick.
“Rodriguez is a game-changing player,” said Arsenal Head Coach Jimmy Nordberg. “He plays as part of a two target player system up front for us and he is just an incredible athlete with size and pace. He led Cal South in goal-scoring this season and is just a winner in everything he does. You name the injury: a knee, a wrist, a bloody nose today – he refuses to come out of the game.”
Following Rodriguez’s third goal Kalamazoo showed their character and fought on. They picked up a second goal on a great indivual effort from Nermin Crnkic with a few seconds remaining in the match. On the play Crnkic refused to give up on a ball played too deep into the Arsenal back line. Crnkic tracked the ball down and stole it during a goalkeeper/defender exchange at the top of the box. Once he possessed the ball Crnkic calmly chipped the Arsenal goalkeeper to make the final score 4-2.
“Kalamazoo was a great side,” said Nordberg following the match. “We seemed a little out of whack early but once we settled down and began to possess the ball we looked good. By knocking the ball around we got their legs tired and were able to score some goals in the second half.”
“Coming into the North American Finals we were eager to face these teams from the East,” added Nordberg. “A chance to play the Chicago Magic stuck out in my head as a game I was looking forward to playing. They are a classy club, a great organization, and we are always looking for ways to put our players from Arsenal in to competitive situations so in the future they will be able to excel at the highest level.”
