Academy Preview: Fight until the End

Academy Preview: Fight until the End
by J.R. Eskilson
May 29, 2014

 

CENTRAL

Real Colorado U18 wraps up its regular season this weekend with games against Texas Rush and Texans SC Houston. End of the regular season charades aside, Real Colorado needs a strong showing this weekend to remain in the playoff hunt. Real sits in the 11th spot in the wildcard standings and only 13 teams make the playoffs from that pool. Real Colorado likely needs a four-point showing, but the squad only managed one point from this series of fixtures earlier this season. Flavio Bonavides scored twice to lead Texans SC Houston to a 2-1 over Real Colorado in September.

Solar Chelsea SC U16’s postseason hopes come down to Saturday where the Dallas club takes on local nemesis FC Dallas. After nabbing three wins in its last four games, Solar pushed its way into the playoff picture, but remains on the outside looking in. Solar needs a win on Saturday, which will be difficult as FC Dallas is the top team in the division and won the first meeting this season 2-0 behind goals from Mario Ramirez Sansabas and Nicholas Hamalainen.

Sporting Kansas City U18 is another team in search of a playoff berth during its last weekend of the regular season. Sporting KC has a two-game series against Houston Dynamo on the cards for the weekend. The Missouri club needs to take all six points from the two games to move into a tie for one of the final wildcard spots.

WEST

Crossfire Premier finishes the regular season on Saturday with a game against Vancouver Whitecaps. The U18 game is meaningful for the Whitecaps as a win would push them into second in the division and help with postseason seeding. For Crossfire, the attention is on the U16 game where the Whitecaps are trying to lock down the division title while Crossfire fights to keep hold of a wildcard berth. Crossfire won the earlier meeting between these teams 4-1 thanks to a pair of goals from leading scorer Joey Parish.

LA Galaxy U18 will win the Southwest Division with a victory over Strikers FC on Saturday. Galaxy trailed RSL AZ for much of the season, but a string of fortuitous results lately have put the Southern California squad in the driver’s seat to capture the division crown. Galaxy beat Strikers 3-0 earlier this season behind a pair of goals from Adonis Amaya.

Real So Cal U18 closes out its regular season on Sunday against Nomads SC in San Diego. Real So Cal is on a seven-game unbeaten run and holds firm control of the top spot in the wildcard pool. Real So Cal won the first meeting this season 1-0 thanks to a goal from Cal Poly commit Sam Strong.

EAST

PA Classics U18 are on a roll. Classics have won four-in-a-row and moved into a wildcard spot. This weekend will be a big challenge though as Classics face division leaders Bethesda-Olney on Sunday. Classics need to keep the winning streak going to stay in that final wildcard spot with only a few regular season games left. Bethesda-Olney won the first meeting this season 1-0 behind a goal from Matthew Ledder.

BW Gottschee Academy U18 is trying to keep its hope of a playoff spot alive this weekend with a game against New England Revolution. BW Gottschee is slightly outside of the wildcard picture at this point, but could bounce back in with six points from its final two games. New England won the first meeting this season 3-1 thanks to goals from Daniel Apajee, Mawolo Gissie, and Declan McCabe. 

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