YMS:Xplosion set for battle

YMS Xplosion to face archrival Lower Merion this Saturday. A win guarantees a trip to nationals.

This Saturday night, April 18, the Yardley Makefield Soccer (YMS) Xplosion U17 team will face Lower Merion Velez for the right to attend this summer's USYSA National Championships in youth soccer.

This battle is the final game of the U17 USYSA National League season, which is comprised of eight of the top teams in the country. This is one of the more anticipated youth soccer games played in eastern Pennsylvania in a long time, with the coveted automatic entry into the USYSA National Championships on the line.

The game pits two of the more successful youth boys teams from this part of the state vying for the opportunity to be one of six teams to move on and play for the National Championships later this summer.

Among the players competing for YMS are Pennsbury's Eric Schoenle and Jimmy Ockford as well as Council Rock North's Ryan Tessler and Jake Fields. Schoenle is a senior who is headed to West Virginia. Tessler, a senior, and Ockford, a junior, have committed to Mount St. Mary's. Fields is headed to George Washington University in 2010.

Pennsbury top scorer Eddie Adams also competes for the Xplosion as does CR North junior Steve Neumann of New Hope, Brian Powers, a Pennsbury junior from Yardley, and keeper Mike Moulton, a Notre Dame junior from Newtown.

Germantown Academy juniors Colin Skelly, of Wrightstown, Chris and Ben Wysocki, both of Newtown, help anchor the YMS midfield. Pennsbury junior Drew Hutchins, of Morrisville, mans a position between the pipes for the Xplosion.

YMS can actually advance to nationals with a tie on Saturday. Lower Merion needs to win to get there. Both the Xplosion and Lower Merion can also reach nationals if the Dallas Texans Houston Division either loses or ties their game this Saturday against Cobb FC. The team from Georgia is battling the Texas squad the same night in Jackson, Mississippi.

The battle kicks off at 7:15 p.m. at Drexel University's Vidas Field this Saturday in what guarantees to be an intense yet entertaining event. The field is located at 43rd and Powelton Avenue in the University City section of Philadelphia.

The USYSA U17 Boys National Championships are set for July 21-27 in Lancaster, Massachusetts and will include the top two finishers from the USYSA National League, along with the four regional champions.