The Real Salt Lake U-17 and U-19 sides returned to action on Saturday, taking on Arsenal FC beating the side from California 5-0 and 8-0 respectively, combining for 13 total goals on a rainy day at America First Field.
The day’s first match saw the U-17s begin proceedings with a 5-0 win where five second-half goals, all scored by different players, told the story for the younger group who remained perfect to start 2017. Players to notch goals were DF Thatcher Cooper, MFs Luis Arriaga, Casey Lambert, Julian Vasquez and FW Benjamin Ortiz.
GK David Ochoa started the match in goal for the U-17s, playing the full 90 minutes to earn the shutout to help move the team stay undefeated and move its record to 4-0-0 to start the 2017 season.
For the U-19s, FW Sebastian Soto notched a hat-trick while MFs Glademir Mendoza scored a pair of goals in the 8-0 win. MFs Zahir Vasquez, Richard Ledezma and Diran Bebekian each contributed a goal to round off the match. The U-19s have now scored 19 goals in its last three matches, moving to 3-1-0 on the year.
GK Jacob Jackson started in goal for RSL, playing 75 minutes before Rafael Guerrero closed out the final 15 minutes in goal to help secure the team’s second shutout in three games.
Both teams will now christen the training pitches in Herriman at the world class Zions Bank Real Academy for the first time this week, as the U-17s prepare for the Generation Adidas Cup in Kansas City this coming weekend. The U-19 side will have a bye-week and will not play until Oct. 14 in Casa Grande, Arizona against the Barca Academy.
