Victory At Disney -Local Players Capture Disney Soccer Showcase

The last time we heard from this team, the GPS-MA NPL Elite U15 boys team had just captured the Massachusetts U-15 state title, to earn a spot in the Region 1 Soccer Championships, which were held at the campus of the University of Rhode Island (URI). There, they managed to make it out of the first round, before bowing out to the Arlington SA Eagles Red from Virginia, a team that at the time was ranked 7th in the nation. After that, every player went is separate way, most heading out to their freshmen year in high school. Once the high school season ended, the GPS Crusaders Massachusetts Elite team was disbanded as GPS combined its New England teams into just one side. As a result everyone had to try out and not all of the Crusaders survived the cuts. But six local players did --- Skylah Dias, a varsity freshman midfielder at Case High School in Swansea; Troy Mattos, a freshman from Somerset High; Jacob Castro, a Varsity freshman goal keeper from Swansea who attends Bishop Connoly; John Aguiar, a Varsity midfielder from Somerset who also attends Bishop Connoly; Kendall Pacheco, a sophomore midfielder from New Bedford High and Aidan DaSilva, a Varsity central defender from Westport attends Bishop Stang. They helped the GPS-MA NPL Elite U15 boys team win the coveted Disney's Soccer Showcase presented by AS Roma this December at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort. The tournament, rated as the country's top youth soccer tournament by a Soccer America magazine survey, was played from December 27-30 and featured 660 teams, including the Italy-based AS Roma U18 academy team. In addition there were six of the nation's No. 1-ranked teams, as well as 30 U.S. Soccer Federation Developmental Academy teams and clubs, along with 64 boys and girls teams competing in the U.S. Youth Soccer National League. Obviously, this tournament is available only to the top teams in each state. According to the organizing committee "teams are selected to compete in Disney's Soccer Showcase based partly on overall results in high-level competition - including league play, state cups and premier leagues - over the last seasonal year." A total of more than 11,000 athletes and more than 20,000 coaches and fans participated in the tournament, making it "the leading college recruiting event in the country." "Disney's Soccer Showcase began in 2000 with 68 teams and eight fields with the intent to give amateur athletes an opportunity to showcase themselves in front of college coaches." Facing such strong competition appeared to be a bit overwhelming for the GPS side, primarily because the team took in a number of new players and in effect this would be the first time they would play as a team. But, as most had shown at the Massachusetts State Tournament in June, this team never shies away from a challenge. "It was a very intense tournament," Troy Mattos acknowledged. "The teams there are much stronger than the high schools in this area. The games were played at a much faster pace, there was less space, less time to decide what to do, we were always under pressure." First up, on December 27, were the Michigan Wolves, ranked second in their state. GPS won, 3-2. Skylah Dias had the opening score. "I came up from midfield, exchanged a wall pass with Chukwuma Onyejose and that allowed me to slip past their defense so I buried the shot in the top corner," Dias recalled. The following day, GPS slipped past the Coral Gables SC Toros, also ranked second, in Florida, 2-1. Dias also had the opening score. "I remember tapping the ball over a defender, did it again near the sideline, cut to the middle, beat another defender and then tucked it in," Dias said. Kendall Pacheco turned in the game winner. "That's one of the memories I'll savor, scoring the winning goal against Florida," Pacheco said. "I remember the ball was crossed towards the area, one of their defenders made a bad clearance and I pounced on the rebound and scored." The final round-robin game pitted GPS against the Storm SA Black, the fifth ranked team in the state of Georgia, a game that would determine which team advanced to the title match. Again, GPS prevailed, this time by a 4-2 margin, a major struggle since GPS was forced to play shorthanded after only 12 minutes. 12 minutes into the game, GPS suffered a red card and was down a player for the remaining time in the game. GPS changed their strategy, leaving only one player at the top, holding a strong midfield and defense. Storm SA Black went up 2/1 with a PK in the box on a hand ball. GPS maintained their composure and stayed the course coming back in the second half to win 4/2. The final was on December 30, against Alpharetta Ambush SC Red, the fifth ranked club from the state of Georgia, a team that had breezed through the other side of the bracket, allowing only one goal in the three games played during the first round. As it turned out, the Ambush, unlike what their name suggests, never mounted much of a challenge and were crushed, 4-0. Here is how Jarrod Heil described the game for the local newspaper: "Although both teams were undefeated in the tournament when they came into the championship game for the U15 Black Division, NPL Elite completely rolled over Alpharetta Ambus. Alpharetta let in three goals before the 29th minute was over and never found their footing in the 4-0 loss. “(I’m) very happy with the performance. The boys played well today,” said Matthew Hardiman, head coach of NPL Elite. “It’s been a good tournament (and we) enjoyed it.” "Chukwuma Onyejose got the scoring going early for NPL Elite as he capitalized in the 5th minute on a pass from his twin brother, Chukwudi Onyejose. Andrew Stevens made it 2-0 in the 14th minute when he sent a ball in from around midfield that slipped in between the keeper’s mitts and crossbar. "Andrew Willer-Bell had Alpharetta’s best chance in the 20th minute when he broke