The 93 Gold Jamestown Jammers competed in the U15 Premier bracket which consisted of four other teams from Erie Admirals (PA), Freestate Eagles (MD), SoccerOp (NC), and Charlotte United (NC).

 

 

On Saturday, the Jammers opened up the competition against Freestate, ranked 12^th in the state of Maryland.  Early on the Jammers established control and looked to go through toward goal while maintaining a defensive approach.   Then, 15 minutes into the match, Edgar Rodriguez put the Jammers on the board with a half volley finish from about 18 yards out.  Ten minutes later JSC struck again when Rodriguez again put the defense under pressure with a hard attempt on goal that found the post.  Luckily, Matt Crooker was there to follow the shot, leaving it 2-0 in favor of the Jammers.   After Freestate cut the lead in half near the end of the first period, the Jammers were able to add a pair of goals from Bobby Kroma and Grant Simpkins to put the game away despite a late goal by Freestate to leave the final score at 4-2.

 

Sunday saw the Jammers face two different opponents.  The first match, against Erie, saw JSC face one of the tougher oppoents in the group.  Keeper Brad Davis came up big in the first half as he made two breakaway saves to keep the score at 0-0 at halftime.   Davis' efforts were not rewarded on the offensive end, however, as the JSC attack never solved the Erie defense, leaving the game 0-0.

 

The second match against SoccerOp, turned out to be a hotly contested affair.  Once again the Jammer attack struggled to find a ryhthm before Kroma took a bouncing ball out of the air and slotted it home to give JSC a 1-0 lead.  The second half would see Davis once again called into action a few times, where he was equal to the challenge as JSC held on for a 1-0 victory.

As a result of their first two days, JSC stood at 2-0-1 with seven points.  A win against U14/15 Charlotte United FC would secure the team the Premier group championship. 

 

Charlotte had a breakaway five minutes into the match, but once again Davis came up big and turned it aside.   Davis' play seemed to inspire his teammates as JSC began to calm down and possess the ball.  The team got on the board at the 15 minute mark when Kroma sent the ball wide to Garrett VanNutt, who sent a shot to the upper corner to make it 1-0.  After halftime, the Jammers continued to keep possession before finding a crack in their opponents' defense which led to a breakaway goal by Gabe Dobbins to put the match away at 2-0.

 

By virtue of their 3-0-1 performance, the Jammers will head to Virginia Beach to compete in the Premier Division of the US Club National Cup July 25-28.  In the U15 Super Group, it was Potomic Real taking top honors with a 3-0-1 record.