Mt. Olive Cup: Day Two U15 Roundup

On day two of the Mt. Olive Cup, the U15 bracket reached its knockout stages, seeing Fox Soccer Academy Premier U15 RAL Orange take the final in penalties over Fair Play Soccer Select 2010/11. To get there, Fair Play was victorious in the semi-final over Jersey Knights SC 2010 Black. Fox Soccer Academy won the other semi-final 5-3 over STA Mt. Olive while SJYS 2010 Summer Select beat Steel United NJ 2010/11 B in the consolation match. Fair Play in particular had interesting prospects, as they played a mixed age group team and still advanced to the final with flying colors.    After an outstanding display of sheer athleticism and skill on day one, Hughes continued his form into day two. The diminutive winger continued with his creativity, providing cutbacks in the box. He was a constant danger up the left half space and flank, making plenty of well-timed runs in behind, turning those into smooth carries past the defense into finishes. Hughes was able to use either foot on those strikes, opening his hips for a right footed shot with power to the far post missed just wide. With his left, he finished after one of those well-timed runs, using pace to dribble further in behind into a strike with enough quality to spill the save back into play for rebound. His ball-striking/end product for his age and being nearly untouchable cutting inside from wide combine for quite a promising profile.     Fair Play's captain, Oscar, controlled play from midfield, able to spread play wide and through with ease, even making key passes into the final third on multiple occasions, earning a pre-assist once. He has a patience on ball that makes it hard to pressure him and that helps him be a reliable offensive initiator in the buildup. Therefore, he dictates play after linking up with the back line with consistency. Oscar has plenty of pace to carry through midfield, confident on the dribble in spite of pressure. In addition, he is willing and physical into ground duels defensively, but must work on being more precise into tackles and finishing them to regain possession more consistently. He is also an impressive finisher from distance, striking quickly and decisively, having no hesitation to strike with his right foot with lots of power, giving the keeper no chance when he was on target, which was more often than not. Having end product alongside plenty of strong in possession traits makes Oscar one to watch.     Mesa came into the match as a holding midfield option and eventually a player that could fulfill Oscar's role linking play and initiating the attack when the captain was off the field. He created well when breaking lines, although not too ambitious and preferred to retain with simple one touch play that he was reliable in or by spreading play wide, which he was able to do even when having to shrug of physical pressure. Mesa also displayed confidence on his progressive carries and even showed some defensive chops with a timely step into a group duel to win a stand tackle while clearing.     Noah Abreu displayed versatility to operate in multiple midfield roles in this tournament. He proved to be a willing dueler, mainly going into them with anticipation as he was a bit hesitant to contact. His positioning could be better, but he is a high presser, using his notable work rate covering lots of ground on recoveries down the left flank to provide pressure with some relentlessness, although he did lunge into challenges and could get dribbled by. He played pretty far forward when in a wide role, so the work he put in on his recoveries was needed. Abreu also displayed some ability to break lines when playing in central midfield, which was also where he was more successful in duels.     This player was highly skilled on ball and a physical dueler at center back, trialing for Jersey Knights SC. As he was a trialist, his coach was unable to provide his last name. Although off ball his marking struggled, he thrived with his defensive instincts and physicality to get to duels early and win back possession cleanly. Aerially, his stature and strength in comparison to the competition allowed him to be a dominant winner with headers to clear. His strongest traits, though, were in possession. He liked to break lines from the back, but those passes had too much weight at times. Even if he failed on them, he had the mentality to keep trying ambitious passes to initiate attacks. He also mixed in his weaker left foot when breaking lines and was a confident carrier that relied on his athleticism to progress.

On day two of the Mt. Olive Cup, the U15 bracket reached its knockout stages, seeing Fox Soccer Academy Premier U15 RAL Orange take the final in penalties over Fair Play Soccer Select 2010/11. To get there, Fair Play was victorious in the semi-final over Jersey Knights SC 2010 Black. Fox Soccer Academy won the other semi-final 5-3 over STA Mt. Olive while SJYS 2010 Summer Select beat Steel United NJ 2010/11 B in the consolation match. Fair Play in particular had interesting prospects, as they played a mixed age group team and still advanced to the final with flying colors.