U10 Boys Win Northstars Cup

The Estudiantes '99 take home the Golden Ball!

This past weekend (6/13) the Saratoga Estudiantes '99 U10 Boy's soccer team took home a Championship Trophy from the Northstars Cup held in Syracuse, NY. Teams participating in the tournament were the Jr. Northstars, CNY United Burn, Liverpool Soccer Academy (LSA) Gunners, Soccer Central, Auburn Avalanche, and the Estudiantes '99.

The team's 1st match would be against the CNY United Burn where they played a beautiful possession game. The team would go on win 3-0 with goals by Justin Klotz, Jesse Godine, and Tommy Pendergrass. Assists came from Godine and Thomas Preece. Menard Bibow earned the shutout in net.

The team would move on to play the LSA Gunners, a stronger club team from the Liverpool area. The team would tie 1-1 with the lone goal for Saratoga coming from Max Schynoll. It was a hard fought back and forth match. Nick Cavotta and Jack Beck played between the pipes keeping the team in the match.

In their remaining preliminary match, the Estudiantes '99 drew the home team, the Jr. Northstars. In a well played game by both sides, the Estudiantes came out on top 2-1 with goals from Godine and Schynoll assisted by Cavotta and David Benson respectively. Menard Bibow had another great match in net.

With a 2-0-1 record, the Saratoga Estudiantes moved into the semifinals. Based on the seeding, the Estudiantes would face the Jr. Northstar squad they had just played. This time it was a 2-0 win for the Estudiantes '99 with goals from Cavotta and Klotz with assists from Schynoll and Beck. Preece kept the shutout in net.

Moving in to the finals, the Estudiantes expected to face Soccer Central, a premier team from the Syracuse area that went 3-0 in their qualifying matches. The LSA Gunners, however, defeated Soccer Central and therefore moved in to the finals. Saratoga came out strong and went up 1-0, controlling the majority of the play. With about one minute remaining, LSA would score the equalizer to send the game into Golden Goal Overtime.

Within 30 seconds after kickoff, Saratoga had a breakway on net but the ball deflected off the upright and out of bounds for a goalkick. Two minutes later, Cavotta took a ball from Preece, took it into the box and neatly slipped it past the keeper for the game and tournament winner.

The boys played very attractive soccer on the day. This was the last official soccer event for the team this season. The Estudiantes '99 end their 2008/09 campaign with an overall record of 30 wins - 7 losses - 12 draws in all competition.