Successful Albion Cup for Manchester Soccer Club’s Academy Elite Teams, BU11 and BU15

Congratulations to Coach Billy Garton’s BU11 and BU15 teams for a successful weekend at Albion Cup. Games were held July 20-22 at the UCSD campus.

Both teams played in the Elite bracket and overcame some tough opposition to reach the final game.

The BU11 team beat Surf Academy (2-0), Sereno (1-0) and Albion (on PK’s) to reach the final. In a close encounter, Manchester led Long Beach FC 1-0 for the majority of the game, but an excellent Long Beach team came back strong in the last 15 minutes to win 3-1.

“My boys had an awesome weekend and have really established themselves as one of the top teams in Southern California with some recent performances. To beat Albion, a very strong team and State Cup runners up, is a testimony to where we are at and that we are getting better each tournament. No shame in losing to Long Beach, a strong, aggressive team whose coach complimented my team at the presentation ceremony as the ‘best passing team’ he has seen at this age. We do play great soccer and it’s a pleasure to coach and watch,” said Garton.

The BU15 Academy Elite had a stellar weekend, winning 5 straight games to take the Championship. They beat Surf Academy 3-0, Capo F C 2-0, United 2-0, Pats San Diego 2-1, and Arizona Hammers 2-1 in the final game. Coached by Billy Garton this team continues to develop and blossom. Garton commented, “This BU15 team is flying high at present and have a ‘machine-like approach’ to games. They believe in me and each other and are producing very, very complete performances at present. I love coaching them and thoroughly enjoy watching them play. They’re a tight bunch, who play for each other.”