WESTFIELD, Ind. – Needing a win against Seattle Sounders FC in order to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2013-14 US Soccer Development Academy Playoffs, Real Salt Lake-Arizona Academy U-17/18 fell short of their objective, conceding three straight goals after taking the lead in the second half to fall by a score of 3-1.
RSL-AZ showed their hunger for the win early on, gaining the first scoring chance of the match in the 4th minute, when Eric Carbajal played Jose Hernandez into the box on a through ball, but the Seattle goalkeeper was able to make the save and keep the game scoreless.
Sam Gleadle nearly opened the scoring for RSL-AZ in the 18th minute when he chased down a lobbed ball into the Seattle box, but he was unable to keep it in play and convert the opportunity.
Seattle generated a number of scoring chances of their own in the first half, battering the RSL-AZ goal at times, but RSL goalkeeper Luis “Wicho” Barraza was in top form on the day, getting his hands on every ball that found its way into the box.
In the 25th minute, a loose ball in the Seattle box found its way to the feet of Damian German, who rocketed the ball at the Sounders goal, forcing the keeper to make the save and concede a corner. On the following corner kick, RSL-AZ managed to get a head to the ball but shot just over the crossbar on the attempt.
As the half time whistle neared, both teams began to play more conservatively, knowing that just one goal scored by either team could mean the end of the season for the other. The 0-0 score line held through the end of the first half.
Needing a win, RSL-AZ opened the second half on the attack. Winning a corner in the 48th minute, Corey Baird lofted the corner kick into the box only for it to deflect back out to him. Baird crossed it back in to the far post, landing right at the feet of Carbajal, who finished to give RSL-AZ the 1-0 lead and put them in position to advance out of Group H.
After going down a goal, Seattle ramped up their own attack, once again firing shot after shot at “Wicho”. In the 56th minute, Seattle were able to break through with a goal from Satoshi Chaffin, evening the game at one goal apiece and putting the pressure back onto RSL-AZ to retake the lead.
Following even more pressure from Seattle, Henry Wingo ran onto a ball at the top of the RSL-AZ box in the 64th minute, finishing into the bottom right corner of the goal and giving the Sounders their first lead of the game at 2-1.
Now needing two goals in order to get the three points and the win, RSL-AZ began to throw more players forward with only 20 minutes left to play. In the 82nd minute, Seattle took advantage of RSL-AZ’s forward numbers, breaking away and passing around Barraza, allowing Adeseyi Adekoya to tap into the goal and seal Seattle’s place in the quarterfinals.
Real Salt Lake-Arizona Academy U-17/18’s 3-1 loss put an end to their 2013-14 season. They finished the regular season with an 18-4-5 record, the best record in history for a U-17/18 team at Grande Sports World.
Grande Sports Academy wishes all of the departing players nothing but the best in their future endeavors, and looks forward to welcoming back the returning players for another successful season next year.
| Group H | Wins | Draws | Losses | Points | Goals For | Goals Against |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle Sounders FC U-17/18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 16 | 1 |
| Real Salt Lake-Arizona U-17/18 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 7 |
| Indiana Fire Academy U-17/18 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 8 |
| Concorde Fire U-17/18 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 17 |
Scoring Summary
Real Salt Lake-Arizona Academy U-17/18
48’ – Eric Carbajal
Seattle Sounders FC U-17/18
56’ – Satoshi Chaffin
64’ – Henry Wingo
82’ – Adeseyi Adekoya
Lineups
Real Salt Lake-Arizona Academy U-17/18
Luis Barraza
Te Wihongi (Luis Lopez, 82’)
Dillon Nino
Erik Holt
Justen Glad
Jack Gayton
Corey Baird
Damian German
Jose Hernandez
Sam Gleadle
Eric Carbajal
Unused Substitutes: Chase Bishov, Leo Fuchs, Gui Leme, Grant Livingston, DJ Villegas
Seattle Sounders FC U-17/18
Satoshi Chaffin (Sean Bowman, 90’)
Paul Christensen
Ryan DeGroot
Fischer Gallinger
Jacob Hauser-Ramsey
Duncan McCormick
David Olsen (Marc Kaizi-Lutu, 88’)
Isidro Prado-Huerta (MacArthur Clarke, 86’)
Matthew Reinikka
Victor Rojas (Adeseyi Adekoya, 70’)
Henry Wingo
Unused Substitutes: Joseph Hafferty, Ben Willis
Discipline
Real Salt Lake-Arizona Academy U-17/18
Yellow – Corey Baird
Yellow – Eric Carbajal
Yellow – Damian German
Yellow – Erik Holt
Seattle Sounders FC U-17/18
Yellow – David Olsen