DENVER – Teamwork was the watchword on the final day of adidas ESP here at Dick's Sporting Goods Park Tuesday.
The closure of the event saw Ross Paule's squad take the competition title with a 1-0 win over Paul Caligiuri's group, as more than 100 players and a multitude of coaches watching wound down the week's activity.
Julian Griggs scored the winner on a rebounded penalty kick for Paule's men. The award was a bit soft but that wasn't the Maryland forward's fault. His initial spot kick was saved by Texas goalkeeper Sean Cote, but Griggs pounced on the rebound to score the 1st half winner.
Individual showcasing is the name of the game here, but the hotly contested match indicates the players wanted to excel as a group too, something Paule had emphasized to his team.
"It's all about a team sport. These kids are coming from all over and coming together and having fun with it. They all have talent and someone who believes in them or they wouldn't be here," he said. "They're here for a reason, and they need to have confidence to go out and show themselves. The team that forms the best together is the team that's going to have the coaches looking at it the most."
New York midfielder Greg Davis, who had a solid game in the middle, echoed his coach's comments.
"We just respect and trust each other individually and that allows us to work together very well," he said. "There's a lot of talent here but the only way to win is to be a team."
Championship Match Lineup
Team Caligiuri
GK: Michael Attal
D: Nolan McKeever, Paul Yonga, Darvin Ebanks, Arturo Garza
M: Sebastian Lletget, Gaeton Caltabiano, Lepekola Seetane
F: Nick Grigoriev, Alec Sundly, Chipper Root
Subs: Sean Cote, Joe Mills, Dylan Asher, Zach Foxhoven, Harrison Petts, Cole Chapleski
Team Paule
GK: Cody Mizell
D: Marco Kotterer, Joseph Sofia, Ryan Metts, Ross Tomaselli
M: Ryan Neil, Greg Davis, Anthony Kattreh, Scott Thomsen
F: Orlando Castaneda, Donny Toia
Subs: Max Kurtzman, Lucas Dall'Orso, Julian Griggs, Aaron Hebden, Chris Meingast, Glenn Whelan
Classification Games
Mamadou Kansaye finished a serve from Dominick Sarle to give Team Santel a 1-1 draw with Team Dos Santos. Reid Hukari had put his team up 1-0 in the early going.
Sergio Lopez's goal from a scramble gave Team Mondelo a 1-0 win over Team Quinn in the other classification game.
3rd Place Game Lineups
Team Santel
GK: Adam Grinwis
D: Joseph Pinto, Boyd Okwuonu, Mauricio Diaz DeLeon, James Petrucelli
M: Mamadou Kansaye, Jacob Bushue, Ted Mullin,. Dominick Sarle
F: Clifford Lyle, Jesse Ortiz
Subs: Drew Hutchins, Jack Coleman, Josh Gatt, Jon Guzman, Sung Moon
Team Dos Santos
GK: Clayton Adams
D: Trevor Hubbard, Sebastien Ibeagha, Josh Sylva, Caleb Stanko
M: Harrison Shipp, Salvador Bernal, AJ Corrado, Tyler Arnone
F: Jordan Tyler, Reid Hukari
Subs: Taylor Hafling, Christian Alvarado, Alex Martinez, Michael Raley, Sean Cunningham (inj)
Showcase Game Lineups
Team Quinn
GK: Spencer LaCivita
D: Billy McGuinness, Nat Eggleston, Isack Niyongabo
M: Arturo Cruz, Kovi Konowiecki, Dominic Bonilla, Nick Palodichuk, Henry Rios
F: Robert Botchway, Dylan Gaydosh
Subs: Preston Langholz, Ryan Buda, David Caban, Dale McDonald, Chris Nieto, Julio Velasquez
Team Mondelo
GK: Brian Carr
D: William Nieto-Flores, Nicholas Alers, Cody Henderson, Ethan Harlow
M: Leon Carby, Joshua Barens, Guillermo Licona, Marc Fernandez
F: John Davidson, Uly Mosqueda
Subs: Keon Parsa, Michael Derbecker, Sergio Lopez, Jon Paul Medina, Moises Orozco, Jon Tovar
