Elite Captures District 2 Fall Cup Title

The mighty men of Elite 03 Black played a near flawless four games over the weekend of November 10th & 11th, capturing the CYSA District 2 Tournament Championship at the Morgan Hill Soccer Complex. Elite didn’t allow a single goal through the pool play portion of the tournament, then captured the title with a 7-1 victory over Almaden FC.

The boys opened the weekend with a 5-0 victory over Alpine Strikers MP Blue in a morning affair. They wasted no time jumping on their opponent, and never looked back. Justin W converted on the first shot of the game in just the 2nd minute, slicing a shot across the goal mouth from the right side, before deflecting it off the left post.

Manas converted with a head ball that vaulted past the goal keeper 5 minutes later. Josh made it 3-0 with a goal from the doorstep in the 19th minute, after Luis and Taishi worked the ball out of the right corner and sent a cross through the slot.

Elite padded their lead in the 2nd half, when Ryan deposited a cross off a corner kick. He gathered the ball from 8 feet out and snapped a shot home for the 4-0 lead. Amit capped the scoring in the 27th minute, pounding home a shot after Ryan bounced a scoring chance off the goal keeper.

Justin lays out for a ball

In the afternoon game, the Peninsula Avalanche put up a good fight in the first half of the game, keeping things scoreless heading into the halftime break.

Amit finally cracked the score sheet by firing a shot from the left side that caught the back right corner of the net in the 21st minute.

The Manas show kicked into gear, as the midfielder ripped off three straight goals to wrap up the 4-0 win. He scored from the right side in the 23rd minute, then rang a shot off the right post with a bullet after Justin W bounced a series of chances off the Peninsula goal keeper. Manas earned the hat trick with his third goal in the 36th minute.

Having earned a spot in either the Consolation final or the Championship by virtue of winning but of their Saturday games with shutouts, Elite played on Sunday morning against the Scotts’s Valley Quakes.

Justin H moves the ball forward

Elite earned a spot in the Championship game with hard fought 2-0 win. The game wouldn’t be decided until the 2nd half after both teams clamped down defensively through the first 20 minutes.

Amit provided Elite all the scoring they would need in the 26th minute, after intercepting a short goalie punt, then firing a long shot that a Quakes defender narrowly missed stopping. Manas made it 2-0 three minutes later by gathering a ball at the top of the 18, then snapping a shot inside the right post.

There would be no suspense in the tournament finale. Elite scored early and often against Almaden FC, pounding home 7 goals to capture the first tournament win in team history.

Justin W started things off early by tucking a shot from the right side just inside the left post. He out-raced a defender up the right wing before drawing his shot across the grain, bouncing the ball off the left post for the goal in the 2nd minute.

Nathan navigates past a defender

He added his second goal of the game in the 17th min after Amit sliced a pass diagonally through the box. Justin received the pass outside the 6 with no defender in sight, then lifted a shot to the top right corner of the goal.

Amit made it 3-0 in the 20th minute, chipping home a Justin W cross from the right side. Manas scored a similar goal a minute later, taking another Justin W feed from the right and tapping home Elite’s 4th goal of the game.

The lone blemish on Elite’s weekend came right after halftime, when Almaden found the back of the net off a long free kick.

Celebrating their win

Amit made it 5-1 in the 45th minute, taking a Taishi feed from midfield then ripping a shot under the crossbar to push Elite’s lead back to four goals.

Manas added a 6th goal a minute later after Taishi bounced a shot off the keeper. Manas cleaned up on the doorstep by tapping home the ball.

Taishi converted in the final minute of the game after carrying a ball up the slot before working past two defenders and snapping home a shot from the left post.

Time expired and Elite celebrated by collecting a large trophy and Champions medals.