Featured photo: Alan Molina starred for both the U19 and MASL teams this season, in addition to the premier UPSL men’s team.
Amid a busy season for Vlora’s premier men’s and women’s teams, several other members of the Vlora family had big successes this season that the Vlora wants to put a spotlight on. An exciting spring saw our U19 and MASL teams collective bring in three trophies for the club, with several players impressing in a big way.
UPSL A League
Vlora fielded its U19 squad in the UPSL’s A League, designed for younger squads, this season as the Midwest-West presence in the division grew substantially. The team featured Alex Alvarez as head coach and club founder Adi Bilani as a regular presence on the sideline.
After starting the season with two losses and some questions for the roster, the U19’s responded with a dominant run of wins, including wins over Bateaux and Boreal (two of the top teams in the conference) in the regular season. With time, the team developed their play style and flow, becoming a more confident team.
Vlora went on to win the regular season, ahead of Boreal by one point. The U19’s kept it coming in the post-season, winning the conference playoff tournament with another rematch against Boreal in the championship game. Vlora won 3-1 and secured the conference double.
Several players stood out this season, including the attacking trio of Alan Molina, Randy Hernandez, and Jehovason Fleurilus. Molina, who featured for multiple Vlora squads this season, was the leader in goal-involvements for the U19’s, while Hernandez and Fleurilus scored big goals in key games through the season. Goalkeeper Fredy Villanueva was key at the other end of the pitch, helping Vlora’s defense remain strong late into the season.
As Vlora continues to grow, the club’s ability to develop and put a spotlight on younger talent becomes more and more important. The entire club congratulates the U19’s on a special season packed with big moments and two pieces of silverware.
MASL D2
Vlora’s MASL team also had cause for celebration. The team had recently faced a series of relegations, taking them from the first division to the third. Vlora took their first step back up last season, earning promotion to division two.
They secured a second-consecutive promotion this season by winning the division two championship, going 11-4-1 overall. The run included its own challenges, as Vlora’s MASL team had seen a roughly 50 percent replacement from the previous year, but the players and Adi Bilani, as coach, put together a strong summer after a slow start. They won seven games in a row, after losing their first two, and made a run to the final of the Wilson Cup as well.
Molina again was key for this squad as a forward option, alongside Yoswar Albornoz, who led the team on goals scored. Goalkeeper Alan Garcia faced pressure as the team’s only goaltender, but he stepped up and led the best defense in division two, mathematically the second-best defense in all of the MASL this season. He was paired up with center backs Caleb Kloeppner and Edilberto Cuervo Yero.
The MASL midfield also showed up big this season, featuring talented players like Brayan Fuentes, Hermis Hernandez, and Donis Vicente.
Vlora may have grown since its early days in the MASL, but the club remains excited and passionate about its place within this special league and looks forward to a return to the MASL division one next spring.
