A big thank you to all of you for providing the great experience our young men had this past weekend. They had fun, played with heart, learned new skills and the meaning of sacrifice for their team. What a priceless experience. It was amazing to see the teams develop in such a short time that played so well together. It says a lot about these young men-and their great coaches.
Thank you for helping SYSA to sponsor three U-8 boys teams and allowing each player this great opportunity. SYSA ROCKS!! Sincerely, Scott Melton (U8B parent)
U8G Orange (Mark Warnecki):
The other half of SYSA's U8G entry went 3-4. All were exciting 1goal games save for the final game against a loaded Loudoun Red team who beat us handily. We beat some very good "A" teams from Chantilly, Mclean and BRYC. While we certainly expected to fare better, the girls all had a great time, their soccer improved, new friendships were made and I think it is safe to say they are now "hooked" on the "beautiful game"!
One parent told me that following the Saturday games, his daughter told him when they got home that she didn't really understand what All Stars was all about when she started, but that Saturday was "one of the best days of her life." At the end of the day, that's what it's all about at this age isn't it??!!
Heidi- thanks for all you do!
U8G White (Phil Eichensehr):
Our U8 girls team went 7-0! We outscored the competition 29-2 and had a ton of fun! Thank you for all your hard work.
U8B Orange (James Powers):
My U8 boys team finished 3-2-2. We had a great time, too. We all really lucked out on the weather this weekend! Thanks, Heidi, for all the work you put into this.
U8B White (Matt Whitfield):
Sterling White left it all on the field yesterday. They played like the squad I knew they were and dominated all three games, including a huge upset win against a loaded Herndon Black squad. Unlike Saturday when they were a bit shell-shocked (a 4-1 loss in the opener didn't help) which resulted in being very passive, rarely looking for the pass or the shot and generally forgetting everything about positioning and not grouping, yesterday they were on a tear. The boys won a huge percentage of the 50/50 balls, were constantly making great runs, centering the ball, looking for and taking the shots and hustling all over the field. The result was a 3-0 run on Sunday to finish 4-3 overall and third in our flight -- 1 point out of second! Considering we started the day in 7th, this was a huge result and leap up the board.
I could not be any more proud of how Sterling White bounced back and took control over all their Sunday games. The boys had a blast and so did the coach! Definitely in for next year! Congrats to all the teams and thanks to you, Heidi, for all the coordination and efforts!
U8B Black (Scott Weber):
First, thanks to you for coordinating everything and allowing us to be a part of this truly enjoyable experience. My U8 Boys had a good tournament. We finished up 3-3-1; tying our last game. I asked the guys to leave everything on the field and they did. Everyone scored a goal except for one. Very proud of the boys for their effort and their sportsmanship!
U9G Orange (Carl Cassani):
U9Girls - white seeded 2??? and orange seeded 11, both teams went to the semi-finals and both lost. Orange won a nail bitter game in over-time, with PK, at 7:30 am - the frost was still on the field. Clearview was an excellent location, parking wasn't bad, the fields were a little torn-up. Many thanks for organizing everything.
U9G White (Bill Taylor):
The Sterling White U9 Girls team went 3-1 on Saturday to be ranked 2nd in the tournament for Sunday (tied for #1, but lost due to goal differential). We lost 1-0 in the first game on Sunday on a strange deflection when our defender went to clear the ball and it bounced off of their player into our goal with less then a minute to play. (Heartbreaking!)
Overall, the girls played their hearts out and only gave up two total goals (the above mentioned and another "own goal" in our loss on Saturday). They played well and represented SYSA with pride and dignity! We are all looking forward to the Spring and a chance for redemption.
U9B Orange (Leo Leondaridis):
My U9 Orange Boys WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!!! They did the impossible the most rewarding in any league. They played their hearts out and won clean 3-2 against seed #1 Annandale who got 2 yellow cards and one red. The ref was great and on top of the game. The Tournament representatives were awesome and they did a great job. I am proud of my kids, proud of SYSA and proud of Heidi with all her hard work.
U9B White (Kurt Scherer, Guillermo Morales):
The U9 Boys White team had a good showing. We seeded 4th out of 14 yesterday, but, unfortunately, lost a close game (at 0730!) this morning. I am very proud of the boys and the way they came together in such a short time. Thanks, Heidi, for all of your prep and organization!