free from one defender and put a nice ball on net that was saved by the goalkeeper. "Eric Barry capped the first half for NPL Elite when he went on a run down the right side, faked a shot at the goal line, cut back to the middle and put a left footer to the bottom right corner in the 29th minute. Chukwudi Onyejose got a goal of his own when he blasted the ball in at point blank in the 61st minute that capped the game that sank the spirits of Alpharetta." A 4-0 score in a championship game is a rather surprising outcome, but for the local boys it was easy to explain. "We played much better than in the other games," pointed out Aidan DaSilva. "Also, we have very fast forwards and their defense didn't seem to be that good. Also, once we started scoring they seemed to get discouraged and after a while it looked as if they kind of gave up. Once they realized they couldn't win, they stopped fighting and we kept going." After the tournament, the rankings were updated and the GPS boys are beginning to make a name for themselves at the national level. They remain the top team in Massachusetts, improved to number 11 in Region 1, a jump of seven spots, and are now ranked 22 in the country, a climb of 13 places. For the boys, the trip to Disney provided a lifetime of memories and a number of lessons, including the realization that playing at this level is much more challenging than playing in high school. "This was the most competitive tournament I ever played in," said Aidan DaSilva. "There is no comparison between this tournament and high school. On this team nobody has a guaranteed spot, every player knows his role and knows what he has to do. It's tough to keep a starting job because we have so many great players, so there is no let up, ever." "The difference is that the teams at Disney held more possession, whereas some high school teams don't pressure as much," added Kendall Pacheco. One of the things I learned and that I'll bring back to New Bedford High is being a better player with the ball, as I learned to play off the ball, learned how to read the game better." "It was a very intense tournament," agreed Troy Mattos. "The teams there are much stronger than the high schools in this area. The games are played at a much faster pace, there's less space, less time to decide what to do, we were always under pressure. "There is no comparison to the high games I played," Skylah Dias said. "The tempo is much higher, everyone on the team knows what to do each time they get the ball, and the opponents are also much tougher, they're stronger, pressure so we can only have one, two touches before getting rid of the ball. "This was more challenging than high school because we didn't know our opponents, so there was a little fear going into the games. It was nerve wrecking." "When I played in high school, I was going up against a lot of 18 year old players, guys who were physically stronger, so that was a challenge," Jacob Castro suggested. "But in this tournament, we ran into players who were much more technically skilled." The bottom line is that playing in the tournament not only opened some doors as more than 100 college coaches were in attendance, but also made everyone a little better for the upcoming season. "This will definitely make me a better player when I return to (Bishop) Stang because I'm going to be so used to playing under heavy pressure, where we pay for every mistake. It's a much tougher pace than in high school," said Aidan DaSilva. "I learned that I need to keep my head up, to always beware of where my opponents are," Troy Mattos added. "Playing on this team puts me a step ahead for the high school games, because they are not played with the same intensity, and that means the game will flow a little easier for me." Most of the parents also made the trip and were equally pleased with the strong showing from the GPS boys. "It was a great experience for the whole family," confirmed Victor DaSilva, Aidan's dad, who is currently putting the finishing touches on his new Sagres Restaurant. "It was good to so many good teams, in a good competition. And of course it was nice to see coaches from so many colleges watching our players because that will open some doors for them." "And we shouldn't overlook that this is the first time they played as a team. Some new players came in, but still the team and good team play, they're a really good team." Next up is the challenge to try to defend their state title and having new players on the team is not a challenge since all newcomers are excellent players. "Having new players on defense didn't turned out to be much of a problem, because the new players came from other GPS teams and all of our teams play the same way, the same style. And also we had been practicing for a while, so it was OK, I had no problems because of that," said keeper Jacob Castro. "Our goal for the Spring is to try to repeat as Massachusetts State Champions, After that, we'll see," added Aidan DaSilva. "We are practicing very hard to try to retain out state title," explained Skylah Dias. "We're playing indoors, playing futsal. Everybody knows that we have to go all out in every practice because there are great players on this team and everyone is good enough to start if somebody else slacks off. There are 20 players on the roster, but only 18 can dress for each game, so every week two players will be watching from the sidelines. We earn our spots at practice." Hopefully in June will have more good news to spread about the team. Caption: Names in the sequence that there in the photo where all 6 are there together: Skylah Dias (Swansea – Case High), Troy Mattos (Somerset - Somerset High), Jacob Castro (Swansea – Bishop Connoly), John Aguiar (Somerset / Bishop Connoly), Kendall Pacheco (New Bedford – New Bedford High), Aidan DaSilva (Westport – Bishop Stang). http://ojornal.com/portuguese-brazilian-news/2015/01/local-soccer-players-capture-disney-soccer-showcase/#axzz3P0PZudvP