CARSON, California - Of the eight teams competing in the U18 U.S. Development Academy National Finals, Real Colorado is probably most lacking of a dynamic offensive player.

Unlike PDA, D.C. United, Carmel United, or so on and so forth, Colorado doesn’t have that one or two game-changing players who can change a match on his own.

So far, that’s been more of a strength than a liability.

Real Colorado used an inspired defensive effort and team-wide contributions to knock off offensive juggernaut D.C. United 1-0 on Sunday at the Home Depot Center.

It was another example of grit and chemistry outlasting raw talent, and served notice that Real Colorado is a major contender to bring home the national title.

“You look across the board and we don’t have the impact scoring players that maybe some other teams do, but everyone steps up on this team and supports each other,” said skilled back Taylor Kemp, who is a key cog in the team’s defensive stand. “Its gotten us this far and we hope we can get to the championship.”

To this point the Frontier Division representatives have looked capable. On Sunday, they were able to do what few have done recently - corral streaking D.C. United forward Andy Najar. The nifty striker has been on a tear lately, and though he had some nice runs and created space, he was never allowed to get loose.

Teammate striker Christopher Hegngi had similar trouble penetrating Colorado’s backline. D.C. United had plenty of possessions but didn’t get much of anywhere.

Meanwhile, Real Colorado struck gold on a set piece when Levi Rossi snuck through a crease and headed in the game-winner midway through the second half.

“I kept lining up near post (on cornerkicks) and it kept going over my head. The last time I adjusted and it was lucky really, the ball fell right on my head and I was able to finish,” Rossi said. “D.C. was really strong and in the midfield it was a battle; whoever was going to get the first break was going to win the game.”

Goalkeeper Matt Aguirre should be noted for his role in keeping D.C. off the board, as should the entire Real Colorado defense. It was a similar stand to the one they put together in a 2-2 draw with PDA on Friday, when the team fell behind early and had to fight back to earn a point.

“We’re a defensive type team,” Kemp said. “We knew that they had a lot of skilled and technical players so we had to drop back and get numbers behind the ball. We got the result we wanted.”

U18 Real Colorado Lineup
Starters: Matt Aguirre, Drew Beckie, Scott Branson, Robert Derschang, Brent Ham, Taylor Kemp, Nick Rodriguez, Levi Rossi, Connor Talbert, Alex Tarnoczi, Kyle Venter.
Subs: Anis Abdulgasem, Alex Gunberg, Matt Hammett, Johnny Ikard, Zach Portillos.

U18 D.C. United Lineup
Starters: Julio Arjona, Shane Cooke, Michael Funes, Abdul Hamid, Christopher Hegngi, Kevin McBride, Myles McGinley, Andy Najar, Paul Torres, Ethan White, Nicky Yin.
Subs: William Bioh, Michael Burgos, Chris Perez.

PDA 3, CASL CHELSEA ACADEMY 1

This match featured fireworks of every kind of variety.

PDA’s JP Rosero scored two of his team’s three first-half goals but was later assessed a red card in the second half and given the heave-ho - as was CASL’S Charles Root, also in the second half.

It was a testy and competitive game from the outset. Thomas Garner put CASL up just five minutes in the game but Rosero responded with scores in the seventh, and nineteenth minute. Hunter Gorskie rounded out the scoring late in the first half.

With PDA down a man for about 10 minutes of the second half, CASL had a brief opening but couldn’t capitalize.

U18 PDA Lineup
Starters: William Smith, Matthew Pesci, Bonny Londono, Hunter Gorskie, Ryan Whalen, Jeffrey Eisenbud, Kyle McCarthy, Jossimer Sanchez, Alex Bramall, J.P. Rosero, Ryan Finley.
Subs: Christopher Medina, Scott Keogh, Dylan Renna, Vincent McEnroe, Anthony Ciccone.

U18 CASL Lineup            
Starters: Alexander Long, Kevin Stam, Isack Nyongabo, Nicholas Butterly, Eric Steber, Thomas Garner, Jared Girard, Martin Murphy, Ryan Metts, Michael Smith, Joseph Babington.
Subs: Joseph Goodwin, Sean Gardner, Glenn Scott, Justin Tyler Smith, Patrick Donahue, Charles Root, Lester Nare.


CARMEL UNITED 1, DALLAS TEXANS 0

As battle tested as any team in the tournament, Carmel United showed championship mettle in winning another one.

With many holdovers from last year’s U16 national championship team, Carmel United is clearly thriving on the stage they know so well.

Nikita Kotlov scored the game’s lone goal on a header in the 13th minute during which Carmel put on a massive assault. The match changed after the goal with the Texans dictating much of the action.

But Carmel was able to go on the defensive and kill enough clock to preserve the victory and keep repeat title hopes very much alive.

U18 Carmel United Lineup
Starters: Jon Dawson, James Vollmer, Tyrone Martin, Michael Wignot, Jared Isenthal, Nikita Kotlov, Jarret Baughman, Jeremy Vollmer, Harrison Petts, Ambry Ricardo Moss, Matthew Sanner.

U18 Dallas Texans
Starters: Ryan Aubrey, Lenox Evans, Mark Daus, Aaron Reifschneider, Brett Helm, Blake Wise, Ray DeLeon, Zachery Barnes, William Diebold, Gino DePaoli, Conor Doyle.
Subs: Mizael Najero, Daniel Gonzalez, Ethan Meyer, Christopher Sendejas, Kalon Parman.    

IMG ACADEMY 2, FC GREATER BOSTON 1
    
Luis Calzadilla scored two goals to put IMG on the winning side for the first time in the tournament.

IMG’s dependable forward scored in the 69th minute to tie the game at 1-1 and added the second from the top of the box in the closing minutes.

FC Greater Boston, which has dropped both of its opening matches, took the lead in the 66th minute which seemed to open up the match and eventually lead to IMG Academy’s run.

U18 IMG Academy Lineup
Starters: Benjamin Barshai, Ricardo Batista, Luis Calzadilla, Tyler Currence, James Doliner, Jon Eckford, Larry Jackson, Miguel Medina, Chase Miller, Luis Ocejo, Alex Walters.
Subs: Reinaldo Brenes, Atticus DeProspo, Fernando Mares, Ambry Moss, Martin Ontiveros, John Rayha, Jorge Risquez.

U18 FC Greater Boston Lineup
Starters: Josh Danesh, William Donovan, Owen Fox, George Hodge, Cecil Jeffrey, Sam Kelley, John Miller, Ciaran Nugent, Scott Prozeller, Charlie Rugg, Nick Vozzella.
Subs: Leon Brown, Gideon Gyasi.