|
 It was a good start to the U.S. Adult Soccer Association Region II championships for the Croatian Eagles, as none of their three teams lost Friday.
The Eagles' Under-23 and women's teams both won their openers at the tournament in Overland Park, Kan., while the Majors side drew their first match in the Men's Amateur Cup.
UW-Oshkosh's Tony Starnes (Green Bay Notre Dame) scored twice for the Under-23 team in its 4-2 win over the Louisville Soccer Alliance. Starnes gave the Croatians the lead, but they trailed 2-1 heading into halftime.
UW-Whitewater's Stefan Scoon (Racine Horlick) got the equalizer, Starnes scored the go-ahead goal and Lipscomb's Joey Chiappetta (New Berlin/Waukesha Catholic Memorial) added an insurance goal for the Eagles, who play Kansas' KC United at 8 a.m. Saturday. The Croatians will receive a 3-0 forfeit victory over Michigan's Jaier, whom they were supposed to play Saturday afternoon.
Indiana's Westside dropped out of the Men's Amateur competition, prompting tournament official to restructure the division. The Eagles were moved into Group B and got a goal from the Milwaukee Wave's Jonathan Greenfield as they tied Michigan's Canton Celtics 1-1 in their opener Friday. The Croatians play Missouri's Kutis (0-1-0) at 10:15 a.m. Saturday and Illinois' RWB Adria (1-0-0) at 5 p.m., with the group winner advancing to Sunday's final.
The women's team, meanwhile, got a 90th-minute goal from Michigan Tech's Melanie Hoffman (Pulaski) to slip past St. Louis 2-1 in their opener of the four-team competition.
UW-Milwaukee's Hannah Kaul (Cedar Grove) opened the scoring for the Eagles, chesting down a free kick from Nicole Sperl (Wauwatosa West/UW-Milwaukee) and volleying in a shot. St. Louis equalized befort halftime on a corner kick against Bellarmine goalkeeper Amy Kunowski (Greendale), who came up with several big saves to keep the match tied in the second half.
Alverno's Kelsey Kochanowski (Oak Creek) set up the winner, as Hoffman ran onto her long ball and collided with both the goalkeeper and a St. Louis defender. Hoffman was the first to her feet, took a touch and fired in the decisive goal for the Croatians, who play Missouri's JB Marine (0-1-0) at 10:15 a.m. Saturday and Kansas side Dynahawks (1-0-0) at 5 p.m. looking to secure a spot in Sunday's final.
|
