Welcome to the 2023 Summer edition of the Greater Libertyville Soccer Association Quarterly Newsletter. As we begin the fall season, we are looking back at the club highlights from this past summer.

Summer Programming

• This summer, we expanded our summer camp series with
  additional weeks for both our Competitive and Recreational camps. Both camps were very well attended and received. Coaches Santiago Rubio, Jeff Widmark, Jen Jeschke and Yann Nsoga, along with as slew of high school and college players, did a fantastic job of leading the camps.

• We hosted outside camp vendors, Ken Snow Scoring Camp, Soccer Skills Factory and B1 Goalkeeper Camp at the complex. These we well attended with players from ours and other local club membership. We thank these folks for hosting their summer camps at our facility.

• Our Adult League continues to move forward adding new teams and players every season. Thank you to those that continue to participate and enjoy this beautiful game.

• We hosted game for the Serbian Adult National Championships which saw teams from all over the county converging on Lake County to compete. We thank the Serbian National Coalition for choosing LTSC as their hosting location.

FC 1974 Competitive Program

• Our FC 1974 Program continues to grow and progress in Regional and National platforms with many of our teams attending Championship Events this past summer.

• In USYS, our U13 and U18 Boys Elite attended the USYS Midwest Regional Championships, in St Louis. Our boys played well and fought hard but did not manage to get out of their groups.

• In the ECNL Regional League, our U13, U14 U15, U16 and U17 Girls Elite qualified for ECNL Regionals in June, in St. Louis. Unfortunately, our U13 girls lost in the round of 16, our U14, U15 and U17 girls losing in the semifinals and U16 losing in the finals!

• At the same time in US Club, our U14 Boys Elite qualified in the Super Group of the National Finals and traveled to Boulder, Colorado. The boys had a fantastic experience but finished with a draw and 2 losses in their first Nationals. Many more to come in the future from this group.

• In USYS Elite 64, our U15, U16, U17 Girls and U16 Boys competed in the E64 National Championship in July in San Diego. Our U16s lost in round on 16 and our U15 and U17 Girls advanced to the finals but lost, finishing as Runner Up. In the U17 Girls final, we matched up with FC Copa from New Jersey, it was a rematch of last year’s USYS National Championship, unfortunately, this year, they got the better of us. Our U16 Boys lost in the Quarterfinals to eventual runner up Michigan Jaguars. These teams had fantastic seasons, coming very close to another National Championship.

• The highlight of the summer was the USYS National Finals held in Orlando. Our 2005 Boys attended the event as defending National Champions and did not disappoint. In group play, the boys were 2 wins and 1 draw, not needing points to advance out of the group in the in last game. The semifinal match was dubbed the game of the tournament by the USYS Officials. Battling fellow Illinois club, Raiders FC, the game ended 2-2 in regulation. By the middle of the first overtime, we were down 4-2, by the end of that period the score was 4-4. Midway through the second overtime period, we went ahead 5-4, but was matched quickly by Raiders to make it 5-5. In the 126th minute of the game, Miguel Garcia scored the game winner, and this incredible game was over! We were victorious and into the National Final.

• While the National Final match was not as action packed, it was still filled with drama. We were pitted against another old Illinois foe, Galaxy FC from Naperville. In 2022, we battled Galaxy in the USYS National Final, down 2-0 in the 85th minute, we scored 2 goals to draw in regulation. We completed the comeback to win 4-3 in overtime. We knew that Galaxy would be out for revenge this year and we knew it would be a battle. The game was tied for most of the game until Miguel Garcia scored from a corner with 15 minutes left to play. Using all of their Championship experience the boys saw the game out to win the USYS National Championship and become back to back National Champions!

• Only 5 other teams in USYS history have won 3 National Championships. The 2005 FC 1974 Boys have won in 2019, 2022 and 2023 and join the Dallas Texans, Central Valley Mercury, Arsenal FC, Nomads SC and Santa Barbara SC as 3-time winners. We are the only 3-time winners from Region 2 and Illinois.

• Congratulations to our 2005 Boys who won individual awards from the USYS National Championships: Best XI – Alan Alonso, Oscar Martinez, Mason Runyard. Golden Glove – Mason Runyard (6 goals allowed) Golden Boot – Miguel Garcia (7 goals scored)

Thank you all for being a part of the club. #weare74

Thanks to our continued support of our sponsors!