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Virginia Beach, VA -- The Chicago Fire opened on the attack early and finished the game off late in their 2-1 victory over the Toronto Lynx in the Super-20 North American Finals. 

The Fire wasted no time in putting their stamp on the match and thought they found the first goal in just the 2nd minute. Then Toronto’s Chris Mitchell, stationed on the front right post reacted brilliantly and headed away a sure goal. Ten minutes later the complexion of the match changed for good as Mitchell was sent off with a red card following an altercation on the left flank. The Fire used the one man advantage, and a brilliant diving header from Matt Eliason to get that early, 1-0 lead.

But the resilient Lynx, who have been down a goal in two matches already this weekend, would not go silently. After they regrouped at the half, Toronto managed to press Chicago, and a brilliant individual effort from a phenomenal athlete, Jordan Webb, put them right back in the match, 1-1.

“Sherif [El-Masri] played a great ball in for me,” said Webb after the match. “The cross came in and I just beat the defender to the ball and headed it past the goalie.”

But while the first Canadian side to appear in the Super-20 League North American Finals could overcome insurmountable odds, they could not overcome the Chicago Fire. In the 81st minute Chris Cutshaw’s bent corner kick was won in the area, again by Eliason, and the ball traveled the length of the goalmouth before setting into the back post netting for the 2-1 win.

“We were lead all season by our co-captains, Mark Blades and Robert Younger,” said Chicago Fire Head Coach Larry Sunderland, who named the duo 2008 Super-20 League Co-MVP’s following the match. “Their leadership qualities really complement one another. Younger is a center back, harder on the guys and more vocal where Mark leads by example.”

The championship victory vindicated the Fire, as it was the only step they missed last season, falling to Player Development Academy 3-1.

“As I said yesterday, Brock Tomlinson is absolutely huge for us in goal,” added Sunderland. “But Mike Stephens, our attacking center mid, was tremendous all tournament.”

Following the first goal the match stalled a bit – a game between a team with ten men and a team content with a one goal lead. But the Lynx were also understandably flustered and surrendering uncharacteristic scoring opportunities. The match would have easily been out of reach by the half if not for the play of Lynx goalkeeper Brendan Heembrock. He made the biggest save of the day with his body, sliding out to his right to deny a very open forward who did all he could to beat the man with the gloves. But Heembrock was too steady and deflected the well-struck ball upwards into the crossbar and out of play.

After Toronto’s goal, the momentum did shift back in favor of Chicago around the 65th minute mark. But after 15 tough minutes of well-organized defending and counter attacking from the Lynx, it looked as if the defenses would hold through full time. Then came Eliason’s game-winner, the first thing Toronto could not recover from all weekend. Including stoppage time, the match was over 13 minutes later, crowning Chicago the best Under-20 side in the United States and Canada.
 

  Virginia Beach, VA -- Tonight’s side-by-side men’s semi finals between the Chicago Fire and D.C. United and the Toronto Lynx and Real Maryland FC yielded two winners by different results with a lot in common. For the first time in the three-year history of United Soccer Leagues Super-20 League North American Finals opponents from the same division – the Midwest, will square off in the final match of the Super-20 League season.

Close throughout, the Chicago Fire netted goals in the 5th, 68th and 70th minute to eliminate D.C. United. Across the way, the Toronto Lynx’s Christopher McBride found the back of the net in the first half to lead the Lynx into the final over Real Maryland, 1-0.

The match between the MLS development academies started with a bang. From the back, goalkeeper Brock Tomlinson forwarded a ball that was chipped in by teammate Mike Stephens. Frontrunner Chris Cutshaw brought down the pass, found an opening, and got off a shot lined at the back post. D.C. United goalkeeper Justin Epperson did well to get to the shot, but struggled in controlling it and the shot trickled into the empty net for an early 1-0 lead.

About 20 minutes of ultra-intense play between the four organized sides followed, but neither match produced any legitimate scoring threats until Toronto’s McBride began his run at the front post.
“We had just taken off the holding midfielder,” began McBride, describing his game winning goal. “I was supporting the two forwards from my midfielder position when I saw Anthony Doran with the ball out wide. I ran towards the front post and he played a great ball into my feet. I noticed the keeper was charging the front post so I flicked it towards the back post.”

McBride’s flick spun backwards into the net, over Real Maryland goalkeeper Oscar Alvarenga for the 1-0 lead.

Unaware of anything besides what was happening in their match, D.C. United’s best two chances of the night came and went thanks to Chicago’s Tomlinson, who made two saves on two, very good looks on goal.

“All year I thought Tomlinson was the best Under-20 keeper around,” said Chicago Fire Technical Director Larry Sunderland. “He does exactly what you need him to, he will make the huge saves that keep you in a game and he will stand in there and collect all the routine saves as well.”

Tomlinson’s efforts kept the score 1-0, headed into half time on both fields. Both D.C United and Real Maryland needed to press for the equalizer heading into the second frame, but it was the Fire and the Lynx that started the period on the attack.
Beating on Epperson’s goal, the Fire deserved to score but was denied twice by the goalkeeper, who kept his side within striking distance.

D.C. United slowly began to return to form nearing the 50th minute. Their top player, Drew Yates, who spends his autumn playing for the University of Maryland, excelled on the left flank and drew two useful corner kick attempts that were ushered away by Fire defenders.

On the second field, Toronto was relentless in their search for an insurance goal. They had several chances to convert, but could not put Real away for good. It became increasingly apparent that if Real was coming back, it would have to be via counterattack.

