January 6, 2008 - On January 5th, 2008, top Eastern-PA Under 9 teams descended upon The Blast Indoor Sports center in York, Pennsylvania to compete in the EPYSA Indoor State Cup Championships. This year, EPYSA’s top flight consisted of ten teams in two brackets. The brackets were packed with top name, highly competitive soccer clubs.

GAME 1: The RATPACK began their quest for the title at 10:54 am against Fishtown AC. It didn’t take long for the RATPACK to establish control of the game, and after 24 minutes of play, the game ended 9:3, RATPACK.

GAME 2: RATPACK’s next challenge began at 12:15 pm against powerhouse West Chester United SC. As expected, both WSU Predators and LMSC RATPACK delivered outstanding performances. Throughout most of the 24 minutes of play, the score remained close, RATPACK up only one goal. In the final minutes of play, the RATPACK managed to assemble some quick one touch passes and finishes, resulting in a pair of late match RATPACK goals. Final score: RATPACK 4, West Chester 1.

GAMES 3 & 4: Confident, yet match-ready, the RATPACK took the pitch for games 3 & 4. Their opponents, Wyoming Valley SC and HMMS provided the RATPACK with more stiff competition. But the boys of the RATPACK consistently delivered quality soccer, winning both games, 10:3 and 9:1 respectively, and earning them a spot in the final.

The Final: At about 6 pm, after an already exhausting day of high intensity soccer, the RATPACK once again took the field in pursuit of their objective: winning the indoor state title. The finalists, Panthers United of York, PA proved to be a formidable opponent. The game remained scoreless for about the first 7 minutes. Then, following a quick counter attack, opponent, Panthers United, netted one and got on the scoreboard first. The RATPACK settled down, and under the direction of Coaches Grant Myers and Rasheed Epps, began to string together textbook quality passes and one-touch finishing. The RATPACK applied very strong pressure up front to the opposition, while RATPACK defenders shut down the Panthers’ offensive counter attacks like a brick wall. At the sound of the final buzzer, the RATPACK defeated Panthers United, 4:1, becoming the 2008 Under 9 EPYSA Indoor State Cup Champions.