June 21, 2008

After a brief shower during the 8am matches, the skies lit up with sunshine so that sunscreen was more prominent than umbrellas at the Region II Championships in Rockford, Illinois - about 55 miles northeast of Chicago. Javanon teams had a good showing today with a mix of results. Overall we posted a 3-3-1 record with some of the toughest matchups of the weekend on tap for day 1.

It seemed early today that it was Kentucky vs Michigan with 3 high profile matchups. The 95 Boys started things off with a come from behind 3-1 victory over the Michigan state champions, Michigan Elite and potential early favorite for the regional title. After dominating much of the match, the Michigan side posted a goal off a set piece well into the second half. Bradley Schickel countered with a goal that led to a surge of 3 goals in the final 10 minutes to post an impressive victory.

The 92 Javanon boys continued the trend with a dominating performance over Vardar, another strong Michigan team. The 92's came ready to play and left little doubt to the outcome with a 5-1 result that observers said could have been even greater.

The much anticipated U17 boys match up with defending National Finalist Michigan Wolves kicked off at noon as Coach Joe Williams already having tamed one Michigan team with his 95 Boys. This is the 5th consecutive year these teams have faced each other at regionals with Javanon hoping for their first victory after tieing last year. As expected both sides played outstanding soccer with college coaches 2 deep on the sidelines taking in every play. The fist half played to a 0-0 tie with both teams having chances but few excellent opportunities. 26 minutes into the second half the tie was broken when Ryan Garvey took a defender deep into the box and while being "strongly" opposed fed a pass to a cutting Turner Uligian who was promply put to the turf. The center official had no choice but to award a penalty kick that Tony Wilbar finished with the emotion and power expected in a match of this caliber. Handling a ferocious effort by Michigan, the Javanon side survived and will await a re-match of the Kentucky state final tomorrow vs United.

The 90 Girls played a solid match against a highly skilled St. Louis SC side and after equalizing well into the second half fell to 2-1 with a goal scored past the 90th minute.

The 90 Boys dominated play in their match versus FC United from the home state of Illinois. The finished with a 3-1 victory, the lone goal against coming very late in the match. They look forward to a challenging match tomorrow at 8am versus CUP Red (Cincinnati).

Other results included the U17 Girls falling to an excellent Ft. Wayne Fever team, the U14 Boys were disappointed in falling 2-0 to FC Milwaukee, the U13 Girls played well but could not get past KCFC 1-0 and the U19 Girls played to a 2-2 tie versus the Plymouth Gunners (Minnesota)