D.C. United began bolstering their attack with offensive-minded substitutions nearing the 65th minute but everything D.C. threw at net was being gobbled up by Tomlinson. The building pressure was relieved in the waning minutes when Cutshaw picked out teammate Matt Eliason alone in front of goal. Epperson did his best to save the day, but Eliason simply waited on the exposed goalkeeper to make his move before sliding a pass under Epperson for a 2-0 lead.

Chicago added a third goal two minutes later when Eliason found Josh Thiermann on a breakaway to Epperson’s left. D.C. United’s defense was unable to recover and Thiermann sent a ball to the back post that got the best of Epperson.   The late minutes were a bit more dramatic for Real, who was pressing hard against an organized Toronto backline. Despite a quality effort to even the score late, Toronto was too study and advanced, 1-0 over Real Maryland.

“Real was a good team,” said McBride after the game. “They were different than the teams we played earlier in this competition. Where Red Bull New York and H.C. United was very physical, Real was speedy and very direct.”

The two Midwest Division opponents square off tomorrow at noon directly following the women’s final between Triangle FC and Parsippany SC set for 10 AM EST.

“USL has done a good job with the Midwest Division,” said Sunderland following the match. “Cincinnati was added to the league this year and they nearly edged D.C. United to get into the semifinals. I believe the division will continue to get strong in coming years.”  "Toronto is a good, solid club,” added Sunderland. “Tomorrow should be very interesting.”
  

Virginia Beach, VA -- United Soccer Leagues 2008 Super-20 League North American Finals kicked off here today with one of the biggest matchups of the three day group play stage between the Toronto Lynx of the league’s Midwest Division and Red Bull New York of the Mid Atlantic Division. As two of the most successful Super-20 League clubs in the three-year history of the league, the teams were bound to run into one another at some point, but neither club wanted it to be this early.

A goal did come early for the Red Bulls, who pulled ahead 1-0, thanks to a free-kick goal by Mathew Kassel. But two huge second half saves by soon-to-be Premier Development League Goalkeeper Brandon Heembrock ignited a Toronto offense led by Sherif El-Masri’s two goal performance and the Lynx downed one of the most touted U-20 teams in North America, 2-1.

“This makes the 17-hour bus ride yesterday completely worth it,” said Toronto Lynx Head Coach Duncan Wilde. “Coming in, we knew they would be quick and very talented. We came out in the first half in a 4-5-1 to try and hold them. They got that quick goal, but the first half was fairly even after that. Then in the second, I think they just lost their legs and we put two away.”

Coming into this match the story was the offseason, which had been kinder to Red Bull New York than it was Toronto. While the Red Bulls retained the majority of their 2007 Super-20 Semifinal squad that fell to the Chicago Fire, 1-0 last season, Toronto had to rebuild a team that fell in the other 2007 semifinal to Player Development Academy (PDA) in penalties. The silver lining for the Lynx was the fact that their youth development program was producing benefits for the club’s Premier Development League team, who qualified for the playoffs for the first time in several seasons.

One of the biggest players the Lynx had to replace was goalkeeper Nils Binstock, who made multiple highlight-reel saves to prolong the aforementioned PDA/Toronto semifinal match last season. In Heembrock, Wilde hit the goalkeeper jackpot two years in a row.

“He had a brilliant game,” said Wilde. “A lot of times you cannot find good goalkeepers, but we have been fortunate. Nils had a great year for us at the PDL level this season. With him heading to Europe to play, I am fully prepared to give Brandon a shot to follow in his footsteps next year.”

After his performance today, Wilde might not be the only coach offering Heembrock a shot.  His most defining moment came in the early minutes of the second half with Red Bull pressing hard and earning a corner. Heembrock aligned his troops to their man marks and prepared himself to defend his goal when the well-placed free kick was nodded down, but not out of the area. An onrushing Red Bull midfielder caught the ball on a volley and skillfully drove it high to the near post but, in a crowd of people, Heembrock went horizontal and ushered the sure-goal aside.
“I just threw myself at it,” said Heembrock, who plays his college ball with Dominican College. “It was a volley, hit well, and I barely saw it through a bunch of bodies but I just reacted and came up big.”

The shift in momentum following the save was noticeable and Toronto took advantage when John Costa played a long cross from the right touchline to opposite winger Jordan Webb. Webb took himself out of the play to get up for the cross, but managed to knock in back into the path of El-Masri, who was locked in a footrace with a Red Bull defender and a charging Red Bull goalkeeper, Brendan Dunn. El-Masri outran both and a simple touch to the back post leveled the affair at one goal apiece.

Red Bull did not flinch and was back on the offensive moments later but Heembrock was nice enough to replicate his first save for those who missed it, denying yet another well-orchestrated Red Bull attack.

The play began on New York’s left flank where Dilly Duka launched a cross into a mob of players nearing the penalty spot. Matt Uy out leapt everybody, drilling a shot to the same upper-90 Red Bull had tried earlier, but the shot was again deflected wide for a corner that New York could not convert.

As with the first save, Heembrock’s second began an attack, and again, El-Masri was there to convert. “Konner [McNamara] played a through ball to my feet that crossed-up a defender,” said El-Masri. “It opened up a lane for me and I just finished to the far post.”

The remainder of the match saw Red Bull’s once confident and organized attack shift into crisis mode. Their goalkeeper, Brendan Dunn, had their best scoring opportunity when he got on the end of a free kick attempt from midfield and chipped it just high of the crossbar. But Heembrock was still in good position to make a third game-saving stop.

“I really hope to follow Nils [Binstock] lead next year,” said Heembrock after the match. “I was his backup in the PDL this season. He and I trained together a lot and he helped me out with tips here and there. My ambition is to finish college and do well enough in the PDL to get a shot at playing in Europe. Injuries can come at any time though, so getting that education to fall back on is important to me.”