Super-20 Finals Game Report

Sunday, July 20, 2014

BRADENTON, Fla. – Parsippany SC claimed the 2014 Super-20 League Championship with a 4-1 victory against Tampa Bay United on Sunday morning at the IMG Academy Stadium. Santiago Mateus had a goal and an assist to lead his side to victory as Parsippany put in a strong performance to defeat the previously perfect United.

Parsippany opened the game well and came close to taking the lead in the opening five minutes when a long throw-in by Andrew Ruane made its way to an unmarked Santiago Mateus, only for the forward to put his finish wide. Brett Durrance had Tampa Bay’s first opportunity in the 10th minute, only to shoot high and wide from 20 yards out.

Two minutes later Parsippany took the lead as Mateus got on the end of a good free kick by Zach Reed to flick home from eight yards. Set pieces for Parsippany, particularly Ruane’s long throw-ins, caused problems for Tampa Bay throughout the first half, but Parsippany was unable to take advantage of any half-chances that presented themselves.

Tampa Bay had a chance to equalize before the halftime break, but a good spell of pressure was withstood well by Parsippany’s defense. United continued to force the issue at the start of the second half, however, and was rewarded six minutes in when Blake Wilson got free on the left side and sent a low cross to Durrance 15 yards out, and the attacking midfielder drove a low finish into the left corner of the net to make it 1-1.

The game didn't remain level for long, though, as Parsippany regained the lead just before the hour mark. After Tampa Bay’s defense was unable to clear its lines properly, Mateus gained possession and drove into the left side of the penalty area before sending a low cross that found Carmine Colasurdo for a close-range finish.

Tampa Bay had chances to level the game. With 13 minutes to go, Cory Sauerwine drove into the left side of the penalty area and cut back a pass from the goal line to Michael Ciluffo at the corner of the six-yard area, but the substitute wasn’t able to get a clean shot off.

The game began to get stretched in the final 10 minutes, which afforded Parsippany the chance to put the game away on the counter-attack. It almost did with three minutes to go as a good pass by Jamael Vinson found Colasurdo centrally, and he releases Oscar Castillo on the left, only for the chance to be blocked. A minute later, Tampa Bay had a chance to equalize as a cross from Garett Garcia found Jason Collister, but his turning effort went high of the crossbar.

Parsippany wrapped up the victory with two goals in the closing stages by Jamael Vinson. The substitute first put away a rebound in the 90th minute after Marcin Zadlo had hit the post on a good counter-attacking move, and Vinson added a second in stoppage time as he scored on a breakaway of his own to wrap up the victory.

Grand Rapids Crew Juniors 5, Triangle FC 0: Grand Rapids Crew Juniors took the win in the Third Place Game at the 2014 Super-20 League Championship presented by Nike.

Grand Rapids got a head start on Triangle FC in the 22nd minute when Nathan Rose pounced on a Jared Trimmer pass and rounded the keeper to make it 1-0. The lead might have been extended just minutes later, but Triangle goalkeeper Max Swartz parried away a well-placed shot.

Crew forward Tyler Moorman took over the game in the second half. He started by dragging down a cross and with a few quick flicks, burying a volley from 18 yards to make it 2-0. Ten minutes later he added another with a low and hard shot to the bottom-right corner after finding himself in a pocket of space.

Charlie Constantino, a Grand Rapids midfielder, also found the net in the second half when he roofed the ball into the top of the net after a fine cross from Eli Appleby.

Moorman sealed his hat trick in the 65th minute when he buried a Constantino cross from the left flank to make it 5-0.

"It's disappointing to not make the final because we couldn't capitalize on our earlier games, but this is an incredible achievement," Grand Rapids Crew Coach Lewis Robinson said. "The level of competition has been outstanding and I'm very proud of the way we persevered."