The Bloomfield U16 Cheetah Thunder boys’ soccer team enjoyed an inspiring run at the US US Club National Cup Tournament in Indiana.
The Cheetah Thunder earned a hard-fought 1-0 win over Global Premier Soccer New Hampshire on Friday, July 21. Anthony Rizzi converted a penalty with 25 minutes remaining to break the scoreless deadlock. The Bloomfield defense, led by captain John Fabiano and keeper Fernando Pesante, held off the powerful New Hampshire squad and preserve the shutout.
“This was definitely a team effort,” said head coach John Ricca. “We played a very good team. All 17 of our players had to have the same intensity and focus on the field to defeat such a strong opponent.”
The Cheetah Thunder then played Chicago Alliance in the second game of group play on Saturday, July 22, but dropped a 2-0 decision.
On Sunday, July 23, the Cheetah Thunder played Global Premier Soccer (GPS) Oregon to a 0-0 draw. That created a three-way tie atop the group standings with Bloomfield, GPS New Hampshire and Chicago Alliance. However, Bloomfield did not make the Cup final on Monday, July 24, based on goal differential.
Eight teams competed in the final championship tournament of the 2016-2017 soccer season. Four teams qualified as US regional winners, and four teams qualified as wild cards. Bloomfield won a wild card designation.
About the Author
