The Jackets rounded off a fine season with one of the most exciting tournament games I've ever seen. The Jackets took the game to Fresta in the VMSC semi-final in the first half and dominated possession. Michael Sumner was a revelation as he broke through the Fresta defense time and again and was rewarded with a well-taken goal 5 minutes before half-time to give the Jackets a well-deserved lead. The Jackets continued to dominate in the second half with Michael Sumner again posing the biggest threat. Manny Uzoma had one of the best chances of the half when clean through on the keeper who made a great block. Daggm Mekonnen and Diego Leiva did some hard running and were instrumental in the build-up play along with Magnus Bernth. The defense was absolutely solid throughout the game with Jonathan Bunker and John Mark Secrist performing great leadership from the back in their roles as captains, much as they have all season. David Deng and Kaelen Starrs held off every attack down the middle with Tyler Stanford and Bernard Kasozi forming a perfect shield in the midfield. JJ Banek-Gabelle and Alex Self both added creativity and punch to a free-flowing rotating attacking line-up. At the end of the game in the final 5 minutes Fresta pushed hard for an equalizer and won a corner in injury time from which they managed to score in a congested goal mouth scramble. The Jackets fought on strongly in extra time and again dominated, only to concede another goal against the run of play. Michael Sumner almost leveled at the death with the keeper beaten as the ball hit the inside of the post and somehow ricocheted across the entire goal without going in. This was a fine game to finish an excellent season where the Jackets played exciting and creative soccer, but sometimes in this game the ball just doesn't run for you. None of that takes away from a wonderful season where the Jackets finished as co-champions for the regular season and produced for me as their coach the best soccer of the season by any team. Great job guys. I'm really proud to be your coach.
Coach Latham