U15 Boys North American Championship

BRANDON, Fla. – When Princeton coach John Newman looked at the stats of his opponent for Tuesday’s U15 Boys championship game at the Super Y-League North American Finals, he knew right away what his squad needed to do. With his team facing Coquitlam Metro-Ford SC, which had tallied 11 goals in group play and the semis to lead all teams, Newman decided to lock it down.

“We set out to play five in the midfield and frustrate them, to keep the ball in front of us and counterattack, and we did frustrate them,” Newman said.

The plan worked perfectly, as Princeton captured the title 1-0 thanks to a goal from Julian Antal.

“I thought we dominated the game in large portions,” Newman said. “They’re a very attack-minded team with good players. We could have scored a couple more in regulation but their goalkeeper made a couple of world-class saves.”

CMFSC advanced to the final by defeating the Perugia Grifos 2-1 in the semifinals after posting a 3-0-1 mark in group play. Princeton took Group B and finished a perfect 5-0-0 at the finals, allowing only two goals against in the five matches.

“We lacked a little composure in the final third but the togetherness and team spirit - you can’t ask more than that,” Newman said.