FC United Premier White
U18 topples Celtic Select
Celtic lacking finishing touches in 5-2 loss
By Patrick Z. McGavin
PALATINE — The play's the thing. At the best levels of club play, the result is not differentiating the better side. It is rather about optimizing your opportunities.
"The beauty of the game is that you can outplay the other team, and it doesn't matter," FC United Premier White coach Sean Palacios said. "It's whoever takes care of their opportunities and whoever capitalizes."
In the U18 bracket of the Celtic Cup on Sunday morning, Celtic Select sought its own brand of vindication. For most of the first half, they were the more energetic and creative side. The sequencing was there except for the final touch.
To that end, FC United Premier White's Kathleen Fuller was the most dynamic player on the field.
The forward broke open a scoreless game with a late first half score and set a dominant tone with another goal at the start of the second half that pushed the Premier White side to the convincing 5-2 victory at Palatine High School.
Celtic Select finished 1-2 in pool play. Forward Halle Tyska and midfielder Katie Murauskis gave Celtic some life with second half goals, but it came too late for a side that fell behind 4-0 midway through the second half.
Celtic played admirably and with aggression for much of the first half. Mora Farruggia posted two shots on goal, both off balls slotted to her by midfielder Jenna Simois. The early stalemate played to FC United's advantage.
Fuller took over in the 24th minute.
"[Forward] Anna Holton found a gap through the defense, and I ran around them and I took it to the goal," she said.
The sophomore at Loyola Academy finished the strong move with a one-touch blast from about 12 yards out that streaked inside the near post for the only scoring of the first half.
Just a goal down, Celtic showed skill and a consistent forward attack. But the lack of a finishing touch came back to haunt them.
"We had a lot of good looks," Simois said. "At the end of the day we didn't finish some of them in the first half."
That failure proved decisive at the start of the second half.
Fuller, the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match, executed a spectacular individual move, faking with her right foot, freezing the defender and then drilling a left-footed ball for the second goal less than two minutes into the second half.
"I saw a chance to play it back to Anna, but then I also saw the opportunity to take it to the goal," she said. "I was going to take it with my right foot, but I saw the defender there so I just cut it to my left and got the open shot."
Fuller's early brilliance compounded the frustration for Celtic.
"I think we always start off trying to play soccer," Celtic U18 coach Brian Colicchia said. "I think sometimes when the goals don't go for us, and we want to be winning and feel like we haven't finished the chances we had, we sometimes let that get us down."
The game was played in a ferocious heat. Celtic, with only two available substitutes, had to play most of its players the entire game.
"We were trying our hardest," Tyska said.
Fatigue and FC United's ability to possess and spread Celtic out or generate set pieces only widened the gap between the two programs.
Midfielder Cassie Young scored a header off a free kick by Madison Ramsey for the 3-0 lead. Alexi Owen and Grace Paul also recorded goals for FC United.
"I thought we did a really good job of connecting up top," Palacios said. "They connected up top and allowed their skill and play to showcase those talents. We also didn't make any mistakes in the back. The backline was very solid in recovering even when we did get beat, and we forced them to hit a difficult shot or tough cross in."
Celtic showed its resolve and resilience by punching in the two goals in the second half. Both developed off set pieces with Tyska smashing in a header and Murauskis following suit. It proved a strong finish to an encouraging opening week of play.
"I liked the effort," Colicchia said. "We've always been known for grinding it out. This was our third game in the heat, and it was nice to see we were not giving up. We had a bunch of players who played the entire game and also the whole weekend. I thought we calmed down in the second half, and we moved the ball and finished the chances we had."
That driving spirit and tenacity colored the team's optimistic attitude going forward after the first games of the new season.
"I was really proud of how we came back," Simois said. "I don't think we've ever been a team that has given up when we get down. That first goal they scored, it was hard to try and come back but we pulled through at the end."
Simois demonstrated creativity and ability to generate offense off the dribble. Farruggia was very active. Tyska and Murauskis showed an improved finishing touch in the second half. The larger imperatives of gaining in-game experience is only going to pay dividends.
The process is in place for the team to refine and develop its abilities.
"I thought they played very well for our first three games of the year," Colicchia said. "I think we'll continue to build from there. We're playing a new formation. We're playing with some new players. We lost a couple of players to career-ending injuries, and we are adjusting to that.
"We still have the core of the group together, and I think the rest of the year we will go very well together. We learned a lot from this tournament."
Starting lineups
FC United Premier White
GK: Ella Harris
D: Grace Paul
D: Cara Geoghegan
D: Hadley Seymour
D: Julia Parker
M: Cassie Young
M: Arianna Javaras
M: Morgan Ford
F: Kathleen Fuller
F: Anna Holton
F: Molly Tessier
Celtic Select
GK: Francesca Falato
D: Julia Clarke
D: Nicole Gary
D: Allison Rzepka
D: Madeline Scharm
M: Dayna Duffy
M: Kellie Halloran
M: Katie Murauskis
M: Jenna Simios
F: Halle Tyska
F: Cora Jacobsen
MVP of the Match: Kathleen Fuller, F, FC United Premier White
U18 topples Celtic Select
Celtic lacking finishing touches in 5-2 loss
By Patrick Z. McGavin
PALATINE — The play's the thing. At the best levels of club play, the result is not differentiating the better side. It is rather about optimizing your opportunities.
