Skip To Main Content
Teams celebrate after winning the ECNL Boys National Championship

ECNL Boys

ECNL BOYS NATIONAL FINALS RECAP: DAY 3

The ECNL Boys National Championship matches did not disappoint in a thrilling day of the best soccer competition the U.S. has to offer. Five champions were crowned across age groups, with everything one could hope for from the games. Physicality, comebacks and world-class goals are what defined this year's finals. 

Catch up on all the action below and celebrate the new national champions. 

U17 National Champions - Utah Avalanche 

The oldest age group featured a legendary come-from-behind win as the Utah Avalanche overcame a multiple-goal deficit to beat Solar SC Academy in the championship match. 

Just four minutes into the match, Solar SC struck first with a low driven shot from Mario Dominguez, immediately setting the tone for the rest of the game. 

Utah kept moving up the field, but they were unable to finish any of the chances provided to them. Time and time again, they found themselves in the final third with nothing to show for it. 

Despite not holding much of the possession, Solar SC scored the second of the match with a moment of individual brilliance from Jad Shehadeh. After receiving a pass, Shehadeh fired a long shot from outside the box that found the top corner and doubled Solar SC's lead in the 63rd minute. 

Now down multiple goals, the Avalanche kept pressing forward despite the deficit, eventually finding the net in the 78th minute from a long shot by Alex Medel Hernandez. Medel Hernandez equalized it only three minutes later from the penalty spot after his teammate was fouled in the box. 

Not satisfied with just equalizing and with the championship in their sights, Utah used all their momentum and pressed on, searching for a winner. 

With all of this season's efforts on the line and the weight of the world on his shoulders, Medel Hernandez sprinted past his defender and put it past the keeper in the 87th minute for the win and the hat trick. 

A stoppage time goal from the Avalanche's Wyatt Affleck added the cherry on top, clinching Utah's second ECNL Boys National Championship. For his hat trick heroics,Medel Hernandez was named the Most Outstanding Player. 

U16 National Champions - XF Academy 

XF Academy added another championship to their trophy case with an electric 4-1 win over Concorde Fire Platinum in the U16 Final. 

The opening minutes demonstrated how the rest of the game would play out. XF Academy got the first few chances on goal with some dangerous set pieces, but Concorde Fire Platinum was just as quick to move down the field and apply pressure on the XF Academy defense. 

Neither team was able to get the better of the other for the first 30 minutes as each took turns in the other's final thirds. 

XF Academy started pushing further up with purpose, and eventually their efforts paid off. A long ball from their side of the field from Kai Jewett landed right at the feet of Rivaldo Rico Mora, who chipped it over the keeper's head for the opener. 

Concorde did not let up easily though, coming out of halftime desperately searching for an equalizer. They spent the first chunk of the second peppering the XF Academy defense and goalkeeper. 

However, despite their efforts, XF Academy capitalized on Concorde's forward numbers with a counterattack. Thomas Chang was in the right place at the right time as he poached a deflection into the back of the net in the 57th minute. 

Chang would then find himself at the penalty spot less than seven minutes later after his teammate was brought down in the box. He coolly converted, putting XF Academy up 3-0. 

Concorde still would not relent, as they quickly responded with a curled shot from outside the box into the top corner from Jonathan Batres-Gutierrez to bring it within two in the 67th minute. 

However, XF Academy's Rico Mora put the stamp on the game with a solo run where he rounded the keeper and scored to extend the lead 4-1, earning XF Academy its trophy. 

Rico Mora was announced as the U16 National Championship Most Outstanding Player after the win.

U15 National Champions - Real Colorado Academy 

Real Colorado Academy slugged through a slow start to become the U15 Champions with a win against SDSC Surf. 

Colorado opened the game stringing together passes across the field and pushing into the final third. They consistently found themselves right outside the box, but goal scoring chances were few and far between. 

SDSC Surf operated on the counter-attack, moving rapidly up the field as a unit and getting shots on target despite their lack of possession. 

Neither team could break the tie as the first half came to an end, with Real Colorado holding more of the momentum going into the break. 

Real Colorado came out of halftime with the same possession-focused attack as Surf continued on the counter. Both teams looked prime to grab the first goal of the match at any given moment. 

The moment finally came for Real Colorado midway through the second half when Sir Rucks found himself at the end of a cross, finishing the pass after a game full of chances.. 

From there Colorado played defensively and continued to hold possession until the final whistle, winning 1-0 and earning Real Colorado its first ECNL Boys Championship in its first season of play in the league. 

U14 National Champions - LAFC So Cal

The U14 championship was a grueling, physical competition with constant action from start to finish. LAFC So Cal came out on top, completing an amazing turnaround from last season where the team only won five games.  

LAFC So Cal and OK Energy FC played an even first half with little to separate the two sides as both teams created scoring chances. 

OK Energy FC gained the upper hand after a red card put LAFC So Cal down to 10 men with a sizable chunk of the second half still remaining. It did not take long for OK Energy to capitalize, as Jhase Ladd scored the opener from inside the box halfway through the second frame. 

OK Energy continued to press, but LAFC So Cal showed they were clinical on the counter. With less than five minutes to play, a scramble in the box landed at the feet of LAFC So Cal's Jake Stangl, who buried his shot, tying the game at 1-1. 

The game looked set for extra time as the final minutes ticked on. LAFC So Cal did not relent, however, as Sergio Vivar took the ball from outside the box and fired a shot on goal, scoring a late winner in the dying embers of the match, earning the 2-1 victory. 

From there, LAFC So Cal held out for the last few minutes, winning the championship with the odds stacked against them. 

U13 National Champions - XF Academy 

XF Academy showed up and showed out in the youngest age bracket with an emphatic championship win over SDSC Surf, earning the club's second consecutive U13 National Championship. 

The first few minutes were back-and-forth, but XF Academy began controlling the game, creating multiple scoring chances in the opening 10 minutes. Eventually they broke through, with a mishandled ball from the Surf goalkeeper falling to the feet of a XF Academy attacker who tapped it in. 

From there, it was all XF Academy. They would go on to score two more goals within five minutes of each other, but near the end of the first half, SDSC Surf got on the board, cutting their lead to 3-1.  

XF Academy did not let off the gas, scoring two more quick goals right out of halftime, again within only minutes of each other. Surf traded goals with them late, but XF Academy never let up and won 6-2. 

For a full look at the ECNL Boys National Finals, including scores, schedules and more, click here
Print Friendly Version