Lakewood Ranch Chargers U16 boys reach national playoffs

Head Coach Daniel Anderson took his Lakewood Ranch Chargers U16 boys soccer team on a hike at Red Rocks, in Morrison, Colorado.

It was just him and the team, no other parents or coaches.

The team was in the area for the 2023 National Premier Leagues Finals, held July 6-12 in Denver, and before the action began, Anderson wanted his team to get focused. 

The hike, surrounded by Red Rocks' picturesque setting, was a perfect opportunity to do that. Before the action of the NPL Finals began, the players immersed themselves in nature, clearing their minds and getting ready for the tough work ahead. 

"I've traveled the globe extensively, but some of the boys had never even been outside of Florida before," Anderson said. "To see the look in their eyes when they saw snow, or these high mountains, it was awesome. It was a beautiful experience for all of them." 

Anderson said the Chargers were as ready as they could be, but they were eliminated in the first round of the finals after going 1-1-1 in group play against teams from Colorado, Texas and California. 

To the team, the results of the finals mattered less than getting there in the first place. The Chargers qualified for the event by winning its Florida Club League division. The team went 14-1-1 in league play and beat Tampa club Florida Celtic, which Anderson called the team's "nemesis," 1-0 to clinch the league title. 

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"At the beginning of the trip, we all made sure to recognize how proud we were for getting where we did," center midfielder Oliver Murray said. "We got to Colorado because we deserved it. That's still an accomplishment that we can talk about forever."

Murray said the altitude change in Denver affected the team, especially early in the tournament. Once you started to run, Murray said, it became difficult to breathe, and it took a while for the players' bodies to adjust. But Murray would not use the change as an excuse for the Chargers' early exit. The team just didn't play well enough, he said. But it's not going to be the games he remembers from the trip. It will be things like zip-lining or white-water rafting with his teammates. 

"We bonded more than ever," Murray said.

Mark Yencik, a defensive midfielder, said he could tell from the 2023 season's beginning that this year would be different. It was the team's passing that had improved. It was crisp in a way it had not previously been, and the team was communicating better on the field. When combined, those things helped the team create more possession time, which is vital in soccer — the other team can't score if it doesn't have the ball, after all. 

Anderson, who has coached the group for four years, said he was able to have the team play in a 3-4-3 formation, which is unusual for this level of soccer. Typically, teams want to keep more than three defenders back, but the Chargers had fast players on the wing and solid, responsible midfielders like Murray and Yencik, who served as co-captains.

That combination of speed and smarts allowed the Chargers to take more risks going forward with the ball, Anderson said. It's something professional teams are beginning to do more, and it worked like a charm for the Chargers. In 37 games played between the NPL season and other tournaments, the team held its opponent scoreless in 23 of them, a mark that thrilled Anderson. 

That defensive prowess is what allowed the Chargers to overcome Florida Celtic and clinch its league title after years of coming up short. Yencik said the feeling of finally winning that matchup was unlike anything else.

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"Everyone was ecstatic," Yencik said. "We all came together. It was an 'I can't explain it with words' experience. We just felt it."

Yencik said the biggest lesson he will take from the NPL Finals, and the season as a whole, is that his team was never out of a game. No matter the score, he said, the Chargers believed they could win.

Youth soccer rosters change every season, and it will be no different for the Chargers as the players move from U16 to U17. Murray said he believes four to five players will be leaving the team for various reasons, with the same number of players joining from other teams. But the core will remain together, which means the Chargers will likely have another chance to reach the Finals at U17 in 2024. 

"We have proven that we are one of the best teams in the area, at least for our age group," Murray said. "Teams should be careful of us. We still have a lot left to prove. This team is special and still has a lot going for it in the future."