If the U.S. Soccer Federation was looking for drama when it created the playoff weekend for season 2 of the Development Academy League, it was successful.

All but two of the 16 berths in next month’s national finals went down to Monday’s final day of play, so there was plenty of that kind of drama.

The other kind of drama came in the form of a shower of red cards that were dished out at the event. Now, it’s true that whenever a national referee event is held and the assessors’ notebooks come out, you see more cards. In one sense there are probably some bookings and dismissals that you wouldn’t see in “regular” matches and it’s not good for players to give them an inconsistent standard.

{mosimage:250}On the other hand, I saw enough poor behavior from players and coaches even just today to tell me that some people have a long way to go when it comes to dealing with adversity in a professional, constructive way. I’m all for fire and passion on the field, but they have to be channeled in a way that helps the cause players are playing for, not in a way that undermines it.

Now as to the championship qualifiers, following is a brief summary for both age groups.

U15/16

Chicago Magic qualified via a win over LAFC Chelsea, to hold off both that team and Carmel United, which beat Texas SC. Washington Premier defeated CASL Chelsea to qualify, edging Vardar and Match Fit Chelsea, who drew.

FC Dallas qualified with a 4-2 win over South Charlotte SA. Midfielder Bryan Leyva was the engineer for the Texas side and continues to be a signing target for the professional first team at the club. Ruben Luna scored a pair of goals in the win. PDA defeated North Meck and thus edged Real So Cal on goal difference, despite the Californians win over Sockers.

New York Red Bull advanced with a 1-0 showdown win over Chicago Fire behind a winning strike from Samuel Adjei. Derby County Wolves advanced on the strength of a scoreless draw against Columbus Crew, giving them seven points for the three matches.

Cal Odyssey advanced with a 3-0 win over FC DELCO. Greensboro YS defeated Crossfire Premier to win their group.

U17/18

Dallas Texans looked good in a 3-0 win over SCC Breakers, with Mark Daus, Will Diebold and Conor Doyle scoring the goals for Hassan Nazari’s team. Andy Najar scored a hat trick for DC United as they qualified via a 5-0 win over LAFC Chelsea.

PDA, which had benefited from a 3-0 forfeit award when Columbus Crew used an ineligible player (college) on Friday’s opening day of play, beat Albertson SC to win the group. Each team finished with 10 men in the New York City-area rivalry game.  CASL Chelsea got goals from Martin Murphy and Jared Girard in its 2-0 win over Arsenal to qualify.

FC Greater Boston Bolts took a 3-0 win over Met Oval and, combined with Andromeda’s 3-0 win over Colorado Rush, rallied to win the group and advance to LA. IMG Soccer Academy lost to FC DELCO 1-0 on Monday, but bested DELCO and Richmond Strikers on goal difference to win its group. Strikers had been up 4-0 on Vardar but ended up winning 6-4 to let IMG back into the picture with the three teams each on six points.

Real Colorado and Carmel United had already qualified for the national finals, but closed the event with perfect 3-0-0 records following wins today.

USSF has already come out with brackets for the national finals, to take place July 10-17 at Home Depot Center in Carson, CA. They are as follows:

U16 Group A
Derby County Wolves, New York Red Bulls, Chicago Magic AS Monaco, FC Dallas

U16 Group B
Cal Odyssey, Washington Premier, PDA, Greensboro YS

U18 Group A
Dallas Texans, FC Greater Boston Bolts, Carmel United, IMG Soccer Academy

U18 Group B
CASL Chelsea, Real Colorado, PDA, DC United

TopDrawerSoccer.com will be there all week with coverage as we follow the road to the national championship.

Check out all of the Devleopment Academy playoff coverage HERE.