U10B (Pete Alvarez):
Thank you for coordinating the tournament from the SYSA side, and your guidance was very much appreciated. Yesterday, SYSA U10B was 2-1-1 and ended up as a #5 seed. We played a tough Loudoun Red team (#4 seed) and lost 2-1, which was also the half-time score. Although our team pressed well, maintained possession, had many scoring opportunities, we could not get the equalizer. I was very impressed with the tenacity and sportsmanship of our U10B players, and it was a complete pleasure to coach them.
U10G Orange (Mary Hamdan):
What a great weekend for soccer! The U10 G Orange team had a rough start on Saturday, going 1-2-1. We ended up in the bottom half, and played two full-length games today in order to get to the final. By 3:00, the girls were tired. They really left all they could on the field, coming back to tie it up. In the last 5 min, they dominated but couldn't get the ball in the net!
We lost in PK’s (12 by each team......). I can't say much of the ref in our last game, especially since he let a lot of things happen during the PK’s by the other team, but we've seen some major ref errors on TV in the last couple of days (Ireland v France). That's the way it goes! All in all, we're happy we got to play this year! Thanks for organizing Heidi!
U10G White (Guy Chugg):
The U10 G White went 2-2 on Saturday in the Black division and earned the number 8 seed. We should have been 3-0-1. The girls weren’t fully awake during the 8 AM game and lost 1-0 despite outshooting the other team on a 5-1 ratio. The other loss was 2-0 to the eventual number 2 seed. We had a bad two minutes on defense where we had the wrong personnel in. Just is life when you are trying to get all 12 girls playing time.
I was optimistic on Sunday even though we were playing the number 1 seed (PWSI 1). The Burke team had played them on Saturday and told us after our game that we were the best team they had played all day. We lost 3-0 with 2 of the goals coming in the last 7-8 minutes when I moved my two defense stars to offense to try to get a goal. PWSI 1 went on to when the championship.
My assistant coach, Debbie Erickson, was a great help. The parents were very supportive and put together a nice team and family tent spread that would rival most green rooms. Also, want to give special thanks to Mary Hamdan for arranging for medals for the girls with their names engraved on them. That touch finished the tournament off right for the girls.
U11G (Margie Gay):
It was a great weekend and the team had a lot of FUN! The U11Gs had a rough start of on Saturday with 1-1-2 record. The morning games were toughest as these girls had afternoon games all season. They definitely got better as the day went on. On Sunday they showed up ready to play and took the first game with 4-1 win. During the semi-final game, we dominated the ball, but we couldn't capitalize on our opportunities to get the ball in the goal despite our many attempts. We lost in PKs. I've very proud of these girls - they gave it their all. Despite the poor officiating, we were thankful for the great weather and the girls had a great time - once they learned how to push back!
U12G (Marco Mares):
We took the finalist trophy on the top seeded U12G group (we had to go to PKs), go Sterling!
U12B (Ionel Canavra):
I am so proud of Sterling U12 Boys that played the final today and finish on the 2nd place after a tight final game with Loudoun. The team this year was a combination of U11 and U12. Half of the team are players that just turned 10 years old. They took the challenge of playing against the big boys and they play like the big boys. Congratulations!!!
U13B (Larry Touve):
The U13 Boys finished up Saturday undefeated. Due to a field closure, they rescheduled everyone to have 3 mini-games instead of 4. It's really tough getting any rhythm in the game when you're playing 12minute halves on a small field. In the first game we came back from being down 0-1 and fought hard to earn a 2-1 victory over Reston. We ended up with a scoreless draw in the second game against FPYC. We lucked into playing on the regulation size turf in the third game, and the boys played very well and dominated Chantilly 3-0. We ended up with the third seed out of the 14 teams.
Sunday was another story. We came out a little flat, and the SYA team we were up against was clearly on their game. We battled back and forth, but couldn't take advantage of our opportunities. The SYA team brought a very rough style of play that we weren't ready for, and were surprised that the ref allowed. Our boys were getting chopped in the neck, pushed to the ground from behind, elbowed, and even punched. The final score (0-5) really doesn't reflect the effort that the boys gave. We gave up one PK to a mystery call, and another to a direct kick from right outside the box at the end of the game. The boys fought hard and kept up pressure on them for all 60 minutes, but our shots kept hitting the posts, or just missed. I was very proud of the way the boys played, which was even more impressive considering they never practiced together.