"The beauty of the game is that you can outplay the other team, and it doesn't matter," FC United Premier White coach Sean Palacios said. "It's whoever takes care of their opportunities and whoever capitalizes."
In the U18 bracket of the Celtic Cup on Sunday morning, Celtic Select sought its own brand of vindication. For most of the first half, they were the more energetic and creative side. The sequencing was there except for the final touch.
To that end, FC United Premier White's Kathleen Fuller was the most dynamic player on the field.
The forward broke open a scoreless game with a late first half score and set a dominant tone with another goal at the start of the second half that pushed the Premier White side to the convincing 5-2 victory at Palatine High School.
Celtic Select finished 1-2 in pool play. Forward Halle Tyska and midfielder Katie Murauskis gave Celtic some life with second half goals, but it came too late for a side that fell behind 4-0 midway through the second half.
Celtic played admirably and with aggression for much of the first half. Mora Farruggia posted two shots on goal, both off balls slotted to her by midfielder Jenna Simois. The early stalemate played to FC United's advantage.
Fuller took over in the 24th minute.
"[Forward] Anna Holton found a gap through the defense, and I ran around them and I took it to the goal," she said.
The sophomore at Loyola Academy finished the strong move with a one-touch blast from about 12 yards out that streaked inside the near post for the only scoring of the first half.
Just a goal down, Celtic showed skill and a consistent forward attack. But the lack of a finishing touch came back to haunt them.
"We had a lot of good looks," Simois said. "At the end of the day we didn't finish some of them in the first half."
That failure proved decisive at the start of the second half.
Fuller, the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match, executed a spectacular individual move, faking with her right foot, freezing the defender and then drilling a left-footed ball for the second goal less than two minutes into the second half.
"I saw a chance to play it back to Anna, but then I also saw the opportunity to take it to the goal," she said. "I was going to take it with my right foot, but I saw the defender there so I just cut it to my left and got the open shot."
Fuller's early brilliance compounded the frustration for Celtic.
"I think we always start off trying to play soccer," Celtic U18 coach Brian Colicchia said. "I think sometimes when the goals don't go for us, and we want to be winning and feel like we haven't finished the chances we had, we sometimes let that get us down."
The game was played in a ferocious heat. Celtic, with only two available substitutes, had to play most of its players the entire game.
"We were trying our hardest," Tyska said.
Fatigue and FC United's ability to possess and spread Celtic out or generate set pieces only widened the gap between the two programs.
Midfielder Cassie Young scored a header off a free kick by Madison Ramsey for the 3-0 lead. Alexi Owen and Grace Paul also recorded goals for FC United.
"I thought we did a really good job of connecting up top," Palacios said. "They connected up top and allowed their skill and play to showcase those talents. We also didn't make any mistakes in the back. The backline was very solid in recovering even when we did get beat, and we forced them to hit a difficult shot or tough cross in."
Celtic showed its resolve and resilience by punching in the two goals in the second half. Both developed off set pieces with Tyska smashing in a header and Murauskis following suit. It proved a strong finish to an encouraging opening week of play.
"I liked the effort," Colicchia said. "We've always been known for grinding it out. This was our third game in the heat, and it was nice to see we were not giving up. We had a bunch of players who played the entire game and also the whole weekend. I thought we calmed down in the second half, and we moved the ball and finished the chances we had."
That driving spirit and tenacity colored the team's optimistic attitude going forward after the first games of the new season.
"I was really proud of how we came back," Simois said. "I don't think we've ever been a team that has given up when we get down. That first goal they scored, it was hard to try and come back but we pulled through at the end."
Simois demonstrated creativity and ability to generate offense off the dribble. Farruggia was very active. Tyska and Murauskis showed an improved finishing touch in the second half. The larger imperatives of gaining in-game experience is only going to pay dividends.
The process is in place for the team to refine and develop its abilities.
"I thought they played very well for our first three games of the year," Colicchia said. "I think we'll continue to build from there. We're playing a new formation. We're playing with some new players. We lost a couple of players to career-ending injuries, and we are adjusting to that.
"We still have the core of the group together, and I think the rest of the year we will go very well together. We learned a lot from this tournament."
Starting lineups
FC United Premier White
GK: Ella Harris
D: Grace Paul
D: Cara Geoghegan
D: Hadley Seymour
D: Julia Parker
M: Cassie Young
M: Arianna Javaras
M: Morgan Ford
F: Kathleen Fuller
F: Anna Holton
F: Molly Tessier
Celtic Select
GK: Francesca Falato
D: Julia Clarke
D: Nicole Gary
D: Allison Rzepka
D: Madeline Scharm
M: Dayna Duffy
M: Kellie Halloran
M: Katie Murauskis
M: Jenna Simios
F: Halle Tyska
F: Cora Jacobsen
MVP of the Match: Kathleen Fuller, F, FC United Premier White