On July 14th the RCRage Soccer Club traveled to Brockport to participate in the 13th annual Brockport Soccer Festival. The U15 team coached by Dave Gregg and Tom Phillips entered into the tournament’s Premiere Division and met up with some awesome competition! “As in years past, the kids all camped at Hamlin Beach State Park and had a fantastic weekend adventure. The Brockport Tournament which boasts about 250 teams has become a tradition that the kids and adults really look forward to!” said Coach Gregg.
The RCRage team coupled with five guest players from around Wayne County sported a highly skilled team when they stepped foot on the pitch. The RCRage club took eleven members of it’s own; Eli Vitale, Nathaniel Gregg, Reis Cunningham, Ryon Adam, Ryan Fisher, Cody Sherman, Jim Slobe, Drew Knox, Colton Ginther, Ryan Pudlowski and Anthony Losurdo. From Williamson came defensive back Ryan Thayer and striker Sergio Trejo. From North Rose Wolcott came midfielders Ethan Ufholz, Nathan Phillips and striker Chris Vanfleet and from Sodus came center midfielder Parker Spear.
In the first match of the day the RCRage faced what would turn out to be their toughest opponent of the tournament, the Aurora Arsenal. The match played out and late in the first half the RCRage took the lead 1-0 off a shot unleashed by Sergio Trejo that was deflected by the Arsenal keeper and rebounded back out to the top of the 18 yard box where striker Chris Vanfleet one timed a frozen rope hard and low in the back of the net! The RCRage continued to apply pressure hitting both the left and the right goal posts but could not find the back of the net the rest of the match. The Aurora Arsenal came back in the final ten minutes to tie the match 1-1 and that’s how the game ended. Both teams were very comparable in speed, size and skill.
The 2nd match of the day was played against another Buffalo select team, “Buffalo United” and this time the RCRage managed to put on a clinic. Although five new players were introduced into the RCRage squad, the team began to play like they had been molded together forever. The RCRage won their second match of the day 3-1 solidifying their 1st place position at the end of the day with goals scored by Ryan Fisher, Sergio Trejo and Eli Vitale.
When Sunday rolled around, in the first match of the day the RCRage met up with a very tough Canadian team from London Ontario, the “Byron Optimist” who boasted a lot of speed on their front line. The Canadian team went ahead shortly into the match 1-0. The RCRage maintained their composure and fought hard to pull out a 1-1 tie off a Ryan Fisher corner kick service that found the head of Eli Vitale as he drove it into the back of the net hard and low. The RCRage was now headed into the finals positioned in first place as all other premier division matches had resulted in a tie. The second place position was decided on penalty kicks as the Aurora Arsenal beat out the Canadian team, the “Byron Optimist” 5-4 on Penalty kicks to take the 2nd place position. The RCRage and the Arsenal team were poised to meet later on that day at 1:00PM for the Championship match and both teams were looking for reconciliation from their early meeting that had resulted in a tie.
When the whistle sounded for the kickoff between the RCRage and the Auora Arsenal, both teams had already seen each other one time before and knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses pretty well. It was extremely hot and both teams had just come off their morning matches and did not have a lot of time to rest. The RCRage came out early and really moved the ball well. Center midfielder Parker Spear collected the ball about 30 yards out off a quick transition and beat the Arsenal defensive back to drive a ball hard in the back of the net halfway through the first half putting the RCRage up 1-0. The RCRage continued to pressure the Aurora Arsenal goal but with minutes left, the RCRage gave up a direct kick just outside the box and the shot deflected off one of the RCRage defender’s heads past Ryan Pudlowski and into the back of their own net putting the match even at 1-1. The RCRage continued to apply pressure but there was not enough time left on the clock and the match ended in tie sending the championship match into penalty kicks to decide the winner.
Now the pressure was on! Each team had to select their five top kickers. The RCRage led off with Nathaniel Gregg as the number one kicker and he decisively stuck it by the Arsenal keeper’s right side to make it 1-0 score for the RCRage. Then, the first Arsenal kicker stepped up and faced the RCRage goalkeeper Ryan Pudlowski and matched the RCRage score 1-1 making it all tied up. The second kicker for the RCRage was the highly skilled center midfielder from Sodus, Parker Spear. Calm cool and collected, Spear drove the ball hard in the corner to make it a 2-1 score. The second Arsenal kicker stepped up to face Ryan Pudlowski and he too drove it in the net to make it all tied up at 2-2. The third kicker for the RCRage was Ryan Fisher. Fisher calmly stepped up and placed his ball. The whistle blew and without hesitation he decisively drove it in the corner to make it 3-2 score for the RCRage. As the pressure continued to mount the third kicker for the Arsenal stepped up and faced Pudlowski. When the whistle blew, the shot was ripped hard to the left corner and Pudlowski had guessed correctly! He extended and flew to block the shot! Pudlowski had now put the RCRage ahead 3-2! The next kicker for the RCRage was Ethan Ufholz from North Rose Wolcott. Ethan also very calmly stepped up and without hesitation drove the ball in the corner, further applying pressure on the Arsenal team making the score 4-2. The 4th kicker for the Arsenal team then stepped up to face Pudlowski and drove it past him to make it a 4-3 score forcing the RCRage to send up it’s 5th and last kicker Chris Vanfleet from North Rose Wolcott. Vanfleet calmly walked to the line and set his ball with his hands. When the referee’s whistle blew, the crowd was very quiet. Vanfleet made his approach and very decisively drove the ball past the Arsenal keeper to solidify the RCRage championship!
“The tournament win was very exciting”, said coach Gregg. “The kids we selected to play with us in the tournament are all very gifted players in their own right and it’s going to be a lot of fun to watch all of these boys play this coming fall! They are a great group of kids!” The team managed to play together as if they had been playing together for years and in reality had only practiced together just a few times. “That’s a testament to all of these kids ability” says Gregg. “When you can throw together a group of kids on short notice like this and beat all the select teams that have played together forever, that says a lot for all of these individuals that represented the RCRage club this weekend! They were very exciting to watch and the level of soccer they played made it well worth the trip!”
The RCRage also took a U14 team to the tournament as well. They were coached by Kent Knox and they also had a fantastic time playing as well as camping.
If you would like your son or daughter to learn to play competitively in traveling soccer, experience the camaraderie of competition and tournament ball, or simply partake in some awesome club excursions, contact the RCRage Soccer Club. Next year (July 2007) the RCRage will be traveling to Europe once again and both students and adults are welcome to join the adventure. You can speak with Rob Reese at 315-754-6334 or Dave Gregg at 315-754-6315 for details. Or, visit our website at WWW.RCRAGE.ORG
