Let the Dominant Times Roll
by Allen Caldwell
As this tournament continues, Team USA’s stranglehold on its opponents continues to strengthen. This dominance was clearly shown in their match against the Ireland U18 National team. The Americans started the match firing on all cylinders on the offensive side of their game. Although Ireland had a great defensive front, the U.S.’s sound passing throughout the match put the Irish defense on their heels. This caused the defense to spread out and created open lanes for Team USA to knock in goals.
It seems that the U.S. has found a formula for success that its opponents cannot seem to solve. This equation consists of great passing, execution of set plays, and an unwavering desire to stick with this plan of attack. The Americans’ passing created mistakes for the Irish that made opportunities for tons of shots on goal and set plays. This produced five U.S. goals in the first half and six goals for America in the second half. The result was an 11-0 victory for Team USA against the U18 Ireland National squad.
Another Game, Another Annihilation
by Sifat Baig
The US played their second game on Friday against the Irish U16 team. This game started out fast with the first goal being scored in less than a minute. The US started off the game very aggressively with precision passing and efficiency on set plays. The Irish team had some early mistakes that led to some timely goals for the Americans. The Irish team picked up their defense at the end of the first half but seem to lose all hope at the beginning of the second half.
The final score ended up being 10-0 USA, but the score could've been a lot worse. The sound defense of the US did not even allow a single shot on goal! This was a statement game that should alert all competitors that the US team is coming for the championship.
Team USA Secures the Top Spot Entering the Semi Finals
by Zak Schmoll
Team USA faced their toughest challenge from Vaucresson, a French club team, as they played their final pool game on Friday. Team USA entered the contest after winning four straight contests and had not surrendered a goal. Vaucresson was also undefeated, but they had ended up in a draw with France in their second game on Thursday.
The game began slowly. The United States was applying a lot of pressure, but Vaucresson responded with great defense in the box that slowed down the Americans in a way that no other team had been able to. Then after a long struggle, in the span of approximately 4 minutes, Team USA pumped in a pair of goals and went into halftime with a 2-0 lead.
After halftime, the result was not really in doubt, but there was quite a bit more solid defense from Vaucresson to hold the United States to only one more goal. They also began to get their offense in order and had a few scoring opportunities. They were not able to pull the trigger, but you could see that the team was finally able to start putting a little bit of pressure on the Americans.
With their 3-0 victory, Team USA enters the semifinals as the number one seed, and they will try to continue their clean sheet for the tournament.
