Elias Rieland

It has all come down to one game, as both the Real Salt Lake Arizona Academy and Solar Chelsea SC will be vying for the U-15/16 U.S. Soccer Development Academy Championship when they take to the field tonight at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston, Texas.

The U-15/16 championship game kicks off at 4 p.m. Arizona time. This marks the first ever championship appearance for the Real Salt Lake Academy. In 2010-11, RSL Academy first year, the U-15/16 team placed third in Finals Week.

Fans can watch the game for free online at USsoccer.com and the can follow all the action on the @grandesportsa Twitter.

Fans “meet” the team in our playoff bios.

Roster: 87-Damian German, 18-Chase Bishov, 21-Jose Hernandez, 26-Jason Eng, 29-Brooks Lennon, 30-Luis Lopez, 32-Alxander Knox, 33-Adolfo Ovalle, 50-Sebastian Saucedo, 47-Evan Waldrap, 48-Adam Ferguson, 49-Justen Glad, 58-Dillon Nino, 59-Moises Rodriguez, 63-Josh Doughty, 77-Diego Silva, 85-Jack Gayton, 88-Luis Barraza, 57-Bayley Scholz, 36-Elias Rieland, 79-Christian Herrera.

How RSL got to the championship game.

2012-13 Regular Season: Real Salt Lake AZ finished the regular season with a 21-7-6 record, good for second place in the Southwest Division, two points behind the division champions Chivas USA. RSL as a team scored a combined 68 goals and conceded 35 goals.

After the conclusion of the regular season, Jose Hernandez and Justen Glad were named to the U-15/16 West Conference Starting XI. As a team, U.S. Soccer named RSL as the “Style of Play” recipient.

As the season progressed, Christian Herrera, Fito Ovalle, Bofo Saucedo, Justen Glad and Brooks Lennon participated in U-17 MNT camps and international friendlies. Josh Doughty participated in a U-17 Canada tour of Europe.

2012-13 U.S. Soccer Development Academy Playoffs: Real Salt Lake was drawn into group 6 with: FC Dallas, Chicago Sockers and FC DELCO. Real Salt Lake opened up group play with a 2-0 victory over FC DELCO. Goals were scored by” Diego “Diablo” Silva and Saucedo. In the second game they played Chicago Sockers to a scoreless draw, which set up a must-win game against FC Dallas in the final group game. RSL wasted no team jumping out to an early lead and finished with 6 goals and a victory when the final whistle blew. Goals were scored by: Sacuedo (2), Lennon (2), Silva and Doughty.

2012-13 Finals Week: Real Salt Lake was drawn into group 1 with” Alberston SC, Houston Dynamo and Texans SC Houston. In the first game of group play, RSL defeated Albertson 3-1. Goals were scored by: Silva, Hernandez and Saucedo. In the second game, RSL dug themselves into a hole when the Houston Dynamo defeated them 1-0. Heading into the final group game RSL were not eliminated, but needed a few things to happen. They needed the Dynamo to lose or draw and RSL needed to defeat Texans. Both of these results came true when Albertson defeated the Dynamo and RSL defeated Texans 1-0. Lone goal from Damian German.

Scoring Leaders During Finals Week/Playoffs: Saucedo (4), Silva (3), Lennon (2), Doughty (1), German (1) and Hernandez (1)

ACADEMY TEAMS VYING FOR TITLE: The 2012-13 U.S. Soccer Development Academy Finals Week has reached its pinnacle with four teams in two age groups vying for a championship on Saturday, July 20, at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston.

The U-15/16 final features Real Salt Lake AZ and Solar Chelsea SC. For Solar Chelsea, it marks the club’s first appearance at a Finals Week title match after its older group took fourth place in last season’s event. Real Salt Lake AZ also is making its first appearance in the title game. The U-15/16 squad took third place at the 2010-11 Finals Week.

The U-15/16 championship game kicks off at 6 p.m. CT

The games will be broadcast live on ussoccer.com. Fans can also receive updates via Twitter @ussoccer_ynt.

