By Alex Frazier
Five years ago, Albert Prickett began preaching his philosophy to his Yardley-Morrisville soccer team: Be a team player and never quit.
Those two basic principles—as worthy in soccer as in life—led the YMS Thunder to the U-18 National Championship on July 31.
Although the team had some very qualified players, it was not predicted to achieve a national title.
“We weren’t a team full of superstars,” said midfielder Martin Freeman (Cheltenham/Brandeis). “We didn’t play the most beautiful style of soccer. We just found a way to win every game.”
“It was a great run,” said Prickett. “The team was not expected to go as far as it did. There were people who under-estimated us.”
Having played for YMS since fifth grade, veteran Dylan Pickering (Council Rock North/Penn State-Altoona) has a good overview of the team as it developed.
“I always felt we had a good group of guys,” he said. “We all did our jobs well. We all knew what to do in each spot. We were real close with each other even off the field. We’d hang around with each other and build a lot of chemistry. I’m still talking to a lot of the guys at different colleges right now. They’re my brothers. I love them to death.”
A good part of that he credits to Prickett.
“He taught us to keep going through hardship,” said Pickering.
•••
Turn the clock back to 2007 to see just how this team developed. In his first year at the helm, Prickett led the team to the state cup finals only to lose to FC Delco.
The following year was a time of growth and flux as old players left and new ones arrived.
By 2009 the chemistry started to return and the Thunder made it to the state cup finals once again, this time falling short to Penn Fusion.
In 2010, Prickett’s “say never quit” paid dividends. In the state semifinals against FC Revolution, the Thunder fell behind 3-0 at the half. Believe it or not, the Thunder notched four goals in the last 20 minutes to advance to the finals against rival FC Delco.
As Council Rock North’s Bryan Attanasio said, “My teammates - we do it for each other. Call us the comeback kids.”
“If we’re down, we don’t care. We know we’re going to win the game,” said Pickering. “We battle more than the other team.”
Against Delco, the Thunder once again fell behind 2-1. To make things worse, a Thunder defender was injured with four minutes left and had to leave the field. Adversity only made the Thunder play harder and in the final four minutes the team scored two goals to claim its first state cup.
In 2011, it all came together.
“We just got on a run, and nobody could stop us,” said Javier Puga (Wissahickon/Emory). “We were actually unseeded in 2011 and played about 35 games and didn’t lose a single one.”
But true to form, nothing came easily.
In the Region One League semifinals in June, the Thunder faced Pittsgrove (NJ) Premier. Playing against a stiff wind in the first half, the Thunder played to a 0-0 draw, planning to take advantage of the wind in the second half.
Not.
Just as the second half started the wind shifted direction. Though the Thunder couldn’t hit the net, neither could Pittsgrove, and the game headed into overtime when Kyle MacDonald (Pennsbury/Penn State) scored the winning goal.
The final against FC Stars (Mass.) also ended in a tie (1-1) through overtime. Once again the Thunder’s tenacity prevailed on penalty kicks as keeper Colin Supizio (Father Judge) came up with two incredible saves.
The Thunder also won the state cup in June, defeating the LDC City Islanders 2-1 in overtime on a goal by MacDonald, which qualified them for the Region One Cup.
In the first game against Maryland Nike Rush, the Thunder took a 1-0 lead, but Maryland put one in with just minutes remaining to force overtime. In typical fashion, the Thunder’s Raleigh Damico (Council Rock North) scored in overtime to advance the team to the finals against a familiar opponent–the FC Stars.
Just before the half, the FC Stars scored. To make matters worse, a Thunder fullback was red-carded with 15 minutes left. No problem. The Thunder evened it up with 10 minutes remaining and surged ahead with four minutes to go to advance to Nationals.
“We have so much success,” said midfielder Martin Freeman, “yet we are not a team full of stars. We always seem to find a way to win no matter the situation, as we have had numerous last-minute comebacks.”
Four teams competed at Nationals. YMS represented Region 1, KCFC Rangers (Kansas) represented Region 2, Alpharetta Ambush (Ga.) represented Region 3, and Palo Alto 93 represented Region 4.
First up for the Thunder was KCFC. Naturally, KCFC took the lead midway through the first half and held it until the Thunder tied it late in the game. With four minutes added for stoppage time, MacDonald scored on a cross from Damico with 40 seconds left to pull out another heart stopper.
“I was worried going into Nationals because I knew it was competitive,” said Puga, “but once we won the first game, I knew we were headed to the final.”
In the second round, Palo Alto and YMS tied at 1-1 as did the Ambush and KCFC.
The third round was critical. Only the winners would advance to the championship.
The Thunder faced the Alpharetta Ambush, the 2010 defending champion. YMS drew first blood, but the Ambush knotted the score at one apiece 10 minutes into the second half. The game ended in a tie, which was enough to send both team to the finals for a rematch.
On their rest day, the Thunder tried to regroup. One of its premier players, who had been with the team for three years, left the team. Center midfielder Danny Venuto was experiencing back pain and was replaced by Puga, who normally only played about 20 minutes a game. He played the entire 90 minutes and was “absolutely phenomenal” according to Prickett.
Venuto, who was not scheduled to play, made an appearance for about 15 minutes while Martin Freeman recovered from heat exhaustion.
“I’m not usually that sensitive to heat,” said Freeman. “I came out at halftime and never felt that exhausted. I was pouring water all over my head and body. It took me a little while to get it together.”
Left back Matt Landy also suffered heat exhaustion after the first half.
The temperature on the field at 8:30 a.m. on July 31 in Phoenix, Az. was in the low 90s and rising.
“By the end of the game, it was probably 105,” said Puga. “It was burning hot.”
With six minutes remaining in a scoreless tie, the Thunder was awarded a penalty kick when a Star player took down Alec Sowers (Haverford School) in the penalty box. MacDonald buried the penalty kick with about two minutes left.
Thirty seconds later, MacDonald was undercut on a head ball and fell to the turf breaking both bones in his left forearm.
“He fell from about six up onto his arm,” said Pickering.
But the Thunder held on to become the first YMS team to win a national title, and for his superb effort, MacDonald was awarded the tournament’s MVP.
“We have the combination of skill, determination and hard work on the field that gives us the ability to win any match, no matter the given scenario,” said MacDonald. “We have a never-quit attitude.”
“We did the impossible over and over again,” said Puga.
For Prickett, the National Championships was more than justification of his philosophy.
“It was very much a team effort,” said Prickett. “I will never forget the incredible ride this team has given me. Teamwork and the never-quit-attitude are two phrases I will always associate with this team.”
The last of the Thunder has not been heard yet.
“We’re going to get back together in the spring after college is over and defend our title, hopefully as U-19s,” said Freeman. “That’s the plan at least.”
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