The Elm City Express (New Haven, CT) became the 2017 NPSL National Champions on Saturday night after defeating Midland-Odessa FC (Midland, TX) 5-0 at Yale University’s Reese Stadium.
“It’s massive for us,” Elm City Express head coach and 2017 NPSL Coach of the Year winner Teddy Haley commented. “It started with the ownership group and the management group doing it the right way from the beginning, putting together a collection of players that bought into what we wanted to do and the vision of it. The team worked really hard to get better every week and stay together, grow together. We talked about going on a run and doing something special.”
Elm City’s goals came from forward Tavoy “The Bull” Morgan (two goals), defender Quenton Swift (two goals), and midfielder Daniel Oliveira (one goal). Express midfielder Christian Hernandez finished with three assists.
“It’s great to be around these amazing and talented guys,” Morgan commented. “We push each other every day, on and off the field. It’s a fun team.”
Morgan would score his brace in the first half, tallying goals in the 26th and 45th minutes. Swift registered his goals in the 76th and 90th minutes, while Oliveira came up big in the 80th minute.
The game was enjoyed by a crowd of 3,112, the highest crowd for Elm City this season.
Morgan was selected as Mitre Man of the Match after a vote from on-site media members. It was his fourth award of the season after winning Mitre Player of the Week (June 22nd), Third Team All-NPSL, and Northeast Region Best XI honors.
Despite the loss, Midland-Odessa FC midfielder Andrew Moullin was quite pleased with his team’s first season in the NPSL.
“I’m super proud of the team. The coaching staff is unbelievable. It’s been an honor to be a captain of this team.”
