NORCO, California (Friday, December 3, 2021) – The Real Salt Lake Academy U15 and U17 teams began play in the Generation Adidas Cup Qualifiers as part of this weekend’s MLS NEXT Fest, with each side winning its opening match.
In the first match of the day, the Real Salt Lake U15’s took on Orlando City SC. After taking much of the first half to feel out the opponents, RSL forward Zavier Gozo opened the scoring with a goal in the 36th minute to give RSL the 1-0 lead at the halftime break. Orlando City equalized at the start of the second half, but it didn’t take long for RSL to take back the lead for good. In the 65th minute, defender Luis Rivera rocketed a free kick from distance that deflected off the bottom of the cross bar, into the grass and then back up over the line to recapture the lead at 2-1. Two minutes later, Gozo put the game away with his second goal of the day, earning himself an opening day brace to bring the match to its final score of 3-1.
RSL U15 defender Dylan Garcia on the result: “I thought the result was good, I thought everyone played excellently. We gave our hearts on the field. Everyone was in the game, everyone was locked in. That’s why we were able to win the way we did.”
The Real Salt Lake U17’s then kicked off the second match of the day against Nashville SC. Forward Izahi Amparo got things started for RSL with a goal in the 15th minute, but it would be the lone score of the half and the teams entered the break at 1-0. Five minutes into the second half, forward Jaden Jackson doubled the lead for the RSL U17s and opened the floodgates. Less than a minute after coming into the match as a second-half substitute, midfielder Angel Montesinos scored a goal to bring the score to 3-0 in the 75th minute. Continuing to apply pressure to their opponents’ backline, RSL forced Nashville into an own goal in the 80th minute and the match ended 4-0 in favor of RSL.
RSL U17 defender Gershon Henry on the match: “It was a very good game from us, we did well right from the start. I felt like we could’ve put the game away faster, but we did that in the second half. In the second half we turned it on and found the back of the net. It was a very good game from us and the defense played well to earn the clean sheet. Everyone was dropping back, helping Fernando [Delgado] out and communicating, I was very pleased with our defense.”
Scoring Summary 1 2 F
RSL Academy U15 1 2 3
Orlando City SC 0 1 1
Scoring Summary 1 2 F
RSL Academy U17 1 3 4
Nashville SC 0 0 0
Up Next: In match day two, the Real Salt Lake U15’s take on Austin FC at 9:00 a.m. MT, while the Real Salt Lake U17 side will match up against Sporting Kansas City at 11:00 a.m. MT.
