Game recap
Click on one picture and a slider gallery will appear
Is Now Barça Residency Academy USA
Grande News, Performance News, Real Salt Lake, Soccer Academy
Game recap
Click on one picture and a slider gallery will appear
Grande News, Performance News, Real Salt Lake, Soccer Academy
Frisco, TX – Real Salt Lake U-18 dropped the opening game of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy Playoffs, 2-1, to St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri.
RSL down a goal with 5 minutes remaining subbed in Te Wihongi and it paid off moments later when Wihongi crashed into the box and headed in the equalizing goal from a Isaias “Junior” Juarez cross. The celebration was short-lived, however, as St. Louis stormed back up the field after the restart and scored the game winning goal in stoppage time from a looping shot outside of the 18.
With the loss, RSL is not eliminated in the playoffs but need some help from the other teams in their group to remain alive. If St. Louis win another game, RSL will be eliminated from the playoffs.
St. Louis came out aggressive and strong in the opening minutes of the game. Two timely stops by RSL’s defense kept the game scoreless but it would it would set the tone for the game. St. Louis playing aggressive and RSL on their heels.
Corey Nemeth had a goal saving kick save in the 11th minute and ‘keeper Cesar Cobos stopped a 1v1 in the 20th. RSL settled down a bit, but their opportunities in front of the goal were limited to shots from outside of the 18 and from the wing. RSL’s best chance was in the 33rd minute when Andrew Brody countered and played a through ball to Benji Lopez. His turned and fired a shot that tailed just high. Cobos made another 1v1 save with minutes remaining to keep the game scoreless going into the half.
Coaches made three subs during the halftime break and moved Jon Zabasajja back to CB. This proved to be vital as Zabasajja became a wall in the back winning almost every header and making a key stop in the 60th minute when a St. Louis attacker broke free after Cobos came out for a tackle. The player took a shot and Zabasajja made a goal line stop keeping the game scoreless.
RSL’s luck ran out in the 69th minute when a St. Louis player broke free. RSL defenders moved up for the offside trap but a well-timed run by the St. Louis player gave him a 1v1 with Cobos who missed the challenge. With another empty net the St. louis player rifled the ball into the back of the net giving them the 1-0 lead. RSL continued to struggle connecting the ball but found the break when Wihongi scored in the 86the minute.
After the equalizing goal St. Louis, still playing aggressive, threw players forward and an ill-timed switch by the RSL defense gave a St. Louis player an open look. He fired the ball over the head of a leaping Cobos. RSL had one final chance but a low cross was easily cleared giving St. Louis the 2-1 victory.
Next game for RSL is on Tuesday vs CASL Chelsea FC Academy. Kickoff is 9:30pm.
RSL U18 Starting XI: Cesar Cobos, Tigran Tiraturyan, Jonathan Stadler, Santi Carrillo, Corey Nemeth, Jon Zabasajja, Jose Hernandez, Andrew Brody, Trevor Hyman, Benji Lopez, Coco Navarro
Bench: Te Wihongi, Isaias Juarez, Luis Chavez, Jose Vasquez, Luis Barraza, Damian German, Brandon Marquez
Grande News, Performance News, Real Salt Lake, Soccer Academy
Click on one picture and a slider gallery will appear
Grande News, Performance News, Real Salt Lake, Soccer Academy
Thirty-two teams qualified for the playoffs and were divided up into eight groups with four teams per group. The teams in the group will play each other once and the winner of the group will advance to finals week that will be held between July 14-20 in Houston, Texas.
Real Salt Lake Academy teams are one of six teams in the country to have their U-16’s & U-18’s qualify for the playoffs in each of the past three years. Other teams are: CASL Chelsea FC Academy, FC Dallas, Chicago Fire, Concorde Fire, Crew Soccer Academy.
Below is how the teams in RSL’s group finished the 2012-2013 season.
Playoff Finish | Games | W | L | T | PTS | GF | GA | PTS/G | |
Real Salt Lake | #7 | 28 | 19 | 5 | 4 | 61 | 73 | 35 | 2.18 |
DC United | #9 | 25 | 17 | 6 | 2 | 53 | 72 | 29 | 2.12 |
CASL Chelsea FC Academy | #17 | 25 | 14 | 7 | 4 | 46 | 37 | 28 | 1.84 |
St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri | WC #11 | 27 | 14 | 9 | 4 | 46 | 50 | 31 | 1.70 |
Previous results for the U18′s:
2011-2012: RSL finished second in the group winning 2 games, losing 1, scoring 4 goals and conceding 2.
2010-2011: RSL finished second in the group winning 2 games,losing 1, scoring 7 goals and conceding 3.
