Two Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer champions were named on Tuesday, July 1 at the 2014 US Youth Soccer Region I Championships at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston, R.I.
Both winners will advance to the US Youth Soccer National Championships, presented by the National Guard, played July 22-27, at Maryland SoccerPlex in Germantown, Md.
The U15 Girls YMS Premier Xplosion captured their third straight title by defeating Loudon 98 Red (VA) 1-0 in the Final. YMS’ Casey Kilchrist found the back of the net just before halftime to put the Eastern Pennsylvania team up 1-0. Loudoun couldn’t find an answer for the YMS defense in the second half and the game ended 1-0 for a YMS win. YMS has now won three consecutive Region I titles. Despite the loss, Loudon will advance to National Championships as the Region I representative as YMS advanced as Runner-Up in the National League Red Division.
In the U18 Boys division, Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer had two teams competing against each other in the final. Penn Fusion SA reached the regional event by winning the Eastern Pennsylvania State Cup and Lehigh Valley United as the Premier League Champions. LVU put Penn Fusion SA on their heels early with a Colten Habecker goal just the second minute of the game. Penn Fusion couldn’t find an answer for Habecker as he scored again in the 22nd minute of play to put LVU up 2-1. Habecker completed his hat-trick in the second half to bring the final score to 3-0 and LVU grabbed the Region I Under-18 Boys title with the win giving Coach Mike Gorni his 25th US Youth Soccer Championship (between ODP and NCS).
Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer had 8 teams make it to the semi-finals:
U12 Boys West Chester United Predators
U12 Boys North Union United Cannons
U15 Boys Penn Fusion SA
U18 Boys Penn Fusion SA
U18 Boys Lehigh Valley United
U14 Girls FC Penn Strikers
U15 Girls YMS Premier Explosion
U17 Girls YMS Premier Wildcats
Click here to view all age group’s standings