Leeward U14 Boys Take Second At National AYSO Tournament
By Jack Danilewicz
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The Leeward U14 Boys placed second among 24
teams in the AYSO National Tournament in Chicago.
They remained undefeated, not allowing a goal
during pool play only to lose 1-0 in the finals with
seconds left to play to Northridge, California. Photo
from the team.
The Leeward 14-and-under boys soccer traveling team may have come up a game short in its bid for an AYSO National Soccer Tournament title in Chicago last month, but they were a runaway winner when it came to stirring up fan interest in the Windy City.
“We had more spectators watch our team than any of the other teams out there,” Leeward coach Rich Wentling marveled. “We heard a lot of nice comments about our boys from people at the tournament. The kids showed a lot of class, and they played with great sportsmanship.”
Athletically speaking, the Leeward team, which was evenly divided between members from Waianae and Kapolei, more than held its own, keeping the opposition scoreless through their first six games before finally conceding a goal in a 3-2 win over Kona in a semi-final match-up on July 16. Later that day, the Leeward team lost to Northridge 1-0 in the title game, the final margin of victory coming on a goal with just under two minutes remaining in regulation.
A rash of untimely injuries figured big in Leeward’s loss. Leeward had beaten Northridge 3-0 only three days earlier in pool play, but goalkeeper Joseph Morales suffered a foot injury in the semifinal win over Northridge and was unable to play in the title game. Additionally, mid-fielder Max Snyder was sidelined by a broken collarbone for the championship game, having suffered his injury in the semi-finals, while fellow mid-fielder Jake Glendon could play only two quarters of the finale following a groin injury sustained by an inadvertent kick from a Kona player earlier in the day.
“They could have made a big difference, but I was very proud of the boys anyway,“said Wentling, who selected his team last fall.“The game-winning goal against us was scored on a set-play off of corner kick. The other team did a good job on that.”
Even before arriving in the humidity of the Chicagoland area (where they played two games a day), Wentling knew the Leeward team would hold up well against the Mainland competition.
“As coaches we had high expectations - we expected to win it - but the kids still played above their capabilities,” said Wentling, who was assisted by coaches Darryll Snyder, Mike Swenson and Tyler Chan. “We put this team together last October and the boys really worked hard. They did their job, and they had an experience they won’t forget.
“The goal was to win, but we don’t stress winning as the most important thing,” he continued. We want them to learn the game, and to show good sportsmanship.”
In addition to Morales, Glendon and Max Snyder, the Leeward traveling team also featured Ben Snyder, Cameron Chan, Zech Wentling, Nathan Swenson, Daniel Hunter, Stephen Mills, Warren Spencer, Joshua Pane’e, Micah Inafuku, Joseph Cid Jr. and Pakela Adric.
Leeward had outscored its first six opponents 15-0 en route to advancing to the aforementioned semifinal encounter with Kona.
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