The 2008 Columbus Express Orange team won the Indiana Presidents Cup title in May. Team members include, front row from left, Axel Cardoso, Eli Ostrom, Ryder Meek, Gavin Fugate, Nick Mann; and back row, coach Ty Smith, Marckenson Paul, Emilio Quintero, Luke Moore, Arno Risner, Lane Woodard, Eduardo Aranda-Michel and Brody Johnson.
The Columbus Express run through the United States Youth Soccer tournament continues.
The Express 2008 Boys Orange will be playing in the USYS Presidents Cup National in beginning Friday and wrapping up Tuesday in Tampa, Florida.
The Express begin the round-robin pool play against OTUSA 2008B Warriors Red from New Jersey at 8 a.m. Friday. Their second game will be against CFC 08B Black from Oregon at 2 p.m. Saturday. They’ll wrap up pool play against Lonestar FC SAFC Tapatios 08/09B from Texas at noon Sunday.
The top two finishers in each pool will advance to the semifinals at 8 a.m. Monday, with the championship at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday.
“We set a goal early in the season to win the state level event, and we got through that and honestly got through without having everybody, and then when we got to regional, I thought we defended well enough that we’d give ourselves a chance,” CESC director of coaching Ty Smith said. “We play a style that translates well to the opponent we match up against, and we got some timely goals. The shutouts came up huge for us, but I think the boys also play the high level of competition throughout the year. They’re battle tested. They’ve had a lot of competitive matches against really good opponents that set us up well for the regional event.”
CESC earned a berth to the national tourney by finishing as the runner-up in the regional at U17. They lost to 08B SKV Elite E64 out of Kansas in the finals 3-0.
In pool play, CESC tied with DMSC 2008 Boys Red from Iowa with a 1-0-2 record in pool play, but the Express won the fourth tiebreaker — goals against — with zero goals allowed in pool play.
In the semifinals, CESC defeated UCC U17B Academy Elite from Missouri 1-0 to reach the finals and earn a berth in the national event.
“I think one of the biggest misconceptions with the shutouts is obviously, we have solid goalkeeping, we have a solid defensive line, but the ability to press out of our forwards and midfielders. They cover a lot of ground, and it put pressure on the other team where we get a lot of regains higher up on the field,” Smith said. “We prioritize being organized. That has been a huge part of us in keeping clean sheets. In fact, one of the tiebreakers in group play was, it ended up getting down to goals conceded, and we haven’t given up a goal until the final of regional. So it’s been a big part of what we do and how we play. We prioritize being organized. We prioritize pressing. We prioritize working defensively. It’s kind of been the staple of our success this season.”
The roster is made up of mostly local players, including Columbus North’s Alfredo Madero, Brody Johnson and Axel Cardoso; Columbus East’s Ryder Meek, Eduardo Aranda-Michel, Emilio Quintero, Eli Ostrom, Jonathan Sylva, Ryan Turner and Santiago Gonzalez and Hauser’s Nick Mann.
“The team chemistry is going to be helping a lot because we’ve been together a long time. We have the chemistry to play together,” said Meek, the goalkeeper. “We have some new faces that help the team out a lot, but that big connection with all of us helps.”
Some of the same players on this year’s team played for the CESC squad that played in the Presidents Cup National in 2022.
“I think it’s going to be nerves at first. Once we get used to it, we can play how we usually play and hopefully score a couple goals,” Mann said. “Our team is a little different. We don’t have the same team as a couple years ago, but I feel like our team is pretty good now. I hope we can win a couple games down there.”
