Crystal Palace Baltimore have a break in their league schedule this weekend. The team will take the opportunity to play a scrimmage against a regional, college all-star team at Poly/Western High School as part of the Baltimore International Festival.
The match kicks off at 6:00p.m. this Saturday, August 1, 2009 at the school's Lumsden-Scott Stadium field - admission to the game is free.
Crystal Palace is a proud sponsor of the 5th Annual Mayor's Cup Soccer Tournament, a key component of the Baltimore International Festival, in which community soccer teams representing 20 countries compete over two days, with the final set for Sunday at 3:30pm.
Cameroon, the winner of the 2005, 2006 and 2008 Cup will be returning for the 5th consecutive year.
Teams vying for the 2009 competition include: Sierra Leone, Moldova, Ethiopia, China, Germany, Jamaica, Romania, Liberia, Trinidad, Senegal, South Korea, El Salvador and the U.S.A. For more information on the Baltimore International Festival and the Mayor's Cup Soccer Tournament, visit http://www.baltimorecity.gov/ifest/.
The squad of players that will comprise the regional, college all-star team includes the following, several of whom have been training each weekday throughout the summer with the Crystal Palace pro team (marked with an *):
Jamie Darville*
Forward, Loyola (Senior)
Hometown: London, England
2009 MAAC preseason Player of the Year as voted on by the league's 10 coaches, while also earning a spot on the preseason team, led a potent 2008 Loyola scoring attack with 39 points, scoring team-highs of 14 goals and 11 assists, 2008 MAAC Offensive Player of the Year, earned a spot on the league First Team, as well on the NSCAA/adidas All-North Atlantic Regional team. Named to the third-team Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Year - a variation of an All-America team.
Phil Bannister*
Forward, Loyola (Junior)
Hometown: Newcastle, England
Named to the 2009 preason All-MAAC team by the league's 10 coaches, earned a spot on the NSCAA/Adidas All-North Atlantic Regional Team, as well as a First Team All-MAAC selection
Tennant McVea
Defender, Loyola (Senior)
Hometown: Belfast, Northern Ireland
A returning All-American senior defender, was named to the 2009 second team preseason All-America list by College Soccer News this offseason and to the preseason All-MAAC team. As 2008 team captain became the first Loyola player since Zach Thornton in 1993 to be named a NSCAA First Team All-American.
Along with goalkeeper Milos Kocic, who was named to the Second Team, the pair became just the 10th and 11th players in school history to earn the accolade. Center back won his second straight MAAC Defensive Player of the Year award and was named to the First Team All-MAAC, also played for Northern Ireland U-17, U-18 and U-19 international squads.
Charlie Hutton
Midfielder/Defender, Loyola (Junior)
Hometown: Bradford, England
Captained the soccer and rugby teams at Guiseley School in his home country, also played club soccer for Leeds United F.C.
Eddie Dines
Midfielder, Loyola (Junior)
Hometown: Newcastle, England
Played and started in all 23 games as a freshman in 2007, was the team's second-leading scorer with nine goals and three assists, named second-team All-MAAC honoree.
Marco Mangione*
Midfielder, Towson (Junior)
Hometown: Parkville, Maryland
Played a total of 30 games in his first two years at Towson, named second team All-Baltimore County by The Baltimore Sun as a senior at Calvert Hall High School, played for Baltimore Bays U-18 team.
Phil Greatwich*
Defender, Towson (Junior)
Hometown: Lewes, England
Captained his school team in his home country, played a total of 37 games as a freshman and sophomore for the Tigers.
Andrew Bulls
Midfielder/Defender, UMBC (Sophomore)
Hometown: Baltimore, Maryland
Earned 2008 America East Conference All-Rookie Team honors… Named league's Rookie of the Week on four occasions, capturing the honor on Sept. 2, Sept. 8, Sept. 29 (co-winner) and Oct. 20… Selected as the team's Most Valuable Player.
John Paul Waraksa
Midfielder, UMBC (Junior)
Hometown: Media, Pennsylvania
Second in points with eight in school's 2008 campaign, two-time first-team All-Delco Pennsylvania honoree playing for Strath Haven High School in Wallingford, PA
Sean Rothe
Midfielder, UMBC (Junior)
Hometown: Dundalk, Maryland
Earned first-team All-State and second-team All-Metro honors as a senior at Baltimore's Arch Bishop Curley High School.
Chris Williams
Defender, UMBC (Junior)
Hometown: Parkville, Maryland
Named to the All-Tournament team in the adidas Kick-Off Classic 2008, named to the 2007 America East All-Rookie team.
Crystal Palace Baltimore President and Co-Manager remarked: "This is a great opportunity for us to get a close-up look at some of the area's best college players. We know some of the guys because they've been training with us, but several will be new to us, so it's good to be able to get a sneak preview of those who may want to play professionally some day.
"I think it's exciting for them to play against current professional players to see how they measure up, as they continue to prepare for their fall college seasons."
Palace return to league action with their penultimate regular season fixture on August 7th in Harrisburg against the City Islanders.
Baltimore then close out their campaign in Pittsburgh on August 15th, but will hope to extend their season by qualifying for the post-season which will require a fifth place finish or higher.
The team currently sits in a tie with local rival Real Maryland for that fifth and final playoff spot, but the Rockville-based side has two games in hand over Baltimore.
