BU15 Green Goes to the Finals of the
Needham Mass Memorial Day Tournament

The RJR BU15 Green team took on tough Region 1 competition on Memorial Day weekend at the Needham Invitational Tournament.  The team was placed in the BU15 Premier Division, and the hope was for three days of great weather, good fun and good competition, and the weekend certainly delivered.

Our first opponent was Northport United from NY East .  Led by a hat trick from Andrew May and a nifty goal by Tyler Wood, RJR coasted to a 4-1 romp.  Game 2 against Lighthouse Lightning (PA East)  was a slugfest at the beautiful Thayer Academy turf field.  Lightning scored first, but RJR quickly equalized with a nifty bit of teamwork as Jimmy Koch launched a beautiful cross to a sprinting Tyler Wood for the equalizer.  JP Fauchet's creative work in the box earned the team 3 PK awards, one each converted by May and Chuckie D'Imperio around two Lightning scores.  JP sent the final PK just over the crossbar, leaving the score at 3-3.  With just minutes remaining, Nick Tata fired an unstoppable shot to send RJR a 4-3 victory.

Sunday's game pitted the undefeated Rhinos against similarly undefeated Noreaster Stingers (MA).  After such a big win Saturday the squad came out a bit flat, and a very solid Stingers side defeated our boys 4-0.

Both Noreaster (3-0) and RJR (2-1) advanced to Monday's championship round with RJR drawn against Far Post BU15 (VT).  Far Post won their group 3-0 by an aggregate 12-0 score. RJR’s rallying cry was for their missing team mate Chuckie D’Imperio, who had to miss the finals due to a school commitment. The scoring opened with JP Fauchet slotting in a beautiful goal.  Fauchet also drew two more PKs in the game, bringing his tournament total to an unbelievable 5 PKs earned.  May converted one, and Tyler Wood had his attempt saved brilliantly by the Far Post keeper.  Down 2-0, Far Post scored to draw within a goal, but RJR’s defense led by Andrew Prister, Troy Albrecht, Cory Hyde, and Roger Townsend was up to the task.  GK Alex Johnson turned in a gritty performance, recording several saves despite playing with a separated shoulder suffered in Game 2.  Dennis Ethier's beautiful header in a crowd finished the scoring for RJR and sent them on to the finals against tournament nemesis Noreaster.

The final was a beauty and RJR proved that their previous lopsided loss was a fluke. The RJR attack created numerous chances that were just off the mark with the work of midfielders Casey Chamberlain and Adrian Pelkey, while forwards Mike Natale and Alex Schepler continued their tremendous pressure on the Noreaster defense all game long.  Unfortunately, a 4th minute goal by Noreaster was the only score of the game.   Noreaster coaches were full of compliments to RJR at the closing ceremony as the boys accepted their finalist trophies.  RJR coaches John Spuhler and Paco Corbalan had predicted a fine tournament for the boys, and afterwards the parents all agreed that this was the finest performance by this team in several years.