Team Updates

Michigan State Cup
(Posted February 5)
MSYSA Announces State Cup Pools

The Michigan State Youth Soccer Association (MSYSA) has released pairings for the 2010 State Cup tournament. Canton Celtic '94 Black has been established as the tournament's overall #4 seed and the top seed in its group. This is the highest seeding the '94 boys have ever been awarded.

Celtic will host matches against Michigan Burn '94 White and Vardar East. Celtic will travel to Fraser to play Fraser United in a rematch of a game Celtic won last year in State Cup pool play.

There are eight groups in the tournament this year, which means Celtic will have to win its group to advance - there will be no wild-card teams.

Should Celtic win its group for the third consecutive year, they face a likely rematch against overall #5 Kingdom Premier from Kalamazoo. Kingdom was also a State Cup quarter-finalist in 2009. The winner of that match will likely face Grand Rapids Crew Juniors, the tournament's #1 seed and the top-ranked U16 team in the country (according to NationalSoccerRanking).

Midwest Regional League
(Posted December 29)
MRL Announces Celtic League Opponents

The Midwest Regional League has announced the seven teams that will battle Celtic '94 Black in the MRL First Division Red this spring. Two of the seven teams are ranked regionally by NationalSoccerRanking, and six of them are ranked in the top 10 for their states.

From Indiana, Celtic will square off against Citadel 94 White and Fort Wayne Fever Academy. Citadel is #3 in Indiana and #40 in the region, while Fever is #6 in Indiana. This will be the first match between Celtic and Citadel, but the Fever side has been on Celtic's schedule a few times in the past two years. Celtic will travel to Fort Wayne for these matches on April 30-May 1.

Celtic will also face three sides from northern Ohio. Cleveland FC 93/94 Blue, Toledo Football Academy, and Cleveland Select, ranked 1, 3 and 5 respectively in Ohio North, will all face Celtic this season for the first time. Celtic will host these matches on April 17-18.

From Michigan, Celtic renews their rivalries with the Michigan Wolves (#50 in the region, #8 in the state) and Waza FC Royal.

Celtic enters the season ranked #26 in the region and #6 in Michigan.

Indoor Season
(Updated February 28)
Waza F.C. Royal, February 27, Draw: 0-0
Waza F.C. Royal, February 28, Win: 1-0
Goal: Nathan from Bobby
Celtic clinched the league title with a draw and win over Waza F.C. Royal.

In the weekend's first match, Celtic carried most of the play but was unable to put the ball past the Waza keepers. A strong overall team defensive effort, backstopped by Rene and Brandon, kept Waza off the board as well and put Celtic in a position to win the league in their last game.

On Sunday, Celtic scored just six minutes into the match. Bobby intercepted a Waza pass and drilled a shot that bounced off the Waza keeper - Nathan was in a perfect position to pounce on the rebound and he did not make a mistake with his shot from close range. Celtic nearly scored again 5 minutes later, but Bobby's shot found the post and bounced wide. The rest of the game saw steady pressure from Celtic, but the Waza keepers were up to the challenge several times.

The stars of this match were the boys on Celtic's back line. Ethan and Michael took the middle of the field away from the Waza forwards, and Tyler, Zach D and Steven shut down the flanks, limiting Waza to just one real scoring opportunity. With about 10 minutes in the match, a Waza forward unleashed a strong shot that Brandon dove on and pushed wide to preserve the shutout and the league title.

Bloomfield Force, January 24, Win: 7-0
Goal: Nathan from Michael
Goal: Bobby from Richie, Josh and Tyler
Goal: Richie from Tyler, Bobby, Jake and Ethan
Goal: Nathan
Goal: Eric from Ethan and Tyler
Goal: Tyler from Eric
Goal: Richie from Will, Jake and Zach J
In their second match of the day, Celtic dismantled Bloomfield Force, scoring early and often for a 7-0 victory.

Nathan opened the scoring less than three minutes into the match on a superb individual effort. Michael started the play with a long goal kick that skipped past the Force defender. With the keeper sprinting to the top of his box, Nathan won the race to the ball, tipped it past him and then nearly slid into the far post to tap the ball into the net just before it went out of bounds. Bobby made it 2-0 just three minutes later, when Tyler's corner kick carried over the box to Josh. Josh controlled it and played Richie, who laid it to Bobby about 25 yards out.

Celtic scored again two minutes later, when Richie took a pass in the box from Tyler at the end of a sequence of passes that included Bobby, Jake and Ethan. The score became 4-0 at the 16-minute mark, when Nathan blocked a Force clear and drove it into the net. Eric got Celtic's fifth goal midway into the match on a play from Tyler and Ethan, and Tyler got on the board a couple of minutes after that when he collected Eric's direct kick and drove it under the crossbar. Richie got his second and Celtic's seventh of the match with about eight minutes to play, when he scored from the middle of the box; Celtic showed great poise building to the goal, with Will, Jake and Zach J. all making nice passes.

