The US Youth Soccer Eastern Regional Championships were held in Loudon, VA from June 23 – June 29. Boys and Girls teams ranging from U13 – U19 competed for a regional championship, and the champions of each age group earned a spot at the 2023 US Youth Soccer National Championships, hosted in Orlando, FL over July 17 – 23.

The first two days of Regionals saw great success for New England Surf as the club went undefeated in all competitions. The 2005 B Sky (U18) team had a strong showing. The Boys won their first game 3-2 over Doradus FC 05 Elite. Continuing the momentum, a 4-0 win against Legacy FC ‘05 Red established the team’s reputation as strong championship contenders. The Boys went on to draw their third game 2-2 versus Freestate Academy. Moving on to the semi- finals, a hard-fought game ended in a 4-2 loss to Philadelphia Ukrainian Elite ‘05 B.

Coach Tommaso Trevisan commented on the commendable “last dance” for this very committed group of Boys noting the great effort to come back despite falling 2-0 down early on in the semi- final. “Making top 4 is still a great achievement and I am very proud of what this group has done in the last three years,” said coach Trevisan.

Our next team, 2005 B Navy (U18), had a wonderful run in the Regional Championships. The Boys’ first game was a solid 2-0 win over Stony Brook LGN B ‘05. Building upon this result led to a dominant 9-0 victory against Ellicott City SC ‘05 B Black. Teddy Fritzinger led the team to success, bagging 5 goals of his own. The winning streak came to an end, however, when the Boys lost 2-0 in their third game against BVB International Academy Pittsburgh ‘05 B Premier. This loss set our Navy Surf Boys level with BVB International Academy in the group standings. The tiebreaker sent both teams into a thrilling penalty shootout, where Surf edged out a 5-4 win, advancing to the knock-out stage. Semi-final opponent Bethesda SC Blue ‘05 gave a challenging effort, but the Boys pulled through, winning the match 2-1. A very dominant and admirable performance crowned our 2005 B Navy Regional Champions with a 4-1 win over Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals Elite ‘05. Coach Beverlin wanted to give a special shoutout to goalkeeper Michael McDonough for an excellent tournament and center back Pieter Bultman for scoring 6 goals throughout the week. We wish our ’05 B Navy all the best in the Nationals competition later this month!

Rounding out our Boys teams in the competition, 2007 B Navy took to the pitch to continue Surf’s success. The team’s opening match resulted in a 0-0 stalemate with Yardley Makefield Soccer ‘07 B Premier Blackout. This result did not dampen the Boys’ energy, and they took a commanding 6-1 win in their second match over RealBoston FC B ‘07 Villareal. The goals kept coming, and the third game resulted in another dominant win, defeating Medford Strikers SC Academy ‘07 B by a score of 5-0. The quarterfinal game of the knockout round challenged our Boys, and ’07 Navy eventually fell 3-0 to the eventual Champions, Keystone FC Premier ‘07 B. Coach Trevisan commented on the Boys’ effort, saying, “(We) played excellent football all four games and fell short to the team that won it all. The quarterfinal game was disappointing as we created enough chances to either tie or win the game. The team showed exponential growth throughout the season.”

Switching over to our Girls side, our only team competing in the US Youth Soccer Regional Championships was 2006 G Navy. The Girls played a strong opening match, winning 6-1 over EPIC United ‘06 G. Continued momentum resulted in a consecutive 3-0 win versus FC Stars Worcester ‘06 G Blue. The final group stage game challenged our Girls, who ultimately fell 2-1 to Force FC G ‘06 NL. Rounding out the group stage with a 2-1 record gave the Girls some energy, which carried them to a 3-2 win in the quarterfinals, defeating FC Revolution Red ’06. The girls played well in the semi-finals, but ultimately lost 2-0 to Keystone FC Premier ‘06 G.