York County-based club soccer team wins national championship
A York-based club soccer team has now won a national championship.
FC Ballyhoo 07 Black, which is made up almost entirely of young YAIAA soccer standouts, won the U.S. Youth Soccer U16 National Presidents Cup in Wichita Tuesday. Ballyhoo beat North Carolina's NC Rush Triad, 5-1, in the championship match Tuesday afternoon.
Ballyhoo is the first team from York County to reach this tournament — which consists of eight teams from around the country. It went 30-2-1 during its spring season and won the Pennsylvania President's Cup and took second at a regional tournament featuring teams from West Virginia, Maryland, Maine and New Jersey to qualify for the national tournament.
After a thrilling victory in penalty kicks Monday, Ballyhoo cruised early and often against its North Carolina foe Tuesday. Ballyhoo led 3-0 at halftime and tacked on two more goals after the break.
Eastern York's Noah Brady scored a hat trick while Red Lion's Maddox Snyder and Lancaster Catholic's Carson Spangler added goals.
It was a far cry from the previous day, when Eastern York's K.J. Lavetan scored the final penalty goal in a 1-1 (4-3) win over Utah's Fire FC.
Prior to that, Ballyhoo went 2-1 during pool play against teams from the Midwest, South and West regions.
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Coached by former West York athletic director Bret Altimore, FC Ballyhoo 07 Black consists of players born in 2007 and is part of Heritage Hills' Ballyhoo Sports Academy. The organization has club teams for soccer, basketball, volleyball and field hockey from ages 9 to 19.
Playing in a national tournament isn't cheap, and a GoFundMe to help Ballyhoo's players and families travel to Wichita raised nearly $8,000 leading up to the Fourth of July.
Check out the full roster for York's FC Ballyhoo 07 Black here.
Matt Allibone is a sports reporter for GameTimePA. He can be reached at 717-881-8221, mallibone@ydr.com or on Twitter at @bad2theallibone.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: York-based FC Ballyhoo wins U.S. Youth Soccer National Presidents Cup
