The SOCA U18 Boys Elite team has advanced to the Eastern Regional League championship playoff round by virtue of three clear victories over the long weekend of April 27-29.  The SOCA team secured a spot in the playoffs, where they will face Baltimore Celtic in semi-final action on May 12, in Delaware.

The local Elites concluded their Eastern Regional League round robin play with a 1-0 win over Virginia rival Braddock Road on Sunday, May 6 at the Charlottesville High School stadium.

In their opening April 27^th game of the showcase-style weekend, SOCA pasted the #1 nationally ranked (via GotSoccer point system) STA-MUSC from New Jersey with a resounding 5-1 score line.  With the matched tied 1-1 at half-time, Coach Dan Ensley made minor adjustments and inspired his troops to a four goal second half onslaught.  The win built confidence for the remainder of the weekend’s competition.

In the Saturday, April 28 match, SOCA ran out a 4-0 win over Arundel SA from Maryland.  Protecting a narrow 1-0 lead at the interval, the SOCA squad turned in a complete, well rounded performance by pumping in three second half goals, demonstrating control of the match.

In the concluding game of the weekend, on Sunday, April 29^th SOCA needed to win to gain admission to the semi-final round.  The boys put together a solid, convincing 3-0 win over the energetic Lehigh Valley United from Pennsylvania.

SOCA will now have the chance to extract revenge against the defending national champion Baltimore Celtic team who topped SOCA for the Region 1 crown last year.  Winners of the ERL semi-finals will meet on Sunday, May 13 while the losers will meet in a consolation match on the same day.  The outcome of the final weekend matches will determine which teams advance to the Region 1 championships, held in late June at the Virginia Soccer Training Center, Fredericksburg, VA.

Follow this link to view all ERL results and standings:  http://events.gotsport.com/events/results.aspx?EventID=61319&Gender=Boys&Age=18