The Northern Virginia Royals U17 Super Y-League team secured second place in the South Atlantic Division this weekend, granting them an automatic berth into the United Soccer Leagues Youth North American Finals. Five victories in the final eleven days of the regular season earned the U17 Royals the trip to Florida and the chance at a North American title.
The U17 Royals finished the season 9-2-3 but went undefeated in their final nine games of the season to qualify for the championship tournament. The finished tied with the Richmond Strikers (9-2-3), but were awarded second place in head-to-head result tiebreaker. The U17 Royals beat the Strikers 3-1 on August 6th and the two clubs tied 1-1 on August 12th to give Northern Virginia the needed edge.
The U17 Royals join the U16 Royals and U16 Majestics Super Y-League teams in qualifying for the six-day continental championships. Both U16 Super Y-League teams clinched their spots in the finals with victories the previous weekend.
The USL North American Finals will be held in Tampa, Florida, and is scheduled to run from November 15th through November 20th. A total of sixteen teams will clash at every age level in the boys Super Y-League’s U13-U17 divisions. On the girls side twelve teams will meet from each of the five age divisions. The 2007 version of the Super Y-League finals is the greatest representative of elite youth talent in North America now that the league encompasses nine regions across the United States and Canada.
