NATIONAL CHAMPIONS - A Journey that ended in GOLD

The Baltimore Bays Chelslea 15s are 2010 US Youth Soccer National Champions as they were crowned late Saturday night in Overland Park, Kansas. The Championship match featured the Bays 15s vs Albion SC of Southern California. Both sides advanced to the Final based on their round robin play Wednesday-Friday.

In bracket play, the Bays defeated Condorde Fire of Georgia 4-3 and Mt Hamilton Tigres 5-2 to earn their way to the National Final.

On Saturday, thunderstorms rolled through Overland Park delaying the start of games by more than an hour. The weather did not, however, dampen the spirit and excitement once the Under-15 Boys kicked off under the lights. Teams were greeted by crowds of the more than 3,500 who were estimated in attendance, adding to the energy that was in the air and on display.

Bays Chelsea (MD) and Albion SC were not strangers to each other prior to the National Final. The teams first met this season in National League play where Albion secured a 1-0 victory and then went on to claim the League Title punching their ticket to the National Final 6. The second meeting was in yesterday's group play match where Albion came out on top again, 2-0 although that match did not have any implications for points for the Bays as they already earned a spot in the National Final based on their first two results.

On Saturday night, Albion took the field without their starting keeper due to injury while Bays forward Christian Porras found himself on the outside looking in based on a blow to the head on Friday. Cleared by a Physician on Saturday morning to compete, Porras would figure into the outcome. The Bays looked to keep two streaks alive: The Club has claimed at least one national title since 2005 and claimed back-to-back Under-15 Boys titles beginning in 2008.

It would take only four minutes for the Bays to find a seam and Romilio "Romy" Hernandez finished for the 1-0 advantage. Albion leveled the match in the 13th off a Shane Mahvi strike following a "scrum" in the box. Tied at 1-1 following regulaltion, overtime would decide the outcome. Christian Porras received a ball in the box with his back to the goal and a defender draped on him. He dipped his shoulder to his left and then quickly pushed the ball to his right. The defender bit enough that Porras was able to turn his hips to face the goal. He fired a strike back across his body to the cross corner and it was too much for the Albion keeper to handle. Bays' goalkeeper Matthew Sanchez made a leaping save in the closing minute off a header from a corner to keep the match from going to penalties. In the end, Porras' goal stood up to be the game winner and give the Baltimore Bays Chelsea 15s the National Title.

Bays Head Coach Brandon Quaranta noted the team gave up more goals this week than it is accustomed to, something that played a bit on his heartstrings. But he credited the team for buying into the system and the club structure.

"Overall in the tournament we scored 11 goals and gave up 8, so range of emotions is exactly the way to describe the last four days," Quaranta said. "We brought in 8 new guys at the beginning of the year. We had some growing pains at the beginning with them getting used to how we're playing. I told them 'Stay together. We're going to get better as a team. We're going to work hard and improve in every area. Trust me, we've done it three years in a row and trust the way we do things at the club.' About midway through the season they bought into everything we did and this is the result."

For the Bays 15s, it truly was a season that saw a transformation of a group of quality players to the eventual quality team that captured the Title. Asst Coach Jack Quaranta "The group began to trust and believe in each other especially in the second half of the season. They learned how to win close games. They developed a collective winning mentality and deserved the result."

Asst Coach Frank Assaro "Early on, we could see this side had the makings to be special. The team has 6 to 7 players who love to go at defenders and they all can create their own shot with the dribble. However, they played back to back tournaments in the first half of the year where they didn't score a goal. They worked hard in training and were peaking at the right time playing their best soccer leading up to and through Regionals and into National play."

Winning the National Championship capped off a great season for the Bays Chelsea 15s. The team was presented the FAIR PLAY Award by the USYSA.  Over the course of the year, EVERY player added to the cause:

Matt Sanchez anchored the defense and provided solid play over the course of the season. No save he made was bigger than the one at the end of the Final vs Albion.  Sanchez was selected as Most Valuable Keeper at the National Tournament and received the 2010 USYSA Golden Glove Award.

The defense was solid all year long. Captain JP OConnor led the back line not only with solid game performance but with his attitude in training. He never took a drill off. He never took a play off. 100% effort in everything he did from start to finish. Tony Butta's physical play, timely ball winning and organization of the central defense assisted OConnor in maintaining a tough middle to break down.

Attacking from wing back: Michael Degraffenreidt, Connor Hylton and Anthony Kim were typically found on wing back over the course of the season. All were tough to beat defensively while good on attack. All (3) displayed a tireless work rate.

