MOJO Showcase – The Dangerous Forwards
As many as 35 high school boys teams from several regions of Texas were in action between Thursday and Saturday in the Katy area as 11 different venues in the region hosted the traditional season-opening tournament MOJO Showcase, which was…
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Continue ReadingAs many as 35 high school boys teams from several regions of Texas were in action between Thursday and Saturday in the Katy area as 11 different venues in the region hosted the traditional season-opening tournament MOJO Showcase, which was first played in 2018.
Prep Soccer was in attendance during the first two days of the event and we were able to watch eight different teams compete -Eisenhower, Fort Bend Clements, George Ranch, Memorial, Royal, Shadow Creek, Seven Lakes and Tompkins.
Several prospects stood out in the matches involving these teams and we’re going over each of them during the week. In our final positional article, we’ll take a look at the forwards that made a big offensive impact for their teams:
Koc was one of the most exciting attacking players to watch in the tournament with his very complete skill set. He played primarily on the left for Seven Lakes and was great at progressing the ball with his dribbling but also proved to be an excellent finisher from mid and close range. Koc is very creative and smooth with his movement and scored two goals and registered one assist over the Spartans’ three matches. He also does an excellent job of putting pressure on the defenders and recovering the ball in dangerous spots in the attacking third.
Highlights
Chris McMeans
Chris McMeans
McMeans was the top offensive player in his Clements team and easily one of the best in the entire tournament. He proved to be a striker with excellent mobility and interesting technical resources, who can score in a variety of ways. McMeans is a poacher inside the penalty box, using his positioning and athleticism to be in a good position to score, but is also very capable of playing closer to the sidelines to either get on the end of long passes or get the ball to his feet and attempt to push it forward. He shields the ball well with his body and is also very efficient with either feet.
Ryan Sharma
Ryan Sharma
A winger with endless energy and impressive pace, Sharma caused massive impact on the right side of Tompkins’ offense. He’s very aggressive when dribbling the ball forward and pushes hard to get to the end line and get a cross in to the penalty box. Sharma is also capable of varying his approach, eventually bringing the ball inside and creating space for a fullback to overlap as well. He’s also very good at tracking back and blocking the way of opposing fullbacks.
Hunter Merritt
Hunter Merritt
Merritt showed he’s capable of playing anywhere on Seven Lakes’ front line, providing excellent tactical flexibility to the team. He has the scorer instincts and the physical tools to play up top as a striker, but can also be used wider, where he can help the team create chances. Although he can also play as more of a target striker, Merritt is very mobile and will be frequently seen combining with midfielders and making runs between lines when deployed more centrally. When out wide, he uses his pace and his ability to keep the ball to create issues. He scored once and provided three assists during the MOJO Showcase.
Aldo Celestino
Aldo Celestino
Celestino played taller than his small frame suggests and was an important offensive weapon for his team Royal. Very dynamic and agile, he was really difficult for defenders to deal with because of his nonstop movement around the penalty box and his ability to explore spaces with his runs. Celestino also has an impressive fighting spirit and would do everything in his power to gain possession of the ball and push it upfield. He was extremely valuable for the Falcons with his ability to draw fouls and penalty kicks, especially in the match against Shadow Creek.