The Football Academy Black 13U Boys scored three goals in the first half of the US Youth Soccer National Championship on Friday night, and the Florham Park-based team remained defensively compact throughout the second half to secure a 3-0 result that earned them the title of national champions. The win came over BLFC Premiership 11 of Illinois at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, with the match being televised live to a national audience on ESPNU.
The first goal for The Football Academy Black came in the 18th minute, as Joel Ahn chipped an incredible left-footed volley from outside the 18. His strike sailed over the head of the BLFC goalkeeper and into the back of the net, giving his team the go-ahead notch. The second tally came just five minutes later after Mason Cominski intercepted a BLFC back pass and raced into the left side of the box on a breakaway. He then touched around the goalkeeper before slotting in a perfectly weighted ball to make it 2-0. In the 34th minute, The Football Academy Black scored on a corner kick when Alejandro Berrio stayed home just off the far post after the delivery, where he one-timed a ball that was tapped to him through a pair of BLFC defenders.
Not only did the win enable The Football Academy Black to lift the USYS 13U Boys National Championship Trophy on Friday night, but it also avenged a tight 3-2 loss to BLFC Premiership 11 earlier this week in group play.
The Football Academy Black 13U Boys advanced to the USYS National Championship Final after earning the top seed from their bracket in the opening round. The New Jersey side concluded group play with six points on a 2-1-0 record before facing BLFC Premiership 11 (IL) in the 13U Boys National Championship. The journey to Friday night started for The Football Academy Black 13U Boys in the fall of 2023 when they lifted the NJYS State Cup for their age group. The next stop on their itinerary was at the USYS Eastern Regional Championships in West Virginia, where they won six consecutive matches en route to claiming the regional championship earlier this month.
The USYS National Championships Presented by New York Life are the final stage of the USYS National Championships, which begin at the state level before progressing to the regional and then national stages. The event is a culmination of a year-long series of competitions, providing approximately 185,000 players on 10,000 teams from US Youth Soccer’s 54 State Associations with the opportunity to showcase their soccer skills against the best competition in the nation.