Meet the Real Salt Lake U-16 Academy team here

ABOUT THE TEAMS:
SOLAR CHELSEA SC (U-15/16)

• Numerical roster: 1-Chase Therrien, 2-Dorian Hernandez, 4-Brock Dudley, 5-Trevor Baum, 6-Santiago Luna, 7-Bryson Asher, 8-Blake Stricker, 9-Nathanael Rennhack, 10-Caleb Smith, 11-Toryima Asom, 12-Isaac Linnabary, 16-Casey Collins, 17-Jordan Shankle, 18-Alan Winn, 23-Zachary Stavrou, 24-Alfonso Ochoa, 28-Daniel Carmona, 34-Ryan Applewhite
• How they got to Finals Week Championship: Solar Chelsea SC is appearing in the Development Academy finals for the first time. They started off the week with a 2-1 win against Crew Soccer Academy Wolves. They played to a 0-0 draw with the Colorado Rapids and clinched their spot in the finals with a 3-0 victory against De Anza Force.
• 2012-13 Regular Season: Solar Chelsea SC finished the regular season with a 24-6-3 record, good for second place in the difficult Frontier Division. Solar Chelsea topped three teams that made it to 2013 Finals Week event: the Houston Dynamo, Texans SC Houston and Colorado.
• About Head Coaches Adrian Solca and Kevin Smith: Solca began coaching while still in college as the coordinator and head coach of a youth soccer program in Bucharest, Romania, before coaching in north Texas since 1999. Solca was a member of Roman’s youth national team from 1990-92. … For the past 10 years, Smith has served in various coaching roles within the club and currently serves as Director of Coaching for Solar Chelsea SC. A native of England, Smith began his career at the age of 17 with Charlton Athletic and became the youngest player to score a goal for Charlton. After a four-year career with the English side in which he made more than 100 apperances and scored 14 goals from 1979-84, Smith moved to Texas in 1984 to play for the Dallas Sidekicks of the Major Indoor Soccer League. Smith played for the Sidekicks in two stints from 1984-1992 (MISL) and 1995-98 (Continental Indoor Soccer League, Premier Soccer League).
• Scoring Leaders During 2013 Finals Week: Brock Dudley (3), Nathanial Rennhack (1) and Toryima Asom (1)
• Scoring Leader During 2012-13 Regular Season: Bryson Asher (14)

REAL SALT LAKE AZ (U-15/16)

• Numerical roster: 87-Damian German, 18-Chase Bishov, 21-Jose Hernandez, 26-Jason Eng, 29-Brooks Lennon, 30-Luis Lopez, 32-Alxander Knox, 33-Adolfo Ovalle, 50-Sebastian Saucedo, 47-Evan Waldrap, 48-Adam Ferguson, 49-Justen Glad, 58-Dillon Nino, 59-Moises Rodriguez, 63-Josh Doughty, 77-Diego Silva, 85-Jack Gayton, 88-Luis Barraza
• How they got to Finals Week Championship : The U-15/16 age group for Real Salt Lake AZ began the run to its first Development Academy Finals Week championship match with a 3-1 win against Albertson SC. After falling to hometown Houston Dynamo 1-0, RSL bounced back with a dramatic 1-0 win against another Texas team in Texans SC Houston.
• 2012-13 Regular Season: Real Salt Lake AZ finished the regular season with a 21-7-6 record, good for second place in the Southwest Division, just two points behind the division champions.
• About Head Coach Freddy Juarez: In his years as coach and Residential Advisor for Grande Sports Academy, his efforts were huge in getting the team off the ground. Before taking the position at Real Salt Lake AZ, Juarez was on staff at New Mexico Striker FC from 1998-2010 as Coaching Director. Nine of his teams have won New Mexico State Championships. He has developed seven players for the US Youth National teams, one of which is Edgar Castillo.
• Scoring Leaders During Finals Week: Jose Hernandez (1), Sebastian Saucedo (1), Diego Silva (1) and Damian German (1)
• Scoring Leader During 2012-13 Regular Season: Sebastian Saucedo (18)

For the first time in Real Salt Lake Academy history, the U-16’s have advanced to the Championship game. Picture below are from RSL’s final group game vs Texans SC Houston, which they won 1-0.

Full game recap here

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