U13G (Jeff Podgorski):
U13G’s also came home with 2nd place trophies…great showing from the girls.
U14G (Tony Angerome)
The competition in the U14 Girls level was very competitive, all games were very close. I am very proud of the U14 Girls they placed 2nd and collected some hardware.
Go SYSA!!
U14B (Mark Saldanha):
The U14 boys lost in the semi-finals to FPYC, other than that it was a great weekend.
U16G (Mike Nueslein):
U16G takes first place, with PERFECT defense, NO goals scored against. Saturday’s games: 2 wins 1-0, 3-0, and 2 ties 0-0 against Braddock Road and McLean. We seeded 2nd place, Braddock Road lost to McLean on Saturday. Sunday we get the bye and play 12:30 against 3rd seed Braddock Road. Braddock Rd dominated Sterling in first half, it was hard for us to cross over mid-field line, let alone get anything going. In second half we settled down playing with better control and winning on a corner kick with 12 minutes left in the game. Braddock in last 15 minutes were running out of gas, momentum shifted to Sterling, however it was not without dangerous moments…many save-the-day-plays by individual defenders including our keeper.
At 3 pm we played number one seed McLean (who had won all their games), that was a back and forth match. They had an answer for everything. We grinded it out, we found seams and began penetrating in first half… doing even better at second half. By last 15 minutes, it was all Sterling possession and control of the game. Our winning goal game in the first half; when McLean had defensive line set up on an indirect free kick attempting to catch us off-side. Well, the ball went through their defensive line, no offside, and it was 3 Sterling forwards against the McLean keeper. McLean keeper challenges in close collision, we make the cut and do the easy pass into the net.
Prior to our game Sunday, Annandale (4th seed) lost to McLean in a forfeit having been caught with 4 ringers who did not know their birthday. McLean players saw new faces… I heard the 4 ringers were O16G as opposed to U16G. So from that point on, all teams agreed to roster checks prior to match. First time I saw that since coaching all-stars now 4-5 years.
Having both SFL U16G Sterling teams end their season ranked overall in the lower 25% quartile, and then coming together to win all-stars was tremendous victory. On paper we were coming into the match as the weakest team. It became apparent that times were changing. I echo all the good will sentiments for Heidi. Thank you Heidi. Herndon did an awesome job. Last fall season we were rained out…this season Herndon did their best to find turf fields (JIC), according to our site coordinator. That shows class… proactive to potential problems such as field closures due to rainouts.
U16B (Bob Gannon):
Wow....SYSA rocked it this weekend!! Great job...... U16 Boys adds another 2nd place finish to the SYSA / Herndon Cup legacy. We went 3-1 on Saturday to seed 4th out of 16 , losing our first game of the day 1-0 to NVSC in a tight game. Sunday (UGH 7:30am games) we came out and beat the 5th seed (Burke) by score of 4-0, then beat the 1st place seed PWSI 3 (I love beating PWSI teams) 2-0 in a physical match to set up a rematch for the Championship against who else......NVSC. We lost 2-1 in PKs and missed numerous chances to win in regulation. All in all, very rewarding for the boys as they take the winter off (some of them anyway) and gear up for HS ball in the Spring.
Thanks to SYSA Board, Herndon All Star folks for a well-run tournament, and as always Heidi for coordinating it all. To all you coaches, managers, refs, board members, coordinators, etc out their in SYSA cyber space and in real life....I simply want to say THANK YOU! I am proud to be associated w/ this club and you all. I heard nothing but praise for our play, our players, and how well we behaved (minus a couple yellows here and there) on the pitch. All the best to you all!!
U19G (Greg Giovanis):
U19 girls seeded 7th out of 12 teams on Sat. We lost our first game on Sunday even though we dominated play. Our shots just didn't get past the very good Chantilly goalie. Great weather, great fields, very good refs, good sportsmenship from all teams. All in all a very good experience.
