Making history for Kentucky -- Jun 26 2009 -- 09 US Youth Soccer Regional Championships

Max McKiernan:
I just found the chance to talk about yesterday's Region II final against the Chicago Fire Juniors from Illinois. Both teams were on short rest from playing the late matches the day before and having the early game the following day. I can't speak for the Fire, but our team was certainly very banged up and fatigued. With almost all players either carrying injuries or playing significant minutes, the game was certainly going to be a challenge for us physically. In addition, the surface was terrible, especially the mud pit that was the center of the field. The game got off to a pretty even start as we battled out the first half. Both sides had some chances, but none were quite as good as Layth Masri's strike off the crossbar early on in the half. The second half continued in much the same fashion, but the Fire put us under a lot of pressure as regulation came to an end. In the first overtime, we got in a rhythm and had some great chances. We finally broke through when Jack Goblirsch assisted Dimitri DeChurch-Silva as he scored the go-ahead goal. I thought we were going to be able to hang on to the lead, but the Fire kept battling and drew even with a goal in the second OT. We had some chances to finish it off late in the second overtime, but the game ultimately came down to penalties. They shot first and netted their first one, and Cole Page, as usual, buried his to tie it up. Their next shooter sent his penalty high and wide, and Tyler Riggs put his away with confidence to give us the 2-1 lead. They scored their next two, but Connor Powell and Brandon Causey both finished to give us the 4-3 lead. Our goalkeeper Taylor Hafling stumped their fifth shooter, winning the game for us and starting the celebration. I'm so happy for our team that we were able to defend our title, and I'm proud of all that we have accomplished. We set this as one of our goals at the beginning of the season, and I can't say enough about our team's effort and hard work throughout the season to reach those goals. It's extremely difficult to win regionals twice in a row, and we're the first team ever to do so from Kentucky. I'm also excited for another chance at nationals. We didn't prepare ourselves well enough last year, and because most teams never make it back, I'm grateful for another opportunity to win a national title. Right now we're taking some time off to rest, recover, and enjoy the victory, but I'm ready get back to training so that we can be ready for Boston!