It was apparent that Team No. 2 of the U18 Men’s National Team camp had been making the best of its time together.

Because by the time the third scrimmage of the week rolled around Wednesday at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, the squad was in full force. Recording seven goals, the team in white displayed teamwork, and an awful lot of talent.

Forwards Will Bates and Hasani Sinclair led the way early and complemented each other perfectly. Bates, the stockier and stronger of the two, always found himself around the ball and is an adept passer.

Sinclair is more explosive in the open field, and great at creating opportunities. Both wreaked havoc on the opposing team in red, and caused the opposition to make mistakes.

Bates was there to cleanup and score on a loose ball when goalie Brendan Roslund whiffed on an attempt to clear the ball, and Sinclair operated right of the box and sent a shot off a red team defender and into the net.

“We really started to get to know each other a lot more from our time training and playing together, and we really got a good result today,” Sinclair said. “We had some good combinations and worked well together.”   

Added Bates: “Within the practice sessions we have good chemistry, and we were able to work on the things we didn’t do well in the first two game games and fix them. “In the first half we started slow but we finished well.”

Big-time forward Adam Jahn dominated the second half of action with three goals. At 6-foot-2, he carved through, and wore down a dispirited defensive effort.

Anthony Salciccia routinely got rid of the ball quickly and shined during the second half as well. His touch set up Jahn’s first goal, which came five seconds into the half.

On the other side, Team No. 3 had five players who were returning to action after a bacteria bug affected more than a handful of players earlier in the week.

Among them were midfielders Amobi Okugu and Latif Alashe.

The red team put together some good ball movement in the second half and scored two late goals led by Orr Baroush and Sito Sasieta.

Ryan Reichmann, a 6-foot-3 defender, had possibly his toughest match of the camp, but has put forth a strong body of work this week nonetheless.  

The national camp team resumed training on New Year’s Day before taking part in a team dinner. Matches will resume Saturday when four new teams have the chance to compete against outside competition.

“It’s tough trying to impress coaches in a week’s time,” Sinclair said. “We’re all trying to make the 18-man roster to go to Australia; the best part of this is if you make it. In a way you want to be selfish but you need to be a team player at the same time. If you try to do too much you’re going to look bad.”

Sinclair and his team looked really, really good Wednesday.        

Under-18 Men's National Team Mega-Camp Roster by Position

GOALKEEPERS (6): Rafael Diaz (Rockaway, N.J; PDA), Michael D'Arrigo (Tucscon, Ariz.; Tuscon Rush), Alex Long (Cary, N.C.; CASL), Justin Luthy (Dublin, Ohio; Premier Soccer Academy), Zac MacMath (St. Petersburg, Fla.; Maryland), Brendan Roslund (Denver; Colorado Rapids)

DEFENDERS (19): Gale Agbossoumonde (Syracuse, N.Y.; IMG Academy), Chad Barson (Lewis Center, Ohio; Columbus Crew Juniors), Ian Christianson (Belvedere, Ill.; Chicago Fire), Paolo Delpiccolo (Lakewood, Colo.; Colorado Rush), Will Donovan (Jamaica Plains, Mass.; FC Greater Boston), Jesus Gonzales (Chino Hills, Calif.; FC Barcelona), Alex Herrera (Arlington, Va.; D.C. United), Sacir Hot (Fairlawn, N.J.; New York Red Bulls), Alex Hussein (Haverhill, Mass.; Seacoast United), Nick Millington (Raleigh, N.C.; Wake Forest), Cesar Morales (St. Charles, Ill.; Sockers FC), Trey Perry (Ocoee, Fla.; South Florida), CJ Phelps (Boynton Beach, Fla.; Schulz Academy), Andrew Quintana (Miami, Fla.; Miami FC), Jossimar Sanchez (Patterson, N.J.; PDA), Brady Valashinas (Manhattan Beach, CA.; LAFC Chelsea), Zarek Valentin (Lancaster, Pa.; PA Classics), Korey Veeder (St. Petersburg, Fla.; Clearwater Chargers), London Woodberry (McKinney, Texas; FC Dallas Juniors)

MIDFIELDERS (32): Latif Alashe (Northville, Mich.; Vardar), Jose Altamirano (San Diego, Calif.; Del Mar Sharks), Eder Arreola (Chino Hills, Calif.; UCLA), Antonio Benitez (Azusa, Calif.; LAFC), Miles Byass (San Bernardino, Calif.; Arsenal), Scott Caldwell (Braintree, Mass.; New England Revolution Academy), Alejandro Cobarubias (Cudahy, Calif.; LA Galaxy), Pablo Cruz (Azusa, Calif.; LAFC), Kadeem Dacres (Rosedale, N.Y; Met Oval), Bryan Dominguez (Atlanta, Ga.; UCSB), Paul Islas (Fresno, Calif.; Cal Odyssey), Will Mayhew (Concord, N.C.; North Meck), Thomas McNamara (West Nyack, N.Y.; FC Westchester), Dylan Mencia (Honedale, Pa.; New York Red Bulls Academy), Christopher Ortega (Chula Vista, Calif.; Arsenal), Patrick Otte (Thousand Oaks, Calif.; Middlesborough Academy), Steve Palumbo (Kingston, N.H.; Seacoast United), Harrison Petts (Zionsville, Ind.; Carmel United), Travis Pittman (Manassas, Va.; D.C. United), Scott Prozeller (Sudbury, Mass.; FC Greater Boston), Ryan Reichmann (Hicksville, N.Y.; Albertson), Giovanni Rollie (Los Angeles, Calif.; LAFC), Michael Roman (Oxnard, Calif.; Real So Cal), Carl Rumph (South Hampton, N.Y.; Met Oval), Nicholas Ryan (San Jose, Calif.; Central Valley United), Anthony Salciccia (San Jose, Calif.; De Anza Force), Sito Sasieta (Overland, Mo.; Scott Gallagher), Wesley Sever (Belleair, Fla.; Clearwater Chargers), Alex Tuch (Tampa, Fla.; Clearwater Chargers), Justin Watson (Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Bridge FA), Cameron Wilder (Kennesaw, Ga.; Concorde Fire)

FORWARDS (15): Adedoja Akinsanya (Sacramento, Calif.; San Juan Lightning), Will Bates (Chester, Va.; Richmond Strikers), Ryan Bauer (O'Fallen, Mo.; Scott Gallagher), Orr Baroush (Reseda, Calif.; Chivas USA Academy), Marquis Brooks (Chula Vista, Calif.; LA Galaxy Academy), Zach Foxhoven (Littleton, Colo.; Colorado Rush), Chris Hegngi (Silver Spring, Md.; D.C. United), Adam Jahn (El Macero, Calif.; San Juan Lightning), Zach Kupfer (North Bellmore, N.Y.; Albertson), Andrew Lubahn (Erie, Pa.; Premier Soccer Academy), Josue Madueno (Castroville, Calif.; Santa Cruz Breakers), Martin Ontiveros (Austin, Texas; Lonestar), Hasani Sinclair (Coral Springs, Fla.; Schulz Academy)