The familiar “Got Milk” campaign sponsors a nationwide soccer tournament to find the best small-field soccer teams in the country. The “Got Milk 3v3 Soccer Tournament” starts in local neighborhoods and sends the winners onto eight regional tournaments across America. The top five teams at the regional level get invited to the National Championship at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla.
Five local boys, who are members of Downtown United Soccer Club’s U-11 team and play at Hudson River Park’s Pier 40, are on their way to Disneyworld.
Spencer Brown, Matthew Cooke, Andres Fernandez, Nathan Miller and Danny Scholz went to this year’s Regional in East Brunswick, N.J., vying for the five available spots in Florida. There were teams from Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Delaware, Massachusetts and New York at the tournament.
Over a weekend in August, three games were played on a Saturday to determine the seeding for Sunday’s playoffs. Game one on Sunday was decided by penalty kicks after the score was tied through regulation and a three-minute, sudden-death overtime period. This victory guaranteed the boys a spot in the final four and assured them that they would advance to Disneyworld. Instead of being satisfied with just qualifying, the boys won their semifinal game 9-2, setting up the final game against the Montvale Eagles.
The Eagles made it to the quarterfinals at last year’s Nationals, losing there to the eventual champion. Montvale jumped out to a 4-1 lead, but the boys from DUSC scored six straight goals to stun the Eagles 7-5 and collect the regional championship trophy.
On Jan. 16 the DUSC boys will head to Florida for the three-day tournament. Everyone at the Downtown United Soccer Club and their U-11 (under-11-years-old) teammates wish them well.
You can see the entire DUSC U-11 team and the rest of DUSC’s travel teams playing every weekend at Hudson River Park’s Pier 40 or at East River Park at E. Sixth St. and the F.D.R. Drive.
The U-11 team will be fundraising to help the boys get to Florida. Anyone interested in helping this team or any other DUSC team can send donations to: DUSC, 332 Bleecker St., PMB D-12, New York, NY 10014. DUSC is a nonprofit 501(C)(3) organization. For further information, log onto www.dusc.net.
