About the Golden Lions

Lehigh Valley United Football Club

LV Golden Lions U18 Girls Premier Soccer
"The Image of a champion is someone who is bent over, drenched in sweat, and the coach is not looking." - Anson Dorrance

About the Lehigh Valley Golden Lions

The Lehigh Valley Golden Lions Girls Premier Soccer Team is part of the Lehigh Valley Premier Soccer Club. Competing in 2006-2007 at U14, the team is composed of girls born between August 1, 1992 and July 31, 1993 but is open to highly qualified girls born prior to those dates. Players selected to the team receive high level, professional coaching and training, competition at high level tournaments in PA, NJ, NY, DE, MD, VA, etc., and league competition at the highest levels in the PAGS (Philly Area Girls Soccer) and JAGS (Jersey Area Girls Soccer) leagues.

In the nearly 3 years the team has been together, both as an LVYSL select team (at U11 and U12) and now as the Golden Lions, the team has compiled a record of 50-35-37 in league, tournament, and cup play competing in 23 high level tournaments with 4 championship finishes, 3 finalist appearances, plus one 3^rd place and two semi-finalist finish. The Golden Lions were a quarter-finalist in the PAGS U13 Premier (Red) Division in Fall, 2005, a semi-finalist in the PAGS U14 Championship division in Fall, 2006, and a quarter-finalist at U14 in the EPYSA National Championship Series state cup in Spring, 2007.

Tryouts for the team occur in late April-early May with roster selections made as soon as possible after tryouts are over. For players selected to the team, the Golden Lions will become their “primary” team. The team selected as a result of the tryouts begin activity as a team on or about late July, 2007. Practices are generally two nights per week with a mandatory five day “trainer week” with twice daily sessions, July 23-27, conducted by Mr. McNeish and by trainers from United Soccer Academy. Four tournaments are planned between August and November. League play in PAGS, the Philadelphia Area Girls Soccer League, generally begins the weekend following Labor Day and concludes in November. League matches can be Saturday or Sunday and occasionally both days.

Indoor activities including league and tournament play plus the EPYSA Indoor State Cup will begin approximately at the end of November and continue through February and participation in the EPYSA State Cup National Championship Series in June, 2008.

About Coach McNeish

The Lehigh Valley Golden Lions are coached by Mike McNeish. Mr. McNeish holds a USSF "C" license, an NSCAA National Diploma, and has coached competitive, travel soccer for both boys and girls from U10 to U19 for over 18 years for the Palisades, Quakertown, Bethlehem, and Lehigh Valley Premier soccer clubs and the Lehigh Valley Youth Soccer League. He has coached the league select (all star) teams for the Lehigh Valley Youth Soccer League at U11, U12 (2 years), U13, and U14 girls. His U11 Girls select team in 2004 (now the Golden Lions) was among the most successful select teams ever from LVYSL, winning two tournaments (one playing up at U12) and finishing as a finalist in 2 more. He formed and coached BSC Shadow, a girls college showcase premier soccer team, under the auspices of Bethlehem Soccer Club, from 2001 through 2005. Drawing players from a wide area including the top players from 15 different high schools in eastern and northeastern PA, the team played in the Philly Area Girls Soccer League (PAGS) at U16, U17, and U18 (2 years), winning Division 1 at U16 in 2001, the U18 cup division in the Fall of 2003 and was a quarter-finalist in June 2004 EPYSA State Cup National Championship Series at U18. Since 2002, the team competed in 25 high level tournaments in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and New York. In those tournaments where standings were kept, the team finished with 7 championships plus 3 finalist and 2 semi-finalist appearances. The team also appeared in 7 college showcase tournaments where no standings were kept. Including league, tournament, and state cup play, the team’s overall record since May, 2002 is 64-40-21. Graduates from Mr. McNeish’s BSC Shadow teams have played or are now playing intercollegiate soccer at Fairfield, Robert Morris, Bloomsburg, Loch Haven, Christopher Newport , and DeSales Universities, University of Bridgeport, University of Scranton, University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, Mt. Olive College, Allegheny College, Gwynned-Mercy College, Mercy College, Ursinus College, and Elizabethtown College.

