Northdale heads to regionals
By JEREMY RASMUSSEN
St. Petersburg Times
Correspondent
TAMPA -- According to coach Perry Van Der Beck, it's not too early to call his Northdale Rangers a "great team."
Having recently three-peated as State Cup champions of the Florida Youth Soccer Association, his under-15 boys team is on its way to the United States Youth Soccer Association Region III Cup in Columbus, Georgia on June 26-28.
As the team gets older, it has the chance to advance further each year. Only under-14 and older teams can advance to Southern regional play, and only under-16 and older teams may advance to nationals. Last year, in its first trip to regionals, Northdale did not lose a game, going 1-0-2, but lost on goal differential.
""Three years ago, we won our first State Cup. Last year, we advanced to regionals. Now, we want to win regionals, and next year, we want to go to nationals,'' Van Der Beck said.
Van Der Beck, a former Tampa Bay Rowdies player and U.S. national team member, was recently named assistant coach for the Tampa Bay Mutiny. With the Mutiny playing a crucial game in Miami on June 26, he will likely miss the regional tourney.
"As far as being a head coach at the youth level anymore, I don't think it's fair to the team not knowing if I'll be able to be around,'' Van Der Beck said. ""I'm going to have to step down, but I'll always be there for this team. They are more than just players to me. They're great kids.''
In his absence, Van Der Beck said the team will be in the capable hands of assistants Peter Ward and Eric Ravndal. The team also has the services of Mutiny trainer Kevin Keelan, who works with the goalies.
""We've been training and coaching this team since they were 11-year-olds,'' Van Der Beck said. ""(Ward and Ravndal) don't always agree with me and vice-versa, but I think you'd have to say we've gotten good results.''
After the disappointment in last year's regionals, one thing became apparent to the coaches—they had to add more speed up front. Going as far away as Ocala to draw talent, Northdale picked up Forest High School's Cameron MacGregor.
Along with MacGregor, the Rangers have a lot of speed and skill on the attack with King's Lonnie Houston, Sickles' Brandon Streicher, and Tampa Catholic's Jeremy Castellucci.
In the middle, a group of hard-nosed players does much of the dirty work for the team--Eric Grzybowski, Ryan Feely, Norris Hartzog, and David Smith. On defense, David Moore and Eric Conway are superb marking backs to go along with sweeper Evan Doyle and stopper Carlos Pennace.
Jesuit's Justin Trowbridge stepped up in the goal to allow just five goals in eight games of the State Cup playoffs.
The highlight of Northdale's season was its thrilling 4-2 overtime win over the Blackwatch Lightning in the State Cup final on June 7. Blackwatch, coached by Van Der Beck's former Rowdies teammate Steve Wegerle, had beaten the Rangers four straight times since last summer, including an 8-2 drubbing in a Labor Day tourney.
According to Mike Steicher, whose son, Brandon, plays on the Rangers, the team knew it would eventually top its arch-nemesis.
""The world thought (the Cup final) was an upset, but we did not,'' Streicher said. ""We knew we had outplayed them in two of the four games last year. It was just a matter of time until we put it all together.''
After the lead changed hands twice during the match, MacGregor and Houston each scored on free kicks during overtime to seal the win for the Rangers.
Northdale has a tough draw in the regionals:
(These times/dates come from the regional tourney website)
""I think we'll do well. Our team has always been successful,'' Van Der Beck said. "We've not necessarily always had the best players, but we've had the best team. These guys play great together.''
©1998 St. Petersburg Times.