Bartlett soccer team takes 3rd at Kick-It Championshipss
Orlando, FL – Under the team name, “Italia 6”, a team of BTSC players from the current U-19 Green team and one player from U-16 competed in the Kick-It 3v3 World Championship the weekend of Jan. 15. This marked the third year in a row the team earned a spot at the Worlds held at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando.
The tournament started slow for the team, as they lost their first game 9-7 to eventual World Champion “Roadkill” from Birmingham, Ala. The boys did make the final score close after falling behind 7-2 at halftime. Italia bounced back in the second game, however, easily handling “OSA United” from Wisconsin, 9-2. The third and final game in pool play was against “The Fire” from Georgia. Italia showed good form in winning 7-1.
Day 2 brought bracket play, as Italia faced the second place finisher from the other pool. In a very tight, physical match, Italia prevailed over “Hot Shots” from Ohio, 4-3. This set the team up for a re-match against Roadkill, whose only blemish of the weekend was a tie. Once again, Roadkill started strong, jumping out to a 3-0 lead. Showing great determination, however, Italia came storming back to tie the game with a minute to go. Unfortunately, that was the best they could do, and Roadkill executed flawlessly to score the game-winner with only 15 seconds left on the clock.
Day 3 was supposed to be the game to decide third place, but Mother Nature had other plans. Strong sustained thunderstorms completely washed out all the games, so places were determined based on the point system the tournament was using. Italia had compiled just enough points to be awarded the third place trophy, the team's best-ever finish.
Team members included (Goals/Assists): Carmelo Abate (3 G/2 A), Eric Kennebeck (5 G/4 A), Ryan Piszczek (1 G/4 A), Tyler Piszczek (4 G/5 A), Charlie Sordini (7 G/6 A), and David Wade (10 G/1 A). Defensive point duties were masterfully handled by Eric Kennebeck and Charlie Sordini. Special thanks to Coach Aldo Abate. Congratulations, men!