Overall Tournament, Cup, & League Record April 2004 - June, 2007

Playing as LVYSL U11 Girls Select
Event Name	Date	Age	Level	Won	Lost	Tie	Results
Quakertown Invitational (played at U12)	April, 2004	U12	Premier	4	0	0	Champion
Montgomery SA Shoot for the Cure	May, 2004	U11	Premier	2	1	1	Finalist
VA Rush Memorial Day Soccer Fest	May, 2004	U11	Premier	4	0	0	Champion
Hackettstown (NJ) Blast	June, 2004	U11	Premier	2	1	0	Finalist
Overall 2004				12	2	1
W/L Percentage, 2004				80%	13%	7%

Playing as LVYSL U12 Girls Select
Event Name	Date	Age	Level	Won	Lost	Tie	Results
Quakertown Invitational (played at U13)	April, 2005	U13	Premier	3	0	2	Champion
Montgomery SA Shoot for the Cure	May, 2005	U12	Premier	2	1	0	3rd Place
VA Rush Memorial Day Soccer Fest	May, 2005	U12	Premier	2	1	0	Semi-finalist
Empire Cup (Rochester, NY)	June 18/19, 2005	U12	Premier	2	2	0	Finalist
Pocono Cup	July 1/2, 2005	U12	Premier	0	3	1
Overall 2005				9	7	3
W/L Percentage, 2005				47%	37%	16%

Playing as LV Golden Lions U13 Girls Premier
Event Name	Date	Age	Level	Won	Lost	Tie	Results
Spirit United Kickoff (PA)	August 27/28, 2005	U13	Premier	1	2	0
The "Great" Lehigh Valley Soccer Fest	September 3/4, 2005	U13	Premier	4	0	1	Champion
Kirkwood Frederick Cup (DE)	October 8/9, 2005	U13	Premier	Rained Out
Bethesda (MD/VA)	November 12/13, 2005	U13	Premier	1	1	1
PAGS League Play	Fall, 2005	U13	Cup (Red)	4	4	2	Quarterfinalist
JAGS League Play	Spring, 2006	U13	Premier	4	1	1	5th of 20 teams
PWSI Icebreaker (VA)	March 25/26, 2006	U13	Premier	0	3	0
Lancaster Red Rose (PA)	May, 2006	U13	Premier	1	2	0
The Virginian (VA/MD)	May 27/28, 2006	U13	Premier	1	1	2
Empire Cup (Rochester, NY)	June 17/18, 2006	U13	Premier	1	1	2
Overall 2005/2006				17	15	9
W/L Percentage, 2005/2006				41%	37%	22%

Playing as LV Golden Lions U14 Girls Premier
Event Name	Date	Age	Level	Won	Lost	Tie	Results
Colleen Reilly (Horsham, PA)	August 19/20, 2006	U14	Premier	1	1	2
The "Great" Lehigh Valley Soccer Fest	September 2/3, 2006	U14	Premier	Rained Out
Kirkwood Frederick Cup (DE)	October 14/15, 2006	U14	Premier	1	1	2	Semi-finalist
MAPS/MSSL Fall Challenge (NJ)	November 11/12, 2006	U14	Premier	0	1	2
PAGS League Play	Fall, 2006	U14	Championship	5	1	3	Semi-finalist
JAGS League Play	Spring, 2007	U14	Premier	1	1	2	7th of 12 teams
YMS Epic (PA)	May 12/13, 2007	U14	Premier	1	1	1
The Virginian (VA/MD)	May 26/27, 2007	U14	Premier	0	2	2
JAGS Tournament (NJ)	June 16/17, 2007	U14	Premier	1	2	0
EPYSA NCS State Cup	April/May, 2007	U14	NCS	2	1	0	Quarter-finalist
Overall 2006/2007				12	11	14
W/L Percentage, 2006/2007 (to date)				32%	30%	38%

Overall				50	35	27
Overall W/L Percentage				45%	31%	24%

News...

Training next week at LCSF:
May 20 - 5:00 PM-6:30 PM
May 21 - 7:00 PM-8:30 PM
May 23 - 7:00 PM-8:30 PM

Columbia Tournament, May 26/27/28, match schedule posted to Schedules page.

The Estimated Budget for 2012/2013 has been posted to the Forms & Documents page.

The UPDATED Master Schedule through December, 2012 has been posted to the Schedules page.

Updates...

The Contacts and College Soccer pages have been updated.