Game recap
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Grande News, Performance News, Real Salt Lake, Soccer Academy
Game recap
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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
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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
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We will have a blog post for every day we are in Dallas.
Day 1 (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) – The Grande Sports Academy home of Real Salt Lake Arizona has arrived in Dallas. We left GSA on Friday afternoon at 4pm (local time) and due to some issues with our bus we arrived a little late on Saturday. Team spirits were high throughout the ordeal and for those who “wish” they were on the bus with us, check out the video Academy player Trevor Hyman filmed and produced that’s below this post.
On Sunday, the players went through their first training session at the fields where the games will be played (next to FC Dallas stadium). The U-16’s went for a run while the U-18’s went through some drills. Pictures of this training session are below. After this the players were treated to Olive Garden and then off to bed for some much-needed rest ahead of a big week.
Today is the first game for the U-18’s. The U-16’s first game is on Tuesday. Follow us on twitter as we will be LIVE tweeting the game.
Here is the schedule for the week.
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
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Coaches at the Grande Sports Academy home of Real Salt Lake Arizona Academy having been pushing the players hard in preparation for the upcoming U.S. Soccer Development Academy Playoffs.
Both the U16 & U18 Academy teams have qualified for the playoffs and to help better prepare the team, the coaches have laid out a grueling training schedule that features numerous two-a-days that are mixed in between three friendlies for each team.
Earlier this morning, second friendly, RSL U18 Academy team traveled down south to take on FC Tucson of the PDL. FC Tucson has done very well this season advancing to the 3rd round of the U.S. Open Cup defeating two professional clubs along the way. FCT’s roster also includes a few familiar faces, Dylan Kelly (University of Incarnate Word), Miggy Salazar (Elon University) and Ricardo Velazco (University of Louisville).
After the game our current players had a chance to catch up with their former teammates. Below is what the former players had to say about playing against their former team.
Ricardo – “It was bittersweet because I know everyone on the team. Playing with the new team and playing against the old team is a good feeling but also sad to see these new guys taking your spots.”
Miggy – “It was nice to see all the guys back. It was really tough playing against them because you know how they play and when they play against you it’s really tough. It was really nice to see all of them to see how they developed, they are all at a different level know.”
Dylan – “They are looking really good. The same as always; good style of play, good soccer. It was fun seeing all my friends.”