Youth Sports Report:

RSL Florida falls short in national championship

Posted Jul 26, 2010 by Nick Murray

Updated Jul 26, 2010 at 04:53 PM

RSL Florida’s boys under-16 team came one win away from the first U.S. Youth Soccer National Championship for a Florida team in 13 years, falling 1-0 to California’s Slammers FC in the final on Sunday afternoon in Overland Park, Kan.

RSL had gone undefeated through pool play, defeating the Slammers 1-0 in its final contest to finish atop the six-team group on a goal by Michael Ciluffo. The Slammers, who advanced to the final as the second-place team on goal difference thanks to wins in their opening two games, turned the tables in the final, though, Kyle Chin scoring the only goal in the 46th minute.

“To go from not even winning the State Cup for the last three years to going to the national finals, I think that’s something to be proud of,” RSL coach Steve Wolf said. “We had a fantastic year, unfortunately we weren’t good enough on the day. I don’t make excuses, I’m not an excuse guy, we weren’t good enough to win today and the other team won.”

Kody Thomas led the way for RSL in pool play, scoring twice in three games as the side first rallied from a goal down to defeat the Philadelphia Soccer Club 2-1, Kyle Apperson also finding the net, and then drew 2-2 with the defending USYS National League champions, the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Crew Juniors.

Against the Crew, RSL held the lead twice, only to concede a tying goal each time. Wolf said he thought the team would learn from the experience of playing at the highest level and become better as a result.

“The main thing is being able to deal with pressure and being able to be smart and tough in the right moments in the match,” Wolf said. “Just making better decisions faster, every step you take in the game just gets faster mentally and physically.”

The Clearwater Chargers boys under-19 remains the last side from Florida to win a national championship. After 12 months that saw the side win its first State Cup title to add to its USL Super-Y North American Championship and the Region III Premier League and Championship crowns, Wolf was proud of what his side was able to accomplish this season.

“I’ve just had a great experience working with a great group of guys that believe in each other and want to excel,” Wolf said. “They want to try and get to the next level personally and as a team and it’s just a total joy to work with this team.”