Super Y National League Feature

Saturday, December 12, 2015

BRADENTON, Fla. – DCPDA Head Coach Whitney Minnis has a scheme that embraces his players’ creativity. The U-16 team is looking to advance out of Group D of the 2015 Super Y League North American Finals, and Minnis has the luxury of a player he has coached for the past seven years leading the way.

Forward Jake Barrette scored his second goal in as many games Saturday as DCPDA defeated Liberty F.C. 4-1 at IMG Academy. DCPDA built a 4-0 lead by halftime, but the score was deceiving as those four goals were the only opportunities DCPDA put on frame during that stretch, while the defense and goalkeeper Emmanuel Vargas bailed out the team early on.

“They preach about finishing our chances,” Barrette said. “We also like to focus on the little things, and that turned out to be our defensive play as you saw here. It differs from game to game.”

Barrette can certainly appreciate Vargas’ performance, seeing as how forward was not his first position of choice early in his youth career.

“I actually started out as a goalkeeper when I was U-10 or U-11,” Barrette said. “I grew early, and that’s when I moved to striker so I could use my physical attributes.”

“Jake has been phenomenal,” Minnis said of his team’s forward. “He’s your prototypical player. This is my seventh year with him, and as a U-10 he was a different player and had some knee and ankle issues. But he kept working hard and developing.”

Minnis said Barrette has worked with some clubs from the Dutch First Division to further his development and opportunities, as well, so the mantra at DCPDA about expressing originality is preached in this development approach.

“The whole principle of it is we try to allow as much player flexibility and freedom as possible,” Minnis said. “I don’t like to stifle their creative freedom. We play within the system. It’s basically a 4-3-3, but we modify it depending on the game and how things are going.”

“For me, a lot of it is holding the ball up,” Barrette said. “I’ll open space for the midfielders to come up, for Marcelus [Jones] who had a great game today.”

Jones was DCPDA’s top scorer Saturday with two goals and an assist on Barrette’s first-half goal. DCPDA is 1-0-1 (4 points) and atop Group D in points alongside Norcross Soccer Academy (1-0-1, 4 points).

SYL North American Finals Top Performers
Marcelus Jones, DCPDA, U16 Boys – DCPDA’s offense needed a jolt after sustaining some scary moments on the defensive end, and Jones was up to task with two goals and helped set up another goal in the first half of the team’s 4-1 win against Liberty F.C.

Alex Eristavi, Alpharetta Ambush Soccer Club, U14 Boys – Eristavi scored two second-half goals to lead his side to a 2-1, come-from-behind victory against Midwest United FC to move to 2-0-0 in Group B.

Tyler Fine, ACYS Spirit United, U14 Boys – Fine fueled a strong first half from the Spirit with three goals and an assist as his side scored five times in the first half for a 5-0 victory against the Westchester Flames. ACYS is 2-0-0 and has outscored its Group C opponents 12-0 in the tournament.

Patrick Rivas, Annandale United Majestics FC, U13 Boys – Rivas scored two goals and assisted another as the Majestics topped Parsippany 5-0 to sit atop Group B with a 2-0-0 record. Elton Quintanilla added a goal and two assists.

Tommaso Villa, Internationals Soccer Club, U12 Boys – Villa scored two goals and set up two others during his team’s win against Prince William Courage. Teammate Jack Foht (two goals, one assist) and Owen Dollins (two goals) also had standout performances for Internationals.

Joseph Scally, Long Island Rough Riders, U12 Boys – Scally had a repeat performance from a day ago, scoring two first-half goals to lead the Rough Riders to a 2-0 win against Midwest United FC. Scally has scored all four of his team’s goals in the tournament.