It's been nearly a week since Seacoast United won the the USL 2 National Championship, and I can't stop thinking about how impressive an accomplishment this was.
Seacoast defeated Peoria City 3-2 to claim the crown last Saturday night in a thrilling back and forth game, with Bilal Hersi scoring the game winner in extra time.
The victory in itself was remarkable, what made the victory even sweeter was Seacoast winning at Peoria's home ground which is Bradley University's Shea Stadium. This after dumping Lionsbridge in the semi-final at their home field and besting Ocean City in the Conference quarterfinals at their home turf.
The interesting part for me is Seacoast had the best record in all of USL 2 at 13-0-1, nearly pulling an Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen invincible league season, yet still had to play on the road during this playoff run. We have still not received word from the USL 2 into why Seacoast played as guests despite being the #1 seed. Perhaps these locations were pre determined before the playoffs began, or the host teams put in bids to host particular playoff rounds.
The role of road warriors is something the Seacoast players and staff embraced as they seemingly found every way to win during this historic playoff run. Whether they came from behind, which they had to vs Lionsbridge and Peoria, or dominated, which they did vs Vermont Green in the Conference Semi-Final, the New Hampshire based club proved they are a team that should be remembered for a long time.
With players hailing from all over New England, Seacoast's talent pool is very strong and represents colleges and universities from all over the country. Midfield maestro Marco Dos Santos represents Boston College. Attackers Terry Makedika and Ibrahim Conde rep the New Hampshire Wildcats. USL 2 playoff MVP Taig Healy will finish his college career for the Wolfpack of NC State via the New Hampshire Wildcats, and net minder and unsung hero Tobias Jahn is a Northeastern Husky via the U of Wisconsin Green Bay.
Another Husky in the squad is defender Harry Bertos. Bertos who applies his trade as a defender for the University of Washington Huskies is a Bedford, New Hampshire native and models his game after Man City's Kyle Walker. Bertos told Footy New England that this group has been training together for a better part of 5 years. He also mentioned that he has not only developed as a player but as a person and winning this championship with this group completes their story. Bertos also talked about creating lifelong friendships and winning this title with a team from New Hampshire proves that anything is possible.
This leaves us with the man responsible for creating this Championship winning roster, Coach Alex Ryan. Ryan is the MLS Next Director for Seacoast and is the GM/Coach of this extremely talented bunch. Ryan who has 50+ career wins for the team has had a front row seat the last several years seeing many of these players come through the academy ranks and now contribute at the top level for the club. Since Ryan's takeover of the USL 2 team they have had their most successful run in club history making deep runs in the playoffs year in and year out.
It has been a pleasure covering this team all spring and summer. I had Seacoast rated #1 in my New England Power Rankings since June 12th and they proved all season why they are the best team in New England. Once again Footy New England brings you the top unbiased Local soccer coverage around. Congrats to Seacoast and all who were involved in this epic championship run.
Photos Courtesy of USL 2 and Seacoast United Phantoms
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