It was a big day for Real Salt Lake at all levels on Wednesday. While RSL captain Kyle Beckerman was leading the U.S. National Team to a 2-1 win over Germany for the second consecutive win over a top-10 European opponent and after Jordan Allen helped the U.S. U-20 National Team reach the quarterfinals of the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup with a 1-0 win over Colombia, Sandy, Utah, played host to two exhibition matches that could prove vital to the growth of Real Salt Lake’s development system.
First the Real Salt Lake-Arizona Academy U-16s bested the Utah Youth Soccer Association 99 ODP team 3-2 at America First Field, then the RSL-AZ U-18s and Real Monarchs SLC played to a 2-2 draw at Rio Tinto Stadium.
The games served as a tremendous purpose for all four teams involved. For the local ODP side, who won the National Championship in March, it was a chance to test their mettle against some of the top players in the next age group that play with the RSL-AZ U-16s. Simultaneously, it gave RSL-AZ Academy Technical Director Martin Vasquez a chance to evaluate young players from Utah that could play for future Academy teams. The Monarchs also had a chance to evaluate the U-18 players against professional competition while the U-18s were given a stiff test ahead of the National Championship tournament starting later this month in Indiana. For the two Academy teams, it was also an opportunity to see the professional environs of Real Salt Lake.
“Being here in the stadium and being in the facility where the first team trains is priceless,” Vasquez said. “It’s what these guys need to see because one day they could be playing here playing in the first team’s stadium.”
In the match between the Monarchs and the U-18s, the Academy team opened scoring in the 18th minute on a stunning shot from Edgar Duran, staking the youth side to an early lead.
The Monarchs evened it up in the 31st minute when Alec Sundly got free in the box and put it past the keeper to make it 1-1.
The Monarchs went for wholesale changes at halftime bringing on a new 11 at the break and fared much better against their younger counterparts in the second half.
In the 59th minute, Jordan Murrell buried a free kick from the edge of the box, spinning his left-footed effort inside the right post for a 2-1 edge for the Monarchs.
The U-18s equalized in the 78th minute as Duran netted his second goal of the match. Goalkeeper Victor Rodriguez misplayed a ball back to him and Duran harried him into the turnover and put it into the net to tie it up at 2-2 and that’s the way the match would end.
In the early match at America First Field, the RSL-AZ U-16s topped the UYSA 99 ODP squad 3-2. In an up-and-down battle between the playoff-bound U-16 team and the ODP National Championship squad, J.C. Vasquez and David Brog scored for Utah’s ODPs, but it wasn’t enough to oust the U-16s. Taylor Booth scored first then Efren Estrada and Zahir Vasquez put them up 3-1 before a late goal from Brog made it close.
“It’s important for our players to continue to challenge themselves both individually and collectively. They all admire the Real Salt Lake Academy program. They all have the dream of being there, but to be there they need to compete with them and against them to figure out where they’re actually at,” said ODP Head Coach Greg Maas. “So with the Academy program coming up here and for us the opportunity to play against them gives them the opportunity to self-evaluate where they are as a player today and where they can grow and develop for tomorrow.”
After the matches, all parties involved expressed a desire to continue the practice in future years.
