MLS GA Cup qualifying sets final field

MLS GA Cup qualifying sets final field
by Will Parchman
February 22, 2017

The Generation adidas Cup is coming. And in at least one sense, we’re bound to get a healthy dose of the MLS old guard mixed in with the new.

The last round of qualifying for the 2017 edition of the highly regarded GA Cup wrapped up over Presidents’ Day Weekend. Waged over six cumulative days stretching back to October, six MLS academy teams made up of U17 players (2000s or younger) advanced out of groups entirely comprised of other MLS academies. That put those six sides into the Generation adidas Cup Championship Division against international competition in Frisco, Texas from April 7-15. The rest, 13 in all, were divvied into the Premier Division.

Two of the group winners were hardly surprises. FC Dallas won the Central Region with a full return from its six games: six wins, 18 points and a goal differential of plus-22. In fact, FCD scored seven goals twice in qualifying, including a gleaming 7-0 win over in-state rival Houston back in October. Toronto FC was the only side to give FCD even moderate trouble in a 1-0 loss, and the Canadian outfit duly finished second to join FCD in the Championship Division.

This event should be something of a curtain reveal for TFC, which doesn’t compete in the Development Academy and has considerably less visibility than every other team here. Sporting KC, Houston, Chicago and Columbus were sorted into the Premier Division out of the Central Region, in that order.

The West Region was also ruled by an old hand. The LA Galaxy managed to muscle past an improving Colorado Rapids academy and the ever talented Real Salt Lake to nab 15 of a possible 18 points and win the region by four. The Galaxy managed a clean sweep last weekend to nullify a 3-1 loss to Portland in October, with wins over Colorado (2-0), San Jose (1-0) and Seattle (3-2). The Rapids managed to edge RSL for the other spot in the Championship Division by dint of a somewhat surprising win in penalties over the Utah outfit back in October. Both finished level on 11 points in second. RSL, Seattle, San Jose and Portland were sorted into the Premier Division.

The East Region, though was ruled by new blood.

Atlanta United’s impressed on the Development Academy circuit this year in its first full season as a branded academy, and they brought that to bear on GA Cup qualifying with a mighty impressive group win in a mixer that featured talented established producers like the New York Red Bulls and the Philadelphia Union. Atlanta United won the group with four wins from six and 14 points, including a penalty shootout win over the Red Bulls that set the tone at the top. The Red Bulls duly finished second to join Atlanta United in the GA Cup’s preeminent competition, while cross-town rival NYCFC pulled in third two points off the pace. Notably, NYCFC and the Red Bulls fought a thrilling 2-2 draw in qualifying that the Red Bulls finished off in penalties on Feb. 20. NYCFC will be joined in the Premier Division by the Union, Orlando City, D.C. United and the New England Revolution.

The 2016 edition in the Championship Division was a bit of a bloodbath for MLS clubs not named FC Dallas. The other five MLS teams in the highest tier of the competition went 1-9-3 against non-MLS opposition in 2016 (it did win two penalty shootouts, however), and FC Dallas was the only MLS squad to finish in the division’s top five. FCD topped its group with impressive wins over La Liga’s Valencia and Mexico’s mega-talented U17 international side. That spilled FCD into a third-place game against Villarreal, and FCD smashed the Yellow Submarine youth outfit 4-0.

FCD is, of course, back for another crack at the top. But the rest of the field will be hoping to raise the bar a bit when April arrives.

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