Toledo Football Academy (#3, Ohio North), January 24, Draw: 1-1
Goal: Michael
Their first match of the day saw Celtic control play, holding Toledo F.A. to just a couple of shots on goal, and yet it took a late, fluke goal to earn Celtic the draw.

After Toledo F.A. opened the scoring less than 10 minutes into the game, Celtic carried play but a combination of shots just over and well over the crossbar, as well as some nice saves by the TFA keeper kept the boys off the scoreboard.

Celtic finally leveled the match with about 18 minutes to play. A TFA foul at midfield gave Celtic a free kick and Michael's long, high shot bounced in front of the Toledo keeper and over his head.

Pacesetters (#4, Ohio North), January 17, Win: 4-1
Goal: Bobby from Ethan and Jake
Goal: Nathan from Tyler
Goal: Bobby from Will and Richie
Goal: Bobby from Josh and Tyler
In their second match of the day, Celtic completely dominated Pacesetters, scoring early and late to take the match by a score of 4-1.

Bobby opened the scoring just minutes into the game. Celtic earned a throw-in and Jake found Ethan checking to the ball. Ethan turned and caught Bobby on a run up the middle of the field, and his shot deflected off the bottom of the crossbar and behind the keeper.

After Pacesetters tied the match at 1-1, Celtic scored off a set-piece. Nathan made a run to the back post on a corner and was in perfect position to drive Tyler's cross into the net.

Celtic closed the scoring with two more goals from Bobby late in the match. His first came after Will intercepted a pass deep in the Pacesetters end and played Richie in the middle. Richie laid it off to Bobby, who made a sharp cut and hit with his left foot from about 20 yards out. A few minutes later, Tyler played a long ball to Josh, who dropped it back to Bobby. The Pacesetters keeper was not anticipating a shot and Bobby made him pay with a shot from about 25 yards from goal.

Celtic nearly made it 5 or even 6 goals in the match. First, Bobby picked off a pass with the keeper well off his line, but his shot stayed on the ground and the keeper was able to scramble back into position. With less than 30 seconds in the game, Bobby and Richie played a nice combination that released Richie on a run up the right wing - but Richie's shot skipped across the face of the goal and out of play as the final whistle blew.

Michigan Wolves (#50, Region 2; #8, Michigan), January 17, Draw: 1-1
Goal: Tyler
Celtic drew 1-1 against the Michigan Wolves at Total Soccer, in a renewal of an old rivalry against a team that will also appear on Celtic's MRL schedule.

The draw was an unfortunate result for Celtic, which carried and controlled play for most of the match. Celtic got its goal fairly early in the match, when Ethan released Nathan with a beautiful through ball. Nathan was chopped down in the box and Tyler stepped to the spot to take the penalty. The Wolves keeper saved the initial shot, but the ball bounced right out to Tyler, who settled it and slipped it into the goal.

The Wolves scored on their only real scoring chance late in the game to tie the match at 1-1 and barely held on. A corner from Bobby that found Ethan's head was deflected over the goal with just a couple of minutes to play, and Richie's shot from well inside the box was saved by the Wolves keeper with less than 10 seconds on the clock.

Toledo Football Academy (#3, Ohio North), January 10, Draw: 0-0
In a preview of a future Midwest Regional league match, Celtic drew 0-0 against Toledo Football Academy at Total Soccer.

From a good news-bad news perspective, the good news was that Celtic controlled most of the play, holding an obvious edge in possession time and several times stringing together a series of passes in their attack. The bad news, of course, is that they were unable to find the back of the net against the TFA keeper, in spite of several excellent chances and numerous corner kick opportunities.

The stars of the match were the two keepers, Brandon and Rene, and everyone who played on the back line - Michael, Steven, Ethan, Tyler, Zach D and Josh. The defenders were physical and poised, and limited the TFA shots on goal. Brandon was strong off his line early in the match, and Rene preserved the shutout with a diving save late in the match.

Additional good news came in the crispness of the Celtic play - much better passes and movement off the ball against a stronger team than they saw last week.

Pacesetters (#4, Ohio North), January 3, Win: 1-0
Goal: Bobby from Austen, Richie and Eric
Celtic resumed club play with a solid win over a strong side from Ohio North, defeating Pacesetters 1-0 at Total Soccer.

The teams traded chances early, with Pacesetters actually having the best early opportunity - but Rene made a beautiful save, stretching to his left to push a shot wide. Control shifted between the two sides, with neither dominating possession through the first 2/3 of the match.

Celtic started earning very good chances late in the game. Tyler nearly scored from distance, Zach J. chipped the keeper with a ball that was cleared off the line before it could count, and Bobby hit a shot that skipped along the crossbar before running out.

Late in the game, Celtic finally broke through with the game's only goal. Bobby, Austen, Richie and Eric combined to move the ball the length of the field, before Bobby took the ball about 25 yards out. Bobby's left-foot shot found the upper 90.

Celtic played strong defense most of the game, and really dug in over the last 15 minutes, with Brandon finishing the shutout.