The Lou Ramos Classic prides itself on being the nation’s top Labor Day tournament for good reason. Through each age group, the talent level was extremely high and provided a great challenge for the Cleveland United Boys U13 Elite team. The boys headed to Allentown, PA to take on some of the top ranked teams in the nation.

The first group match versus Philadelphia SC Coppa Flash was close only in the score line. The boys controlled possession and limited Coppa to 1 shot on goal the entire game. We kept the pressure on through both halves and broke through with a goal from Stefan Dobrijevic. The game could have easily been a 4 or 5 goal lead as the boys took the instruction "put it on frame" literally and peppered the post and cross bar several times, but finished with a 1-0 win.

In the second game on Saturday, we continued to dominate possession, and this time on the score board, against Cherry Hill FC Scorpions from New Jersey. Through goals from Gavin Csiszar (3), Stefan Dobrijevic (2) and Noah Leemaster (1), the boys jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. The defense kept the ball out of our half of the field helping us to finish with a 6-0 win and 1st place in our group heading into Sunday’s semi-final against Ukrainian Nationals Zoria Black from Philadelphia.

Having beaten this top 25 team in the nation (GotSoccer.com) last fall at the EDP Cup 4-0, the boys knew that they would be coming back for some revenge. United put Ukrainian Nationals on the back foot quickly with a beautiful 1-2 pass and finish from Gavin Csiszar to Stefan Dobrijevic. Ukrainian Nationals tied the match at 1, but it didn’t phase United. The boys took the lead back with a goal from Josh Ray off of a nice pass from Noah Leemaster 2 minutes before the break. The defense held the Ukrainian Nationals off for the rest of the match to secure the 2-1 win and secure a spot in the championship. 

In the final, we faced Valeo FC Elite from Boston who was ranked #3 in the nation by GotSoccer.com. They showed their quality early with their speed and size and put home 2 first half goals. Our boys fought hard and came out in the 2nd half with better control and possession of the ball. Despite the hard work and “never give up” attitude, we conceded a couple late goals to fall 4-0. While the final didn’t end as they wanted it, the boys showed excellent play throughout the weekend against some of the best teams the east coast has to offer. They left Allentown proud of a fantastic accomplishment!