Orlando, FL (July 23, 2023) – The Inland Surf came from behind in the second half against Eastern Pennsylvania with a pair of goals, including the winner in extra time, to capture the 19U Boys trophy this morning at the 2023 US Youth Soccer Nationals Championships.

Inland Surf were down 1-0 at the half against Council Rock United FC (PA Dominion) in the nationally televised 19U Boys final this morning, but came back on a great run and subsequent strike by Mattheos Agapitos in the 68th minute to equalize the match.

Barely into extra time, in the 90th minute, the Surf’s Felipe Cobian found himself with a penalty kick in the box, which he swiftly sunk undisturbed into the netting in the right hand corner of the goal. (It was his third penalty kick goal of the tournament.) The team held on for the remainder of extra time to walk away as the winners of the James P. McGuire Trophy for 2023, the oldest youth trophy in sports. Cobian was also named the recipient of the Golden Ball Award.

Cal South had five teams competing this week at the Nationals Championships, which were held from July 17-23 at the ESPN Wide Word of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida. The Surf , along with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, were one of two Cal South teams in the 19U Boys bracket. U14 Boys Rangers FC, 14U Girls Rebels SC Inland Empire, and 16U Boys Titans FC made up the rest of Cal South’s teams at the event.

The competition kicked off with three days of bracket pool play through Thursday, and then semifinals on Saturday, July 22nd and the finals round on Sunday, July 23rd.

UPDATE 2023-07-22: Semifinals – 19U Boys Inland Surf reached Sunday’s finals round by shutting out Lou Fusz Athletic (LFA), 2-0 early this morning, and will now face Council Rock United FC at 8:00 a.m. (ET) tomorrow for the national championship title.

UPDATE 2023-07-20: Day 3 of Pool Play – 5 more games today on the third and last day of Bracket Pool Play. In the 7:30 a.m. (all times ET) 14U Girls match, Rebels SC Inland Empire was shut out by BC United of Western New York, 2-0, and with a record of 1-1-1 have finished out of the running for the semi-finals. The 9;30 a.m. 14U Boys match saw Rangers FC shut out Manassas Gold of Virginia, 4-0 but at 1-2 overall, the Rangers did not make the semis. In the three 8:00 p.m. matches tonight, the 16U Boys of Titans FC were shut out 5-0 by Iowa’s FC United to end up with 2 losses and a draw, leaving them third in their group. The 19U Boys of FCA were defeated 5-2 by BRAUSA of Maryland for their third loss, but in the same group, the Inland Surf won their match against Illinois’ Galaxy SC, 3-1 to win their bracket and land in the semifinals on Saturday as the only Cal South team remaining in the competition. It’s a day off for most teams tomorrow, but coverage will resume on Saturday.

UPDATE 2023-07-19: Day 2 of Pool Play – 5 more matches through the day, including two evening matches. In the early morning match, 14U Rangers FC were shut out by Miami Juventus, 3-0, while in the 14U Girls 9:30 a.m. (ET) match, Rebels SC Inland Empire drew against MIFC of Florida, 1-1. In the 1:30 p.m. (ET) match, another 1-1 draw was the outcome between Titans FC and Keystone FC of Eastern Pennsylvania. In the pair of 8:00 p.m. 19U Boys matches, FCA was shut out by Houston Legends, 4-0, but the Inland Surf turned out a shutout of their own over Eastern New York’s FC Somers Arsenal, 3-0.

UPDATE 2023-07-18: Day 1 of Pool Play – Matches are underway this morning. U14 Boys Rangers FC lost their initial match early today, 2-0 to Club Ohio. 14U Girls Rebels SC Inland Empire shut out Force Elite Blue of Illinois, 2-0 to win their opening game. In the 11;30 a.m. match, 16U Boys Titans FC lost 2-1 to the Croatian Eagles of Wisconsin. In the two 19U Boys 8 p.m. matches,  Inland Surf drew 1-1 with Cincinnati United, while the Fellowship of Christian Athletes were topped by Missouri’s LFA, 2-1. More tomorrow…

Live scoring updates will take place throughout the week here on calsouth.com. Scoreboards – focusing only on games featuring Cal South teams – from this event are shown below. Final scores for the day’s matches will be updated throughout each day.

Photos from the each day of the competition are available now on our Flickr channel. Click the links below to see each day..0