Southern Regionals

Southern Regionals

IN THE fall of 2020, Storm had numerous teams competing in the National League Piedmont Conference, where a first-place finish would earn you qualification to the Southern Regional Championships, as well as Georgia State Cup where a Championship would also earn you a spot. Storm’s own 06B Premier teamed, with Coach Sasan Lak, earned their spot by winning Piedmont Conference as well as winning Storm’s first Georgia State Cup. The Southern Regional Championships (Region III) took place in Greenville, South Carolina at the MeSA Soccer Complex from June 18 to June 24 where our team was drawn into Group B with the top two teams after group stage and 3 matches advance to the quarterfinals.

Opening Game

On Friday, June 18, our boys opened the tournament with a match against Little Rock Rangers Academy out of Arkansas. Needing to start well, the boys came out firing on all cylinders as they scored 3 goals across the 80 minutes and barely even conceded a shot to the group from Arkansas. With the first 3 points under their belt, the second day was to be a tight and intense affair for a place in the quarter finals as both Lobos Premier and our boys had won their opening match. In what turned out to be a very physical battle, the team from Memphis really pushed our 06Bs, but we stood strong, looking for our second consecutive clean sheet. With an organized back four of Brady Price, Diego Guillen, Nyckolas Waits, and Luis Guillen, it was extremely difficult see the Lobos team scoring. With just a single goal, Storm’s 06B Premier sealed a 1-0 victory to lock at least a second-place finish in the group. The final group stage matchday saw the team play Mcallen Lobos from South Texas in what was a very high scoring affair. In a back-and-forth match with both teams displaying their attacking talent, goals from Wyatt Mathis-Kline and the Storm front 3 came up just short in a 3-4 loss as they began looking ahead to their quarterfinal matchup.

Soldier On

With no rest for the weary, the squad suited back up on Monday, June 21 to play Baton Rouge SC from Louisiana, who had gone through as the Group A winners. In a very organized and defensive struggle, neither team was able to create much on goal, but Storm’s combination of Isaac Cruz, Baden Derringer, and Oscar Serna were wearing the Louisiana team down as the match approached extra time. As legs grew fatigued, it was the most important of set pieces that sent our boys through to the semi-finals after goalkeeper Jon Smith had kept his 3rd clean sheet in 4 matches. With the semi-final set against Miami Breakers, a very talented group of from south Florida, it was time for the rest day. On Tuesday, Storm’s staff with Head Coach Sasan Lak and assistant coach Bill Rucker (III) planned a recovery session and quick team meeting to get everyone focused for the match ahead. Playing its 5th match in 6 days against a class opponent, Storm started the match well, but they were quickly pinned back by an attacking Breakers team that sent many numbers forward with both outside backs forcing Storm deeper into its half.

With 2 high-class finishes, Breakers took a 2-0 lead in the opening 15-minute salvo. After a few tactical maneuvers, Storm created a quick chance for Wyatt MathisKline who had his attempt saved by the goalkeeper down to his right. As halftime was approaching, Breakers would add a third goal after a neat overlap and cross. The second half saw the Storm boys give their best effort to get back into the match, but the legs had nothing left to give with the Breakers adding a 4th goal, ending Storm’s run with a 0-4 loss. The Breakers would go on to win the Regional Championship the following day and finish 3rd place at Nationals in July.

It was an historic run for Storm’s Youth Academy who had made it to the semi-finals in its first attempt at the Southern Regional Championships, having had its 2020 qualification voided by COVID-19, which had cancelled that edition of the event. It was Storm’s 2nd team at the Southern Regional Championships where 2 years earlier, Coach Bill Rucker (III) had taken our 04B Premier team to Baton Rouge to compete, so he had experience to help the run-in to the semi-final with the 06B. Storm’s Technical Director and 06B Premier Head Coach, Sasan Lak had this to say of the run, “In the 6 years that Storm has existed, this was a showing of where we have come and where we are going with our Youth Academy program. It was very unfortunate that the 2020 Regionals had been cancelled, so this was our chance to go for it. Our team played very hard to make it this far where we played a quality team in the Breakers and we just came up a bit short. We will be back next year and we aim at winning it.”

Looking forward to 2022, the Southern Regional Championships will take place June 24 to June 30 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Storm is excited as we have two teams qualified for the event with our 06B Premier returning after their terrific run in 2021 on the back of winning Georgia State Cup and likely winning Piedmont Conference. They have one match remaining and simply need a loss by less than 6 goals to MOBA to win the Piedmont Conference for a third year running. Joining the 06B Premier will be our 04G Premier, led by Coach Caryn. They had a class performance at Georgia State Cup with their two wins in the semi-finals over MOBA 4-0 and the finals over Impact Elite 4-0. Both groups are excited to travel to Tennessee in June. Preparations and training will resume after high school seasons for these groups of players in May.