The coach could feel it. His players could, too. The Global Premier Soccer NH Classics U15 team was back in Aurora, Colo. for the U.S. Club Soccer Nationals for the second straight year, playing its second national tournament at the park in two weeks. But Coach John Price and the rest of the Classics could hear the scoffs, even if they were silent.
“I think it is that way because everyone looks at little New Hampshire and thinks ‘Oh, this is going to be easy,’ ” Price said.
Joined at the tournament by teams from Washington, Texas, Minnesota, New York and more, that little state made the biggest mark. The Classics earned five straight wins, the final a 3-2 victory over the New Jersey representative that crowned the New Hampshire kids national champions in a field composed of some of the best youth teams in the country.
“It was a great feeling, knowing that a small team from New Hampshire could go all the way to Colorado and beat teams from all these big states,” said forward Max Elsasser, a Dunbarton resident and Bow High player. “I could definitely feel like we were the underdogs going in. Feeling that these teams have played bigger teams and better teams than us. We haven’t had that kind of experience before.”
The rest of the teams may have been surprised, but the Bedford-based Classics weren’t. They made it to the National Cup the year before as a U-14 team and knew they had the talent to compete at this level. They were eliminated in group play past year, but that was due to mental mistakes according to Price, who played for Everton in the Premier League. So from the start of the season in November, the Classics made it a goal to get back to Colorado.
“This tournament was definitely the biggest one that we had been gearing up for all season,” Elsasser said.
And the Classics cruised through their season. They went undefeated in the Potomac Showcase in Maryland, won a showcase in Manhattan and went undefeated in the New England Premier League season. They also won the U.S. Club Soccer state tournament, punching their ticket to Aurora for the National Cup, as well as for the National Premier League championship.
The NPL tournament was up first, but the Classics stumbled. New Hampshire dropped its first two games by 2-1 scores, stopping its tournament run cold in the group stage.
“We couldn’t finish any goals,” said left back Liam Bennett, a rising sophomore at Concord High.
Next up was the big one. The National Cup loomed the following week, and the players quickly put the disappointment of the NPL loss behind them to focus on not letting the same happen in the Cup.
“We all felt really bad knowing that we blew our chance of winning a national tournament title last year,” Elsasser said. “We didn’t want that to happen again.”
Price knew that for a different ending, the approach had to be different – starting with the opener.
“It’s very important in any tournament to win your first game,” he said. “It always sets you in good standards, that standard for other people to say ‘Oh, look at this. That little team from New Hampshire just beat one of the best teams in the country.’ ”
It wasn’t easy. The Classics trailed Minnesota Twin Stars Academy by 1-0 and 2-1 scores, but tied the game on both occasions, then took their first lead on Ryan Sledjeski’s game-winner in the final minute.
“They were probably one of the strongest teams we’ve played in the last two years,” Price said.
New Hampshire had its fast start, and built on it with wins over New York’s Commack Great Danes (2-1) and Texas’s Boys Blue (1-0) to reach the semifinals. That set up a rematch with Minnesota, one that New Hampshire took with a 2-1 victory that went into penalty kicks.
The run was turning heads, and revealing a rising star for the team – Concord High sophomore goalkeeper Liam Devanny, who thrived while shutting down some of the top young forwards in the country.
“I wasn’t very nervous going in, because I was pretty confident in me and my team,” Devanny said. “I didn’t really have any nerves. … I had confidence throughout, but it definitely got stronger once we started winning a lot of games.”
“Liam Devanny is probably one of the best goalkeepers in the country that I’ve seen,” Price said. “There’s no question about that right now.”
Only New Jersey’s STA Morris United remained, and with the title close at hand, the Classics attacked from the opening whistle, sending shot after shot toward the Garden Staters’ net.
“They weren’t really prepared for us to come at them,” Bennett said. “They were a bit shocked.”
New Hampshire commanded the opportunities but not the scoreboard, as New Jersey was awarded a penalty kick and converted for a 1-0 lead. The Classics weren’t panicking; given the one-sided play and flukey nature of a penalty call, they knew there would be chances for a rally.
“We were just a better team, I could tell,” Elsasser said. “I could tell that we could easily pull it off still.”
Elsasser backed up his confidence, scoring off of a feed from Devon Garrett to tie the game.
“It was huge,” Elsasser said. “It was just a great feeling, knowing we were back in it and we were tied up.”
Not for long. Garrett scored back-to-back goals, giving New Hampshire a commanding 3-1 lead. The lead was cut in half when New Jersey scored on another penalty kick, but Price was unfazed. His team was running the game, and he knew his players weren’t about to let up.
“I didn’t think we were in any danger of losing, to be honest with you,” he said. “I was very, very confident in the final. I was very confident of winning that game. I thought, even if they had scored again, we would have scored again.”
Price was right. Devanny and the Classics defense held tight, the final whistle sounded and the goalkeeper sprinted down field to celebrate with the team’s scorers.
His teammates didn’t let him get far.
“I was running toward the people that scored when they all started running at me,” he said. “Once I realized that there was a stampede coming, I stopped and prepared.”
Just like the Classics had prepared all season long, driven by last year’s loss on the national stage. Being good enough to win is one thing, but doing it is something else entirely.
“When it came to fruition, I was just ecstatic for the players because they came so close last year,” Price said. “They’re a very, very tight-knit group, and just to see the expressions on the faces of these young boys, it was brilliant to watch.”
Confident as they were that they could be the last team left, there was still room for surprise in being the state’s first team to win the title.
“We couldn’t believe that a team from New Hampshire won,” Bennett said. “I guess we made history, yeah?”
(Drew Bonifant can be reached at 369-3340, abonifant@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at @dbonifant.)