The Pateadores BU18 Academy reached the 2011 Development Academy National Championship match in the U-17/18 division with a sensational, heart-stopping 4-2 win against the Players Development Academy in Milwaukee.
In what may have been the most exciting game any Pateadores’ team has ever played, the Academy BU18 needed not one, but two “Hail Mary” goals in the final two minutes of the game to clinch Group 1 and the chance to play for the ultimate prize.
The Pateadores entered the match with a miniscule one goal advantage over the Dallas Texas in goal difference in Group 1. The Texans, meanwhile, played simultaneously, and grabbed a 3-0 lead against the New York Red Bulls in the other Group 1 game to secure what every spectator thought was a decisive goal differential advantage over the Pats. (The Texans game ended 3-0.)
However, the Pateadores Academy U18 showed they had the most essential of skills – heart, perseverance and a common purpose. With two minutes to play and the referee starting to eye his watch, the Pats attacked with a technical mastery that overwhelmed the defensive tactics of their opponent. Suddenly, the Pats took a 3-2 lead on a header from Maxx Bauman, and destiny was in hands of the boys in blue and white.
The clock kept ticking…….60 seconds, 59, 58, 57…30, 29, 28…and then Pats’ star Irvin Parra-Anaya (who had already scored twice) drove a shot on goal. The goalie got his hand on the ball and the rebound came back to Parra-Anaya who passed to the newest Pats’ hero, Roberto Escudero, who clinically struck the ball into the back of the net. The miraculous goal elevated the Pateadores above the Texans in total goals scored to clinch first place in the group.
The national championship game, Pateadores vs. FC Dallas, will be televised live on ESPNU and on the internet on ESPN3.com on Friday, July 15, at 10:00 a.m. PT.
Read more articles about the Academy Finals here…
http://www.ussoccer.com/Teams/Development-Academy/Academy.aspx