Fridley-Heights U16 Boys First at Soccer Tournament

The Fridley-Heights Lightning U16 Boys Soccer team took first place in the Northeast Soccer Association Annual (NESA) Tournament held June 10-12, 2011, in Maplewood. 

Teams came from as far away as Hibbing and Grand Forks to participate in the three-day tournament. The Lightning started off with a disappointing 3-2 loss to the NESA’s home team. Saturday morning, they rallied and posted a 6-0 shutout against the Hibbing-Chisholm Soccer Club due to solid goalkeeping by Dan Griffith and Hector Leon.

An exciting game Sunday morning against a well-matched Grand Forks team resulted in a 1-1 tie, which earned the Fridley-Heights team a place in the championship game Sunday afternoon. There, they met the same NESA team to which they had lost Friday night. The Fridley-Heights team was focused and determined, and the thrilling 3-2 final score reflected that. Goals were scored in the championship game by Jacob Peterson, Hussein Mohamed and Nick Rathke.

The Fridley-Heights Lightning U16 Boys are currently at the top of the standings for the Minnesota Youth Soccer Association Classic 3 North division.