PHOENIX – Real Salt Lake-Arizona Elite U-18 drew 3-3 against Arizona Hammers in a matchup of undefeated teams in the Arizona State League while RSL-AZ Elite U-16 won 3-0 thanks to a Moises Durazo hat trick and the 17’s struggles continued in a 4-1 loss against CCV Stars.
CCV Stars 4-1 Real Salt Lake-Arizona Elite U-17
RSL-AZ Elite U-17 got off to a fast start in the match on a free kick in the second minute. After being brought down just outside the Stars box, Mikey Lanzetta drilled the ball low to the keeper’s left to give RSL-AZ an early 1-0 lead.
Ten minutes later, the Stars worked the ball down to the end line, passing into a striker in front of goal who finished to even up the game.
CCV then took the lead in the 31st minute, capitalizing on a quickly taken indirect free kick that caught the RSL-AZ defense off-guard to grab their second goal before half time.
RSL-AZ dominated play for the majority of the second half, but CCV had the last word. In the 84th minute, the Stars broke out on a counter attack and scored on a rebounded shot to double their lead.
Two minutes later, a low cross from the left wing gave the Stars a sitter in front of goal to secure the three points and a 4-1 win.
SC Del Sol Banat 0-3 Real Salt Lake-Arizona Elite U-16
Following their 1-0 win over United Latinos, RSL-AZ Elite U-16 sought to continue their positive results in Saturday’s game against SC Del Sol Banat.
The highlight of the first half came in the 28th minute when Moises Durazo finished on a turn-and-shoot opportunity inside the Del Sol box to give RSL-AZ the lead and score in his second straight game.
Six minutes into the second half, Durazo scored again, rounding the keeper on a breakaway to finish into an unprotected net and double the Claret-and-Cobalt’s lead.
Less than a minute later, Durazo completed his hat trick to give RSL-AZ the commanding 3-0 lead and secure the team’s second straight clean sheet and win.
Arizona Hammers 3-3 Real Salt Lake-Arizona Elite U-18
In the ‘main event’ of the weekend, the undefeated RSL-AZ Elite U-18 took on the Arizona Hammers in a matchup to determine who would take the top of the Arizona State League table.
Andres Lopez gave RSL-AZ the lead in the 19th minute, drawing a foul inside the Hammers box for a penalty kick and finishing past the keeper to open the scoring.
Playing up with the 18s for the first time this year, Mathias Baboun doubled the RSL-AZ lead in the 38th minute, handing the Claret-and-Cobalt a solid 2-0 lead at the half time break.
The Hammers weren’t going to give up their perfect record without a fight, scoring two goals on the counter in the 55th and 57th minutes to even the game up at 2-2.
In the 62nd minute, Martin Lopez was on the receiving end of a rogue ball in the Hammers box while completely unmarked, taking the time to trap the ball before firing it into the back of the net to retake the lead.
Soon after the go-ahead goal, the Hammers equalized for the second time in the match with a wide-open player scoring off the post from 25 yards out to bring the score line to three goals apiece.
Moments later, Martin Lopez broke out behind the Hammers defense and was dragged down by the last defender, earning the Hammers a red card and RSL-AZ a man advantage for the final twenty minutes of the match.
In stoppage time, a Hammers player went down in the RSL-AZ box for a penalty kick, but after a lengthy debate between the officials the call was reversed and the game ended in a 3-3 draw.
Real Salt Lake-Arizona Elite continues Arizona State League play next weekend in a trio of matches. RSL-AZ Elite U-17 faces off against Scottsdale Blackhawks at 11:00 a.m. on Scottsdale Sports Complex Field 6, RSL-AZ Elite U-18 takes on Tucson Soccer Academy at 1:00 p.m. on Friendship Park Field 4 and RSL-AZ Elite U-16 go head-to-head with Canyon del Oro at 4:05 p.m. on Fear Farm Field 4.
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