Good ball movement by the SB Soccer Club’s U18 Boys Elite results in a goal by Rene Pacheco. SBSC defeated Baltimore Celtic at the U.S. Youth Soccer Nationals pic.twitter.com/KyaTmpSYuJ
— NoozhawkSports (@NoozhawkSports) July 20, 2021
Rene Pacheco scored a first-half goal, and the Santa Barbara Soccer Club’s U18 Boys Elite survived the heat, humidity and the No. 2 seeded Baltimore Celtic Club for a 1-0 victory in a group-play opener at the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships on Tuesday in Bradenton, Fla.
Goalkeepers Diego Garcia and Sam Friedman combined for the clean sheet.
The game was played in 91-degree heat and 60% humidity.
The UCSB-bound Pacheco scored on header off a Miguel Mondragon cross from the left wing. Pacheco started the play, cutting inside from the left and playing the ball to Erick Guerrero before running into the 18-yard box. Guerrero fed Mondragon who was running up the left sideline.
“Miguel got down the line and he whipped the ball in, and he found me in the box. I was able to get my head to it and place it and it went in,” said Pacheco of the goal.
Third-seeded Santa Barbara continues play in Group A on Wednesday against Kingdom Soccer Club of Michigan. Its final group game is Thursday against West Florida Flames.
The clubs in Group B are Las Vegas Sports Academy, Springfield South County Youth Club of Virginia, Bethesda Soccer Club of Maryland and Indiana Fire Juniors.
The top two teams in each group advance to the semifinals on Saturday.
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
