U14 PSG and U16 Ajax head to Region 1 championship May 7-8

What's tougher than winning a brutal Region One division title?  Well, how about winning two additional playoff games versus the elite of the elites.  That's exactly what two of our outstanding boys teams will be attempting to do this weekend at the Kirkwood Soccer Complex in Kirkwood, DE. 

The two-time defending ENY State Cup champions, MSC Ajax (B16), constructed an excellent (5-1-1, 14/5 goals differential) record in Region One Premier this Spring, good enough for first place in the U16 North Division, while defending State Cup semifinalist, MSC-PSG (B14), constructed a terrific (5-0-2, 13/2 goals differential), also good enough to win the U14 North Division title.  In Region One Premier, both the division winners and the division runners-up advance to the playoffs, with the North Division winner playing the South Division runner-up in the one of the semifinal matches on Saturday, and the South Division winner playing the North Division runner-up in the other semifinal, also on Saturday.  The winners of those two matches will face each other on Sunday, while the losers also face each other in the consolation game.  Before this season, the outstanding MSC Phoenix were the only MSC team to ever advance to the Region One playoffs, and they did it twice, in both 2007 and 2010.  Last year the Phoenix beat Lower Merion 2-1 in the semis, before bowing to YMS 0-1 in the finals.  This year we get the chance to root for two of our boys teams to go for the gold.
 
Game schedules are as follows:
 
Saturday, May 7, 9:00am:  MSC-PSG 14s versus Lehigh Valley United.  MSC-PSG 14s are currently ranked 2nd in the USA by GotSoccer, 1st in Region One (one quarter of the nation, extending from Maine to Western PA, to West Virginia to Virginia), and ranked 1st in Eastern NY.  Lehigh Valley, one of the strongest teams in the country, are currently ranked 3rd in the USA, 2nd in Region One, and 1st in Eastern PA.
 
Saturday, May 7, 1:00pm:  MSC Ajax versus Soccer of Columbia (SAC) HC.  MSC Ajax are currently ranked 1s across the board, ranked 1st in the USA by GotSoccer, 1st in Region One, and 1st in Eastern NY.   SAC is currently ranked 22nd in the USA, 8th in Region 1, and 4th in Maryland.
 
If MSC-PSG 14s beats Lehigh Valley, they will advance to the finals on Sunday at 8:00am (ouch), and face the winner of the Baltimore Bays (ranked 11th in USA) vs Smithtown Kickers (ranked 6th in the USA) match.  MSC-PSG defeated Smithtown 2-0 in divisional play.
 
If MSC Ajax defeats SAC, they will advance to the finals on Sunday at 1:00pm, and face the winner of the FC Frederick (ranked 6th in the USA) vs MPS Soccer Bulldogs (ranked 25th in the USA).  Ajax defeated MPS 4-0 in division play.
 
Directions to the complex are linked below, as are the game schedules for each age group.
 
http://www.region1.com/Maps/kirkwood.pdf

- Rich Corvino