August 9, 2006 USL Toronto Lynx news (from Lynx media release)

TORONTO LYNX MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LYNX JUNIORS OFF TO SUPER Y-LEAGUE FINALS

Lynx off to Minnesota as they push towards playoffs; Two more Team of the Week Honourees

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 9, 2006[TORONTO, ON] The Toronto Lynx Juniors U16 Boys have qualified for the United Soccer Leagues North American Finals, to be held in Tampa, Florida from November 17-21. The team earned their spot by winning the Midwest Division, finishing with a stellar 10-2-0 record (30 points), 1 point ahead of runners up Cleveland Soccer Academy. The club scored 40 goals over the 12 games, while conceding only 6. The U16 boys team is coached by Lynx Head Coach and Academy Director Duncan Wilde and assistant coach Billy Steele. The title is the fourth conference/division title for the Lynx Jr’s Super Y-League program and the first for the U16 boys.

“Qualifying for the Super Y-League North American Finals has been our goal since day one and this is the pinnacle of a busy year and hours and hours of hard work by the boys and the coaches”, said Wilde. The team won the prestigious Empire Cup in Rochester earlier in the year, and competed in both the Dallas Cup and reached the US Club Soccer National Cup finals, having won the New York State qualifying tournament..

The Lynx Jrs. will join 15 other clubs at the tournament, including the top two teams from each of their age-class’ 7 divisions and 2 wild-card teams. The Finals will be held as part of the 2006 USL SoccerFest, being held November 16-21 in Tampa, the home of the USL’s headquarters. The USL SoccerFest, launched last fall, is comprised of the USL Annual General Meeting in addition to the Super Y-League North American Finals. The tournament will draw 140 teams from the pinnacle of elite youth soccer in North America, and feature the top boys and girls from every region in the United States and Canada. Fox Sports World Canada will provide television coverage of the event.

“We hope to build on the great competition we had at the 2005 SYL North American Finals,” said Super Y-League Director Dan Esmond. “Each season the SYL North American Finals continues to grow and this season will be no different. The culmination of the eighth season of the Super Y-League will be exciting and hard fought. It should be another classic.”

LYNX TRAVEL WEST TO BATTLE THUNDER

The Toronto Lynx men head off to St. Paul, Minnesota to battle the Minnesota Thunder on Thursday evening as they push towards a United Soccer Leagues First Division playoff berth. The club remains on fire in the summer heat, sporting a sparking 5-2-2 record over the past nine matches, and rising to 11th place in the USL-1 table, only 9 points (3 wins) behind Atlanta and Puerto Rico, who are tied for the sixth and final playoff berth at 28 points. The Thunder sit in 12th place in the table, with 17 points from 19 matches and a 3-6-2 home record.

The trip marks only the third trip for the club to Minnesota, with the two teams having split the first two encounters. The Lynx beat the Thunder 2-1 last season in Minnesota. The match at James Griffin Stadium kicks off at 7:05 PM CDT, and can be heard live through an audio webcast at http://65.37.200.36:8000/thunder.m3u.

TWO SUPER Y-LEAGUE PLAYERS OFF TO ENGLAND

Two members of the Toronto Lynx Jr’s U15 and U16 Boys squad will head to England next week on trial. Mackenzie Wilde and Stephen Dennis will join the Tranmere Rovers U15/U16 Boys squad for three and a half weeks of training and exhibition matches, highlighted by a game against Chelsea’s youths. Wilde is the son of Lynx head coach and Lynx Jr’s director Duncan Wilde. The trip is reminiscent of the journey taken by Canadian International Iain Hume, who was sent on trial to Tranmere by Duncan Wilde and Danny Stewart as a U15 and progressed up through the youth ranks to the professional squad before joining Leicester City of the Football League Championship.

TWO MORE LYNX ON USL-1 TEAM OF THE WEEK

Once again, two Lynx players were honoured by the USL First Division being named to the USL-1 Team of the Week. Forward Kevin Jeffrey and midfielder/forward Neto are the most recent Lynx players named to the squad for their solid form of late. Kevin Jeffrey scored two goals and added an assist on Friday evening in Atlanta to power the Lynx to a 4-2 win over the Silverbacks, while Neto scored once against and added a second the next evening in a narrow 2-1 loss to the Battery in Charleston.

LYNX COMPETE IN 1/4 FINALS OF CSL OPEN CANADA CUP

The Lynx will travel to Brian Timmis Stadium in Hamilton on Sunday evening at 5:00 PM to take on Hamilton Serbians of the Ontario Soccer League in the quarter-final round of the CSL Open Canada Cup. The club, making their first run in the Open Canada Cup, defeated the Serbian White Eagles of the Canadian Soccer League in the first round with a dramatic penalty-shoot victory.

-30-

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
ROB IRWIN, DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, TORONTO LYNX SOCCER CLUB
416-251-4625 ext. 23

back to Lynx menu

.

.