NCE Soccer’s second Winter Invitational served up a feast of football with forty five teams scoring 408 goals between them!
Hundreds of players from across NCE Soccer Programming converged on the Danbury Sports Dome in Connecticut at the weekend for a 12-hour soccer fest!
Selected players formed teams to represent their region as they competed in respective age groups from 9am until 9pm across four fields.
FSA FC joined the Showcase event as 45Â teams competed for the honours under the stewardship of Division 1, 2 and 3 College coaches.
NCE College Coordinator Evan Brandsdorfer, said: “It was a terrific event with some real quality on show, there is nothing like competitive action to focus the mind.
“These events provide our players with an opportunity to test themselves against players from other regions.
“And for NCE it allows our coaches to consider players that will represent NCE Soccer in Select Squads at international events in England, Italy, Brazil and the Gothia World Cup in Sweden.
“The third Winter Invitational will complete the series, back at the Danbury Superdome, on February 4th and we hope the quality matches that shown this weekend.”
The 2012s kicked off the second Winter Invitational with a bit of a shock – or terrific reaction depending on who you were supporting.
NYC Boys had previously dominated the group phase, winning all three of the games and scoring 13 goals in the process.
One of their victories had included a comprehensive two-nil win over the North Atlantic but they were to rally, and produce a three-one win in Boys 2012 Final against NYC.
NYC Girls finished off the job in the final, securing the Girls 2012 title with a one-nil win against the North Atlantic Girls having topped their group with two wins and a draw whilst the third place play-off produced a nine goal feast with NY Metro winning six-three against New England Girls.
2011
The New England 2011s were very impressive, scoring eight goals and conceding just once as they swept all aside in the group phase before beating NY Metro five-one in the Girls 2011 Final.
NY Metro Boys were equally strong topping their group with two wins and a draw before going onto beat the North Atlantic Boys three-one in the Boys 2011 Final.
2010
The 2010 Boys Final followed a similar pattern to the 2012s, as NY Metro Boys swept all competition aside in the Group games, topping the table with three wins and scoring an impressive 13 goals in the process.
They took on NYC Boys in the final but found themselves on the wrong side of an eight goal thriller, as NYC Boys beat NY Metro Boys five-three in the Boys 2010 Final.
2009 / 10
Five teams battled it out in the 2009 / 2010 Girls event and the competition was fierce and exceptionally close but the North Atlantic pipped their rivals to the title on goal difference.
Three teams, North Atlantic, New England Black and NY Metro finished level on seven points with the 2010 International Select side just a point behind them showing the strength and depth in the 2009/10 age group across NCE Soccer programming.
The NYC Boys managed to avenge their loss to North Atlantic Boys in the group games with a strong three-one win the Boys 2009 Final.
2008
New England Boys topped the Group phase with three straight wins, only conceding a solitary goal and went into the Boys 2008 Final as red hot favourites but clearly, NY Metro hadn’t read the script as they ran out three-one winners in the final, having improved on their score draw Group game.
FSA FC in Connecticut upset the odds to secure the 2008 Girls Final in style, as they produced a stunning five-nil victory over the North Atlantic Girls. The North Atlantic had started as favourites, having topped the grip with three straight wins, though their victory in the group games against FSA FC was by the odd goal in five.
2005 /07
NYC Boys wrapped up the second Winter Invitational with a two-one victory in the Boys 2005 / 07 Final against New England. New England had topped their group with three straight wins in the group but would have recognised the threat posed by NYC having edged them out in the opening fixture by the odd goal in seven.
The Girls 2005 / 07 title was clinched by NCE International Select team who beat NY Metro three-one in the Final, having topped their group with two wins a just one defeat to round off a terrific day of soccer at the Sports Dome.
The third and final Winter Invitational will be hosted at Danbury Sports in Connecticut on Saturday February 4th, 2023.
FSA FC in Connecticut will compete at the Danbury events too, as demand from external teams to participate grows.
* Tryouts to join NCE Soccer Programming will resume in April but players can still register their interest for future programming by clicking this link.
