Elite soccer advances to State Cup final
Bowie-based U-17 team turns back Dragons in tournament semifinal
The Freestate Elite U-17 boys' soccer team advanced to the Maryland State Cup Final with two victories last weekend.
Elite notched a 4-1 win against Soccer Association of Columbia Premier in the quarterfinals Saturday and beat the Freestate Dragons, 3-1, in the semifinals Sunday at the Harford County Polo Grounds in Jarrettsville.
Both the Dragons and Elite represent Bowie-based Freestate soccer and Sunday's matchup was the first non-scrimmage game between the two teams. Elite is the defending State Cup champion.
"It was a good two games for us," said Elite coach Steve Campbell. "We played strong and looked good out there."
Bowie High School junior Brian Graham, the Gazette-Star Boys Soccer Player of the Year last fall, scored in both games for Elite. Jasmin Mobaidin (University Park) also scored against SAC Premier, while Julian Griggs netted a pair of goals. Jereme Raley added two goals against the Dragons.
The Dragons reached the semifinals with a 6-2 victory against the Thunder Creek Football Rebels. It was the highest one-game goal total for any team in the tournament, matched only by the Elite's six-goal outburst against the Westminster Wolves in the opening round.
Patrick Thornton, Max Allegro, Jason Carcamo, Nick Mattox, Joey Gorirossi and Kevin Fitch scored for the Dragons, who led 2-0 at halftime en route to the convincing win. Gorirossi and Allegro both attend Bishop McNamara and Thornton goes to Bowie.
Elite will now have a month to prepare for the May 30 championship game against Pachucha Futbol Club, which beat the MSC Scorpions, 5-0, before knocking off FC Frederick, 2-1, in the semifinals. Campbell said the final will be a tough matchup for his team, which lost to Pachucha in Premier League play this season.
"We want to try to get the guys healthy and train hard [in preparation for the final]," said Campbell.
E-mail Adam Rubenstein at arubenstein@gazette.net.