The U16′s go into their group as the second best team. Below is how the teams in their group finished the 2012-2013 season.
FC Dallas | #3 | 27 | 21 | 4 | 2 | 65 | 70 | 18 | 2.41 |
Real Salt Lake | #14 | 28 | 17 | 6 | 5 | 56 | 68 | 34 | 2.00 |
FC DELCO | WC #4 | 25 | 14 | 7 | 4 | 46 | 47 | 29 | 1.84 |
Sockers FC | WC #9 | 27 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 46 | 39 | 22 | 1.70 |
Previous results for the U16′s:
2011-2012: RSL finished second in the group winning 2 games, losing 1, scoring 9 goals and conceding 5.
2010-2011: RSL won their group winning 2 games, drawing 1, scoring 13 goals and conceding 3 goals. In finals week they finished second in their group winning 1 game and drawing 2. They advanced to the third place game and defeated Real So Cal, 8-7, on penalties. Video of that here.
ALL GAMES LOCAL TIME (Dallas)
U18 Schedule
Monday, June 24th
Real Salt Lake vs St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri – 9:15pm at FC Dallas Sports Park Field #15
Tuesday, June 25th
Real Salt Lake vs CASL Chelsea FC Academy – 9:30pm at FC Dallas Sports Park Field #15
Thursday, June 27th
Real Salt Lake vs DC United – 11:00am at FC Dallas Sports Park Field #15
U16 Schedule
Tuesday, June 25th
Real Salt Lake vs FC DELCO – 7:15pm at FC Dallas Sports Park Field #12
Wednesday, June 26th
Real Salt Lake vs Sockers FC – 9:00pm at FC Dallas Sports Park Field #9
Friday, June 28th
Real Salt Lake vs FC Dallas – 11:00am at FC Dallas Sports Park Field #7
Grande News, Performance News, Real Salt Lake, Soccer Academy
Grande Sports Academy home of Real Salt Lake Arizona will be entering its 4th year in the Fall. With many players leaving for college, the Academy is always looking for the next generation of players who will be donning an RSL kit. In the video below hear from players Andres Irigoyen, Andrew Brody, Eric Gonzalez, Brandon Marquez, Cesar Cobos, Jaime Payamps and Jonathan Stadler as they tell you why they came to the Academy and how it has made them better players. Coach Freddy Juarez also talks about the philosophy and teaching as the Academy. Director of Recruiting Miha Kline talks about the facility and RA Lauren Crum talks about the academic side.
Grande News, Performance News, Real Salt Lake, Soccer Academy
The U.S. Soccer Development Academy Playoffs kickoff in less than a week for our U-18 & U-16 Academy teams. For a select number of players it will mark the third consecutive year they have qualified for the Playoffs while a few others will be making their second trip. The majority of our players will be making their first ever playoff appearance and here at the Grande Sports Academy we thought it would be interesting to hear from the different groups. Below are quotes from these three different groups of players.
Note: The U-18’s kickoff on Monday and the U-16’s on Tuesday.
Coco Navarro (Third trip to playoffs) – “The past two times were really exciting and this might be my last time with the team this year so I’m looking forward to it and hopefully we get to nationals. But we will take it one game at a time.”
Diego Silva (First trip to playoffs) – “I’m so excited. I’m ready to see our team step up and hopefully we can go to finals week.”
Isaias “Junior” Juarez (Third trip to playoffs) – “Really excited. I think this year has more motivation than other years because this is the last year we have a chance to go out and win the national championship with the guys who have been here for a few years. So I think this year has a lot of special feelings and this is the last year of playing with some of the guys so we want to make it a special year.”
Fito Ovalle (First trip to playoffs) – “Now that we know the teams we’re going to play I’m excited to prepare for them.”
Trevor Hyman (Second trip to playoffs) – “I think the thing that’s really important to realize is that we are taking the same team with us as last year just with 2 extra guys. Tigran Tiraturyan, who’s on the 18’s, we are taking his experience and Jose Hernandez who is a younger guy is really gunning to show what he has at the playoffs. But i think we are realizing that every game really counts and the playoffs are a whole different beast than the regular academy season. We need to set the tone early, score goals and make our name out there.”
Jonathan Stadler (Second trip to playoffs) – “I think this year, the most important thing for us to do is to stay composed and learn from our mistakes last year. We should have advanced last year going off of the knowledge of the first year guys. The guys that have been here for three years believed that they should have made it to nationals and won the championship. They bring a lot of knowledge and experience into that and having played one year before of playoffs helps all of us be better prepared and ready to go into the tournament ready to play and ready to advance.”