November 15, 2009 - Lower Merion Magic (U12A boys) ended a very successful Fall 2009 campaign with a 2-0 win vs. Penn Legacy in the DELCO Premier-1 Division Championship Final. Magic went 9-1-1 in league play and captured their third consecutive top division DELCO Championship. In addition, they took home the first place title at the Lou Ramos Classic (Allentown, PA) in September and were finalists at both the Spirit Kick-Off Classic (Downingtown, PA) in August and the Volkswagen Junior Masters National Championship (Washington, DC) in October. For the Volkswagen Junior Masters, Magic enjoyed the exciting experience of playing the final match at RFK stadium. Magic is currently ranked by national soccer rankings as #1 in PA, #2 in Region 1 and #8 in the nation at U12.

Magic is lead by Head Coach Mark Weinmann and includes strikers Justin Davis, Nick Jannelli, and co-captain Cody Wax; midfielders JD Egan, Henry Farr, Griffin Fleming, Anthony Haines, Matt Mayer, and Wyatt Page; defenders Padgett Gustavson, Connor Gregory, Gian-Luca Hail, Jerry Karalis, Josh Liss and co-captain Felix Serlin; and goalie Peter Bradbeer. Dale Haines serves as Assistant Coach and Manager. Iain Munro of YSC Sports heads-up the supplemental team training program for Team Magic.

Individual highlights included Justin’s tenacious play at the Spirit Kick-Off Classic, Nick scoring the only 2 goals vs. PDA in a 2-0 victory in the finals of Lou Ramos Classic, Cody’s goal to send the semi-final game at the Volkswagen Jr. Masters in to extra time and tallying the winning goal in the DELCO finals, JD’s goal and an assist in a 2-2 tie vs. FC DELCO to start Magic’s season, Henry’s left-footed blast for the only goal in the 1-0 win vs. Penn Legacy in the first game of DELCO play, Griffin’s shut-down play vs. Penn Legacy’s top player in the DELCO finals, Anthony’s goal and assist in a 2-1 victory vs. the Ottawa Fury at the Spirit Kick-Off Classic, Matt’s long range blast for a goal vs. Spirit in the last regular season DELCO game and critical assist in the finals of the Lou Ramos tournament, Wyatt’s key penalty kick conversion in the semi-finals of the Volkswagen Junior Masters, Padgett’s strong and aggressive play in the DELCO finals, Connor’s offensive push in the playoff clinching game vs. USTA, Gian-Luca’s steady play in the central defense the entire season, Jerry’s goal AND celebration vs. Spirit United, Josh’s and Felix’s shut-down play on the defensive wings the entire year and Peter’s key penalty kick save at the Volkswagen Junior Masters and his clean sheets in the Lou Ramos and DELCO finals.

What has also been exciting to Magic players this year is that they are learning a new definition of “travel soccer” in the Lower Merion Program. In 2009/2010, Magic will play in premier level tournaments in Washington DC, Richmond VA, and Phoenix, AZ. Also, about half of the team spent 10 days this past summer training at Fluminense FC Academy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As the players will tell you, traveling with their buddies and playing soccer is a blast, and the longer the soccer trip, the better!

Congratulations to Magic players and coaches for a highly successful AND fun fall season.