big weekend at manhattan soccer club Sports
Manhattan Soccer Club teams competed at Massapequa Winter College Showcase tournament last weekend, featuring Boys groups of U14 division players through to U19. Manhattan Villa (Boys U15), coached by the club’s director of coaching, Ray Selvadurai, captured the top bracket tournament title at Massapequa, defeating their two division opponents to win the division and then defeating the Levittown Rage in the semifinals, 3-1, before beating highly talented BW Gottschee, 2-1, in the title match. The title match featured two local and highly ranked teams by Gotsoccer, the preeminent youth soccer organization in the country. BW Gottschee is currently ranked third in the State and 10th in the USA by Gotsoccer and Manhattan Villa is ranked second in the state and seventh in the USA.
In other brackets, Boys U17 Manhattan Chelsea, coached by Orlando Osorio, competed well and finished divisional competition with two wins and a loss, to be part of a three-way tie for the division lead, but the tie-breaker rules dropped them out of first place and they failed to advance to the playoffs.
Manhattan Cruzeiro (Boys U17), coached by Wilson Egidio, struggled at the tournament, finishing division competition with two losses and a draw. Cruzeiro is the defending state champions from 2013-14, and a two-time state title holder. Cruzeiro is currently ranked second in the state and twelfth in the USA by Gotsoccer.
Other participants included Manhattan 96 Premier (Boys U19), coached by Freddy Fuentes, and Manhattan 98 Premier (Boys U16), coached by John Lathan. 96 Premier finished division competition with a win, a tie, and a loss, and 98 Premier finished with two draws and a loss. 98 Premier is currently ranked seventh in the State and 74th in the USA by Gotsoccer.