Déjà vu in Davis for U14 Alameda United Boys Select Soccer Team

For friends and family of the Alameda United U14 Boys Select soccer team, it was a diverting weekend of déjà vu in warm, sunny Davis. 

It wasn’t just because many of the players were participating in this tournament for the third year in a row. (“It’s the best,” said Alameda United head coach Ben Putterman, who might be slightly biased because he grew up in Davis.) 

Rather, it harkened back to the team’s . First, another slow, frustrating, Saturday morning start to overcome. Then, another dominating Sunday afternoon finish with a flourish, to end up among the tournament’s top teams. 

The good news for the locals is that Alameda United rebounded from a painfully slow start against the eventual champion, getting better and stronger in every game to sweep through the rest of the tournament with a combined goals for/against ratio of 18/1 (after beginning 0/4) and three straight wins against competitive teams drawn from across Northern California (Marin County, Truckee, and Davis). 

A 4-0 Saturday morning smackdown by Davis Legacy AC Milan was followed by consecutive 5-0, 5-1, and 8-0 wins over the Ross Valley Breakers, the Sierra Mountain Strikers, and Davis Legacy United to clinch Alameda United’s second third-place weekend tournament finish of the season. 

That’s been the weekend tournament formula for Alameda United this season—a flat start followed by a fabulous finish and a consolation prize. It has its rewards—there are happy endings, smiling faces, and some soccer swag for the victors. But it also leaves questions about what might’ve been. 

“We could’ve won this tournament,” said Coach Putterman.  “In hindsight, there’s no way we’re 4-0 worse than Davis Legacy AC Milan. No disrespect to them, because they’re an excellent, well-coached team, but if we’d played against them on Saturday the way we played against Davis United on Sunday, there’s a very good chance that we’d be going home undefeated with a tournament championship.” 

Saturday morning against Davis Legacy AC Milan was a game that simply got away from Alameda. “We basically handed them three of their goals,” said Coach Putterman.  “That’s a momentum killer. And I’m having a hard time thinking of a single player of ours who played well for the entire game. A few played well for half the game, but no one could sustain much consistency through the entire contest.” 

So Alameda had to do, again, what it did under similar circumstances in Pleasanton—put that ugly first game behind them, forget about it, and focus on finishing strong. It started with playing solid defense. 

“Our defense is usually our lynchpin; it holds everything together,” said Coach Putterman. “We had some glaring breakdowns in our first game.  And our passing was awful. After we fixed those things and got some people back on track, we only gave up one more goal for the rest of the tournament, and that was on a stupendous shot in the Sierra Mountain game by their best player.” 

As Alameda got back on the winning track Saturday afternoon and Sunday, tournament play helped trigger the emergence some different players than those who had carried the team for most of the season. 

“Two of our previously unsung heroes in Davis were Pravash Gautam and Mingus Knox White,” said Coach Putterman. “Pravash scored what turned out to be the winning goal in our playoff game for third place on Sunday afternoon. But that wasn’t his biggest contribution—that was just the icing on the cake. What really helped his team was the consistent hustle he displayed and the quality minutes he gave us at the midfield and striker positions on a warm day when players on both teams were clearly struggling with the conditions. 

“Mingus also scored a big goal, which helped start our Saturday afternoon turnaround against Ross Valley,” Coach Putterman continued.  “His first-half goal, which came on a follow shot, helped establish some momentum for us in that game.  Mingus also gave us some much-needed minutes and relief in the stopper position, which is right in the center of our defense.” 

Weather permitting, Alameda United will return to action Saturday morning, Nov. 5, against the Montclair Clippers at Merritt College, which will be Alameda’s final league game. Then on Sunday morning, Nov. 5, Alameda travels to Sacramento to face Capital Athletic Soccer Academy Boca 97 in a State Cup ranking/seeding game.