Callum Krach, Christian Morales, Kyle Walzak were valuable contributors in the midfield. Walzak could play central or wide. When finding the ball, good things happened including spearheading the offensive effort in the Regional Final. Christian Morales was extremely dangerous all year long with the dribble getting himself in the box or drawing defenders out wide for the cross. Callum Krach could hit a bomb on target and did so often from 20 yards and beyond. All (3) middies were crucial to the success of the side.

Jeremy DeGraffenreidt, Jonathan Barron simply could find the back of the net. Very consistent all year when healthy. When DeGraffenreidt got comfortable in a game, it was going to be very difficult for the opposing defense. He made "special" plays all year long. Not many matches went by without Barron figuring into the score sheets. Even early in the year when the team was struggling to score, Barron created chance after chance. We knew it would happen for him eventually and it did.

Christian Porras simply "created" this season. Very fun player to watch. Over the course of the long haul this season, he gained more composure in front of the net and it paid off for him and the team in great ways. Porras scored in every Regional match and National match except for the (meaningless) match in bracket play at the Finals. He led the team offensively and scored the game winning goal in the Region One League Final, the Regional Final in OT and in the National Final again in OT.

Romy Hernandez ran the show in the central midfield throughout. He's one of the very best central middies and soccer player in the country for his age and has been invited out to US Soccer National Camp as a result of his performance this season for the Chelsea 15s. His ability to create in traffic with his incredibly soft touch that makes defenders miss is second to none in the U15 age group. He played through and TRAINED through a number of injuries over the course of the season to help his team.


Chris White was a creative central middy's dream in the midfield. An all out beast all year with his tenacity, work rate and energy. He loved to mix it up and like JP OConnor, competed EVERY play. Many matches over the course of the year it was Chris White who provided a big time play to jump start the side.

Tyler Beach and Tim Wilson not only provided valuable minutes off the bench this year, but they battled with the starters in training, helping them prepare for each weekend's match. They truly bought into "TEAM" first as these players would easily be starters for other sides.

For the Coaching Staff: Brandon Quaranta, Jack Quaranta, Pat Healey and Frank Assaro, it was truly OUR pleasure in working with this team. We thank the parents for entrusting us with their boys. We appreciate the MANY sacrifices they make that allows their boys to compete with the Bays. We also recongize the very valuable contributions made by our team managers over the course of the season: Vic Sanchez and Jesse Windsor.

Baltimore Bays Chelsea 15s: 2010 USYSA NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!!!!

Congratulations to the Players pictured above:

Front Row: Jeremy Degraffenreidt, Kyle Walzak, Chris White, JP OConnor.

Middle Row: Christian Morales, Christian Porras, Jonathan Barron, Tyler Beach

Back Row: Coach Brandon Quaranta, Matt Sanchez, Mike Degraffenreidt, Romy Hernandez, Callum Krach, Connor Hylton, Tony Butta, Anthony Kim, Coach Jack Quaranta, Mgr Vic Sanchez

Not Pictured: Tim Wilson, Coach Pat Healey, Coach Frank Assaro



How the 15s got to National Finals:

* Earned a Regional League Final Four Playoff Spot based on finishing in top two in their conference.  Went on to win the Region One League Playoff at Kirkwood Soccer Complex in Delaware to Earn Berth to Regionals in West Virginia. In the Region 1 League Final, the Bays defeated FSA of Connecticut 2-0. The game winner was scored by Christian Porras and the 2nd goal to put the match out of reach was scored by Jeremy Degraffenreidt.

* Regional Bracket Play in Barbersville, West Virginia:
2-0 win over New Hampshire Classics
4-0 win over HSC Heat of Delaware
3-1 win over Manhattan Ajax of NY

* USYSA Regional Semi Final:
In the Semi Final, the boys exploded for 3 goals in the first 10 minutes of play leaving Beadling of Pittsburgh area with too much to overcome. The match ended 4-0 for the Bays.

* USYSA Regional Championship:
In the Final, tired legs were evident from both sides over the course of the match. Beachside played station to station while the Bays were a bit disconnected with a collective attack. With about 20 minutes left however, the Bays Chelsea side started attacking in #s and kept Beachside pinned in. It appeared the game winner would come over and over again, but the CT keeper was up to task while two balls were saved off the line by Beachside defenders. In OT, the break would finally come. Romy Hernandez found himself attacking down the left side 1v1 about 30 yards out. Christian Porras made an overlapping run while Romy led him with a pass into the box. Porras took one touch to goal then beat the keeper for what turned out to be the game winner. Beachside would not go away and managed to hit the crossbar off a header late in the OT period.