CASA GRANDE, ARIZ.- Real Salt Lake – Arizona Elite U-18 won a second tournament for all RSL-AZ Elite teams in as many weeks on Monday when they defeated STA Morris United NPL 97 from New Jersey in the SC del Sol President’s Day Tournament.
RSL- AZ breezed through the first round of the competition, winning by at least two goals in all three matches. The team managed to reach the final undefeated and with a goal differential of +16.
Real Salt Lake- Arizona did not hit the brakes once in the final. The boys scored three goals, in a span of 17 minutes, in the first half, and then again in a span of just 10 minutes during the second half for the final 6-0 win. At the end of the 80 minutes, RSL-AZ Elite U-18 had won the President’s Day Tournament with an undefeated record and a goal differential of +22.
RSL- AZ Elite’s U-16 and U-15 teams also competed in the competition, but didn’t manage to make it out of the group stage.
RSL-AZ Elite U16 started the weekend in spectacular fashion, defeating the eventual winners of their group Omaha FC 99/00 Elite 4-2.
Unfortunately, a stroke of bad luck stole the second game from RSL-AZ Elite U16. RSL-AZ lead Eastside FC B99 Red 1 to 0 for a better part of the game, but the Washington team managed to net two goals in the last five minutes of the match and salvage a win.
RSL-AZ U16 needed a win in their final game against New Mexico Rush NM Rush 2000, but only managed a draw by conceding only a couple of minutes before the final whistle.
RSL-AZ U15 had relatively more success, coming in third for their age group in the tournament.
The team dropped their first game 1 to 0 against Colorado Rapids Youth 01B Academy, but bounced back to draw with NYSA Celtic 01. RSL-AZ Elite U15 finally got a taste of victory in their third game of the season by defeating Rio Scorpion ’01 2-1., but the win was not enough to send them into the final.
Instead, RSL-AZ was sent into a third place bracket where they defeated the Croatian Eagles Red 3-1 to claim the second runner up position.
In Carson, California, the RSL- AZ Academy U-15/16 had a tough weekend competing in the second qualifying event for the Generations Adidas Cup.
The academy team lost to the LA Galaxy academy team 3-0. RSL-AZ bounced back after a tough loss to win against the Portland Timbers (2-1) the following day and the Seattle Sounders (2-1) on Monday, but that unfortunately wasn’t enough.
Only the top two spots in each region (East, West and Central) go on to compete in the 2016 Generations Adidas Cup Championship Division in Frisco, Texas, where they get the opportunity to face international competition. The remaining 11 academy teams still fly out to Texas in March, but will be playing for the consolation Premier Division title.