UNDER 9 SEASON

INDOOR STATE CUP CHAMPIONS - 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.

Fall 2007: Delco League Champions - The Under 9A Rat Pack has been together now for about six months. The team, guided by head coach, Grant Myers, and assistant coach Rasheed Epps, began training shortly after player selections were made last spring. In August, the Rat Pack competed for the first time at the Spirit United Kickoff Classic Tournament. The team faced top competition from many other big-name clubs.

The Rat Pack won their first tournament, going undefeated. Players deserving special recognition for their play during the weekend were strikers Nico Coffin and Matthew Real for their relentless attacks on opposition goals. Rock solid defenders Will Marks, Evan Haas, and Max Auerbach deserve a standing ovation for their aggressive protection of Rat Pack turf, frustrating opposition offenses, and rarely permitting their opponents to take shots on star goalkeeper, Michael Kalpokas who had a number of world-class saves and blocked several shots taken from nearly point-blank range.

One week later, the Rat Pack participated in the Gettysburg Battlefield Blast Soccer Tournament. The Rat Pack managed to rack up a 4-0 record, before tournament officials terminated the tournament due to inclement weather. For the second time in two weeks, the team was on track to capture their second tournament title.

Next up for the team was the Yardley Columbus Day Tournament. Matthew Blackman demonstrated his skills during the tournament by making a number of very impressive overlapping runs, a few of which resulted in shots on goal and Rat Pack scoring. During the finals, outside midfielder Nicolas Kane made a sideline run toward the opposition goal, and placed a picture-perfect, one-touch assist to the foot of a fellow teammate, resulting in yet another Rat Pack goal. Greg Bradbury also had an outstanding weekend, with super strong contributions both offensively and defensively. The Rat Pack again finished this tournament undefeated and tournament champions.

During the fall 2007, the Rat Pack went 8-1-1 in the top division of the Delco League. The team defeated the West Chester Predators in a tough semi-final game. Midfielder William Cypress had an outstanding day, delivering a strong performance offensively. In the fading minutes of the match, central midfielder Hans Kroschwitz ripped a left footed shot from outside the box to give the Rat Pack a 2-1 victory. The following day, head coach Myers and assistant coach Epps simply watched their match-ready team decisively defeat the Baltimore Bays 5-1, to win the 2007 Delco Under 9 first division championship. Congratulations to the boys on an excellent first season of play.