The Real Salt Lake-Arizona Academy teams looked motivated by having Real Salt Lake training camp on their home fields last week, rallying for a pair of victories over FC Golden State on Saturday in Casa Grande, Arizona.
The U-18s continued their dominance of the division despite playing without top scorer Brooks Lennon, who was away with the U.S. U-18 National Team playing in the 2015 Copa Chivas in Mexico. Tate Schmitt and Jose Hernandez netted two goals apiece as RSL-AZ routed FC Golden State 7-0. Hernandez opened scoring in the 14th minute and Edgar Duran added another to stake the home side to a 2-0 halftime lead. That’s when they poured it on in the second half. Schmitt scored in the 49th minute, then again in the 62nd minute to double the lead, then RSL-AZ added three more for the final 7-0 tally.
The win marks the 13th straight win for the U-18s, ending the month of January with four straight shutouts. In four January matches, the U-18s outscored their opponents 21-0. The current shutout streak is at 397 consecutive minutes as they moved to 16-1-3 on the season.
The U-16s had a strong start as well, jumping out to a 3-0 first-half lead before holding on for a 3-2 victory. Aristotle Zarris scored in the third minute and McKay Eves added another in the 12th minute to put RSL-AZ up early. Then Eric Virgen made it 3-0 in the 39th minute to give the U-16s a comfortable edge before halftime. Golden State pulled two goals back in the second half, but RSL-AZ held off the late surge to post a 3-2 win.
The victory moves the U-16s to 9-6-5, good for third in the Southwest Division. It also ended a string of two consecutive 1-0 defeats, putting them back in the win column to keep pace with the top teams in the division.
RSL CONNECTIONS WITH U.S. U-18S
The U.S. National Team’s U-18 squad started the 2015 Copa Chivas tournament with a 1-1-1 record with one match left to play in the Group Stage before determining placement in the final rounds. Sebastian Saucedo, Brooks Lennon and Evan Waldrep have all seen significant time in the first three matches of the tournament, representing the RSL-AZ Academy well.
In the tournament opener on Friday against Monarcas Morelia, both Saucedo and Lennon played in the second half of a 1-0 win. Mauricio Pineda scored the lone goal in the sixth minute and the U.S. limited Morelia to just one shot on goal to earn the victory.
On Saturday, all three RSL-AZ-connected players were in the starting lineup against Cruzeiro. Lennon played the full 70-minutes in the match, while Waldrep logged 60 minutes and Saucedo played 47 in a 1-0 loss.
Finally, on Monday Saucedo and Lennon again paired up front for Javier Perez as the U.S. played to a 1-1 draw with Club Tijuana, but neither figured into the 62nd minute goal from Eryk Williamson.
Saucedo is signed to Real Salt Lake, while Lennon is leading the RSL-AZ U-18s with 16 goals this season. Waldrep enrolled early at Creighton University after previously playing at the Casa Grande-based Academy. The Group Stage matches conclude Tuesday with the U.S. facing Universidad Catolica de Chile.
