The Real Salt Lake Academy U-17 team returned home from Kansas City, Missouri after participating in the fall installment of the Generation adidas Cup West Region Qualifiers hosted by Sporting Kansas City. The team posted a 2-1-0 record in the tournament stretching from Oct. 6-9 where RSL played the San Jose Earthquakes, Sporting KC and LA Galaxy U-17 sides.
RSL began its GA Cup Qualifying quest in emphatic fashion on Friday, downing the San Jose Earthquakes 5-0. Leading the way in the first game were MFs Julian Vasquez and Athis Mezine as both notched two goals in the win as MF Casey Lambert added a fifth in stoppage time.
Saturday’s match of the qualifying tournament saw the team drop its first and only result of the weekend against Sporting KC, falling 2-1 to the hosts after conceding two first-half goals. FW Ben Ortiz scored the lone goal for RSL, picking up a loose ball in the box and tucking home for his first of the tournament.
After a rest day on Sunday, RSL returned to the pitch Monday afternoon for the final match of the tournament as RSL won its final match against LA Galaxy 2-0 to cap its qualifying tournament run. MF Dalton Gibson notched the first-half winner before Ortiz added another goal late in the second-half for his second of the weekend.
GK David Ochoa played every minute of the tournament in goal for the Claret-and-Cobalt, conceding just two goals while posting two shutouts to help the team finish third place in the group behind the Portland Timbers and Sporting KC.
The second round of qualifying will be held in February in Los Angeles with the Galaxy as the host club.
RSL will now prepare to travel to Casa Grande, Arizona to face the Barca Academy for the first trip back to Arizona since moving from Grande Sports World to the Zions Bank Real Academy earlier this year. The RSL U-17s will kick off against Barca at 9:00 a.m. MT with the U-19s following at 11:30 a.m. MT.
