U23 Team - UPSL Season

U23

UPSL Inaugural Season

U23 TEAM

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ON THE HEELS of the Men’s First team signing 24 players to compete in its inaugural National Premier League (NPSL) season, our General Manager, Stephen Bivens, pushed the leadership to start a U23 team to compete in the United Premier Soccer League Division I over the summer to mirror the First team in NPSL due to the abundance of player interest in joining the club. The club was accepted into the UPSL, and it built its team with 22 players of its own, including Storm Youth Academy Graduates in Jacob Antoine, Cristian Martinez, Eber Sosa, and Nathan Upson, as well as current Youth Academy player Malachi Rafiq who earned a few minutes in his first season. Georgia Storm Youth Coach Matthew Brooks was selected to lead the club’s first U23 season by the Stephen Bivens.

Stormie Start

After several weeks of training, Storm hosted its first ever U23 match at Bremen High School as the first match in a double-header with the First Team where we played UPSL veteran club Limeno Georgia U20. Although Eber Sosa helped the team dominate in possession, two corner kick goals against saw Limeno edge the match 2-1 late. In a quick turnaround, Storm ran riot over Cornerstone Toppro in its next match, scoring 7 goals, led by Alan Kazemian with 5, and conceding only one. The U23 squad was growing in confidence as it traveled to play Atlanta Generals where they thrashed the opponent 7-1 to place us in the top 3 early in the season with the top 2 earning promotion. With a slight misstep, All Star United scored two early goals in the third match of the season with the attack struggling to finish a plethora of opportunities, resulting in a 1-2 loss with the first place Athletico Atlanta U23s ahead. Traveling to Athletico, the squad attacked from the first whistle, dominating in possession. Carrying a 2-1 lead late into the match, a mistimed tackle from a Storm defender saw a penalty kick called in the dying minute of the game, which Athletico finished to secure a hard-fought but fair point for both sides.

Rally

With a few weeks of training with no matches, Storm’s U23s were ready for the final runin to the season, hoping to challenge for the title in Division I. With a great run of form, we won the final 5 matches of the season with victories over Kalonji SA 4-2, Limeno Georgia U20s 2-0, Cornerstone Toppro in the return home leg 4-1, Atlanta Generals 6-2 in the home leg, and a 4-1 final match win away at Middle Georgia SA. After a terrific season with a record of 7 wins, 2 losses, and 1 draw (7-2-1), the team sat atop the table with one final match between Athletico Atlanta and All Stars United to determine the champion with Storm needing a victor of less than 6 goals for Athletico. Unfortunately, Athletico won 12-0, meaning that our U23s tied for 1st would finish 2nd on the tiebreaker of Goal Difference.

Promotion Earned

A phenomenal achievement in our first year of U23 player with a 2nd place finish and only missing out on winning by goal difference, but most importantly promotion to the Premier division for the following year. Coach Matthew Brooks added about the season, “There is no doubt there are challenges with starting our U23 men’s program. The boys responded exceptionally well. They overcame a lot of adversity, stuck together, and played with professionalism beyond their years. The grit they displayed resulted in promotion to the Premier Division. To say that I am proud of, and excited for, the players is an understatement.”