GREENSBORO, N.C. — The Columbus Express 08 Boys Orange had some momentum after it pulled even with its opponent in Thursday’s US Youth Soccer National Championships Presidents Cup opener.
But not long after evening the game at 1-1, the Express Orange were given a red card for a foul on a denial of a goal-scoring opportunity late in the first half. The 08 Boys Pre MLS NEXT from Pittsburgh converted the penalty kick, then added a goal about 10 minutes into the second half to post a 3-1 victory.
“We had the momentum,” Express Orange coach Sam LaVelle said. “We were getting some chances, and it looked like we were getting close to a second goal, potentially. Then, a broken play happened, and our defender tried to make a play, and it changed the momentum of the game.”
The Express Orange had to play a man down the final 44 minutes.
“That hurt our chances a little bit, but we fought hard,” LaVelle said. “It just came down to, we couldn’t score. We had a lot of chances and just couldn’t finish them.”
The Express Orange did convert one of their opportunities. Colin Jackson scored off an assist from Aarav Nihalani.
Aside from that goal, the Express Orange hit the crossbar once and had three or four other good chances.
The Express Orange now must win or tie today to avoid being eliminated from Sunday’s U14 championship game, which pits the top two teams in the four-team pool. They will face plays Aztecas FC 08B (PBF) from North Texas at 10:15 a.m. today.
“It’s a must-win scenario for us to make it into the top two,” LaVelle said. “We’re focused on how we play. There were a lot of positives in the way we played today, so we’re just focused on building off the positives in the way we played today and building on it.”
The Express Orange will close pool play against AVFC boys 2008 from Southern California at 8 a.m. Saturday. AVFC and Aztecas played to a 0-0 tie in Thursday’s other opening matchup.
The championship match is at 10:45 a.m. Sunday.
