ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH: Members of the Princeton FC United ’09 U-16 boys’ soccer squad display the trophy and medals they earned for winning the National Premier Leagues (NPL) U-16 Black Division national title earlier this month in Denver, Colo. United battled Gateway Rush to a scoreless draw through regulation and extra time in the final on July 14 before prevailing 3-0 on penalty kicks to win the national title. The squad includes Raphael Borentain (Princeton High), Michael Caceres (Princeton), Cesar Carrera (Princeton), Lalit Adithya (South Brunswick High), Simon Danos (Princeton), David Gajewski (Princeton Day School), Michael Habingreither (Florence High), Macintyre Jerdonek (Montgomery High), Jason Lee (Montgomery), Daniel Ludewig (Princeton), Rayyaan Mohiuddin (Princeton), Anthony Morales (Princeton), Vivaan Ravindran (Pennington School), Nicolas Savard (Montgomery), Griffin Short (Princeton), Ryan Spicer (Montgomery) and Yash Thakur (WW/P-South). It is coached by Hristofor Tsochev. (Photo provided by Princeton FC)
By Bill Alden
It has often been said that defense wins championships and the Princeton FC United ’09 U-16 boys’ soccer squad proved that adage as they won the National Premier Leagues (NPL) U-16 Black Division national title.
In Bracket A group play, United went 1-0-2, posting a 3-0 win over Rush Academy (Va.) and then playing to scoreless draws against Gateway Rush (Ill.) and Gulf Coast United FC (Miss.). In the semis, United edged Sparta Tacoma (Wash.) 1-0 and then battled Gateway Rush to a scoreless draw through regulation and extra time before prevailing 3-0 on penalty kicks to win the national title.
The squad’s stifling defense was spearheaded by goalie Michael Habingreither along with a midfield and back line unit that included Jason Lee, Ryan Spicer, Vivaan Ravindran, Lalit Adithya, Griffin Short, Anthony Morales, Rayyaan Mohiuddin, and Daniel Ludewig.
“Nobody expects you to save everything but he saved every single chance against him,” said United head coach Hristofor Tsochev, who was proud to see his club post five clean sheets on the way to the title. “There were not too many because the defenders in front of him.”
After earning the 1-0 win in the semis on a goal by Raphael Borentain, Tsochev fine-tuned the game plan for the rematch with Gateway Rush in the final.
“We didn’t press them in their half like we usually do,” said Tsochev. “We let them play in front of us, using the width of the field and not letting them have space behind our defense so they couldn’t send long balls to their forwards and have individual penetration through the middle.”
As usual, United executed the defensive blueprint but squandered some scoring chances at the other end, failing to cash in a point blank one-on-one opportunity in the box and a penalty kick.
“In games like this where the teams are equal you are going to have one or two chances and you have to use them,” said Tsochev.
After the foes played to a scoreless stalemate in 20 minutes of extra time, Tsochev was confident that United would come through in the penalty shootout.
“As soon as we finished the extra time, I told the boys, we are here to be champions, we are going to be champions so be sure about this,” said Tsochev. “When we went to penalty shootout, I was 100 percent sure that we were going to win the tournament.”
Once again, goalkeeper Habingreither came up big, saving three penalty kicks by Gateway Rush to hold them scoreless in the shootout. United earned the win as Cesar Carrera and Simon Danos converted their penalty kicks and Macintyre Jerdonek slotted home the clincher.
In the wake of the dramatic victory, the United players enjoyed a raucous postgame celebration.
“I have never seen them so excited, they ran over to Michael and they ran over to the Porto players (the other Princeton FC team at nationals who won the U-17 crown) who were there supporting them,” said Tsochev. “This is the culmination of all of this hard work during the year and being together through everything, an international tournament, state cup winning, and now the nationals. We had two players with siblings who won nationals in previous years for the club and now they are winning the nationals so for them it is a big, big thing.”
Winning the title was a big thing for Tsochev as well. “I count 47 years that I am doing this, starting with my youth career as a player and then my 21-year professional career as a coach,” said Tsochev. “This is my first national title as a player or a coach after 47 years. For me, it is some kind of release. I have always been dreaming about this.”
United’s triumph was also a dream come true for Stoyan Pumpalov, the Princeton FC Executive Director, who started the team and coached it when the players were eight and nine years old.
“This was truly a special day for the Princeton FC community – one we will never forget,” said Pumpalov. “I am incredibly proud of the players, coaches and everyone behind the scenes who helped make it happen. Moments like this remind us why we do what we do.”
Tsochev, for his part, pointed to the squad’s togetherness as a key to its success.
“It is the character of the team, it is not an accident that the name of the team is United,” said Tsochev. “The boys have bonded and their connection is getting stronger. Seeing them in this tournament, I was impressed by how united they are and how they have become more and more bonded with each other. There is a strong connection between them and the families. The group is really, really great.”