U19s advance at Regionals

The Wizards Juniors U19 team was the only one of the three Juniors teams at regionals to advance out of the group stage today at Region II regionals in Rockford. The U16 team started out the day with a draw against Team Ohio FC 1-1. So while they finished undefeated at 1-0-2, they were second in the group behind Vardar (who they beat 4-2), who went 2-1. They finished ahead of Team Ohio (1-1-1), and Iowa Soccer Club (0-2-1).

The U17s suffered the first loss by the Juniors at regionals, when they lost 1-0 to FC Barrington of Illinois. The Juniors finished in 3rd place in the group at 1-1-1. Springfield SC won the group at 2-0-1 (Barrington was second at 2-1 and NWI United fourth at 0-3).


The U19 team got the win they needed against United SC 96 Int'l of Kentucky 3-0. They also got some help from the Nebraska team, Arsenal Bluejays, who beat FC Milwaukee Blue 3-0 to hand the Juniors the group with a record of 2-0-1, ahead of the Bluejays (2-1), Milwaukee (1-1-1), and United (0-3). The 19s now play tomorrow, although their opponent is not listed on the website yet.

UPDATE: The U-19's opponent tomorrow at noon in the semifinals will be the Chicago Fire Jrs Red from IL. Arsenal Bluejays, who the Juniors beat in group play also advanced as the wild card. They will play Scott Gallagher of MO in the other semifinal.