Results from over the weekend: D.C. United’s Academy teams hosted two top local sides this weekend, PDA and Match Fit. For the U18s, the weekend was a successful one as they won both their matches, yet the U16s were unable to attain the same results, drawing against PDA on Saturday and losing against Match Fit on Sunday.
“We have to keep progressing as a club, learn from each week and continue to strive to improve,” said, United Director of Youth Development John Maessner. “We can take many good things from the weekend's games, design our trainings to address some of the issues where we need improvement and keep moving forward.”
In a tough match for the U16s, Sam Bradley and Marcus Salandy-Defour both scored to pull out a 2-2 tie against PDA on Saturday. The next day, saw the U16s unable to get on the board and lose to Match Fit by a 4-0 scoreline.
“We did well to create chances in the second half to go up 2-1 against a very good PDA team and need to do a better job of holding a lead,” said U16 Head Coach Richie Burke. “We can take the positives from the match and work to be better as we go forward. Against Match Fit, we actually played very well for the first part of the match, some of the best soccer of the year, but had a few defensive breakdowns that cost us a few goals. We’ll get together this week, take a look at where we can improve and continue to work hard with our players.”
The U18s were able to get better results, as Ryan Gracia and John Ciampa both got on the board to give United a 2-1 win over PDA. Sunday’s game saw Gracia again score, this time twice, while Chris Hegngi added another to record a 3-2 victory over Match Fit.
“We’re very pleased and proud of our boys with our performances this weekend,” said U18 Head Coach Judah Cooks. “Both PDA and Matchfit are two of the top clubs in the country and coming out with six points on back to back days is something special. In both games our boys defended as a group and scored some fantastic goals.”
Upcoming Fixtures: United’s Academy team will next travel to New York to take on the New York Red Bull Academy teams on Sunday March 15 at Rutgers Stadium. The U16s will kickoff at 1 p.m. while the U18s will play at 3 p.m.
Tiffany International Tournament: From April 4-11, Washington, DC will play host to a number of youth teams from the biggest international and local clubs as they challenge for the third annual Tiffany Trophy Cup.
This invitation-only tournament, which pits youth teams from the best international clubs against local American talent, will be played in several Metro Washington DC venues including RFK Stadium, Georgetown University and Trinity College.
Featured in this year’s tournament are youth teams from the Blackburn Rovers (England), Deportivo Saprissa (Costa Rica), Chivas (Mexico), and Real Madrid (Spain). Joining them will be Maryland and Virginia teams Freestate (Bowie, Md.), Great Falls A ’91 Elite (Great Falls, Va.), Pachuca FC USA Internationals (Potomac, Md.), and the D.C. United Academy U16 team.
The Black-and-Red youth squad is scheduled to play its game against Real Madrid’s youth team on April 4, taking the field at RFK Stadium at 4:30 p.m., before the first team faces the Houston Dynamo. Tickets are now available though D.C. United (202-587-5000) and will allow access to both games.
For more information about this tournament, including updates on the team schedule, please visit www.InternationalAmateurSports.com.
Broadcasting and P.A. Request: When speaking of the organization, please refer to the team as either “D.C. United” or “United,” but not “the D.C. United” or “the United.” We appreciate your cooperation.
Doug Hicks,
dhicks@dcunited.com
, (202) 587-5448,
Boris Flores,
bflores@dcunited.com
, (202) 587-5452,
Kyle Sheldon,
ksheldon@dcunited.com
, (202) 587-5450 or
Cristina Cruz,
ccruz@dcunited.com
, (202) 587-5440
