YMS Premier Blackout were down but far from out when they fell behind 3-0 to Medford Strikers on Saturday.
Grabbing a goal to make it 3-1 before the half, the state cup champions put together an unforgettable second half, scoring four goals to win 5-3 in a critical victory that puts them in position to advance to the knockouts in their third game today.
“We kind of dropped our heads a bit after conceding a few sloppy goals,” Toba Olaleye, who had two goals in the comeback. “But second half we came back and got the level up.”
In addition to Olaleye's brace, Sean Tarsatana, Ethan Beede and Zayd Najimi all contributed to the five unanswered goals.
YMS is level on points in the group with New England Surf after the teams played to a scoreless draw on Friday. They’ll play Real Boston FC today at 8 a.m. with a chance to advance.
“They thought they were going to be able to take care of business and they got kicked in the teeth,” head coach Elliot Baldwin said. “The message was take it one goal at a time, one moment at a time, your next action has to be good, not think about winning the game.”
Blackout is one of several Eastern PA teams with a chance to advance through today.
Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals 2011, Lower Merion FC Europa Thunder and FC Europa 2009 boys both have six points and YMS Premier United is on four points after two games. On the girls side, Keystone FC’s 2008 and 2010 teams, Reading Rage’s 2009 and 2007 teams along with Penn Alliance Select 2009, Penn FC Youth 2007 and FC Revolution Reds are all on six points after two matches.