(Editor's Note: Carmel United won the U16 championship match 1-0 late Saturday night. We will have a profile article on the team late Sunday night.)
CARSON, CALIF - The U16 Final matchup was booked here Thursday, as Carmel United and PDA will meet Saturday for the inaugural USSF Development Academy championship.
Action kicked off Thursday with LAFC facing Carmel United. With this being their last game, many teams, including these two, were fighting for the last spot to compete in the national championship game tomorrow night. A win or a tie would ensure Carmel a spot in the finals against PDA, but LAFC had a chance to advance with a win.
Carmel started out strong, pounding the ball at LA nonstop. With Carmel defender Jared Isenthal hurling huge throw-ins into the box, Carmel was in good form early on, constantly creating opportunities. As they continued to attack, LA goalie Eric Shannon confidently defended the goal and made a couple of key saves. Carmel kept attacking though, and after a couple of tries finally got one on the board with a cross from midfielder and team captain Harrison Petts to Austin Oldham who headed the ball into the goal in just the 10th minute to bring Carmel up 1-0.
Petts kept impressing as he controlled the midfield and hustled to every ball, covering nearly the entire pitch. Carmel kept attacking and putting the pressure on LA but it was Los Angeles that responded. In the 35th minute, forward Luke Kurzon tied the game up with a diving header for a ball of a huge cross from outside the box. Kurzon put the ball in the back of the net and tied the game up 1-1. A few beautiful saves by Carmel keeper Jon Dawson ended the half with a tied score.
The second half started out slow with both teams playing great defense. Carmel defender Jamie Vollmer held down the back line just as defender Bryce Gumpel did for LA. Meanwhile, LA midfielder Sebastian De Rada displayed marvelous ball control and speed, as he started to give LA some chances towards the middle of the half. Play was very physical between the two teams, with a few yellow cards and seemingly a player on the ground every three or four minutes. One of these yellow cards went to Carmel defender Vollmer as he got into a heated confrontation with LA's Kurzon. Antonio Benitez took the kick for LA which was on target but hit by Carmel's Dawson behind the goal. LA followed up by taking the corner and it was at this time which Kurzon scored his second goal of the match with this 66th minute header to put LA up 2-1.
Carmel kicked the ball off, controlled it, and attacked. Almost immediately, after a direct kick, Carmel's Fundenberger tipped the kick pas LA goalkeeper Shannon and into the feet of Michael Wignot. The Carmel defender was able to finish the play with the equalizing goal just two minutes after LA had scored. Both teams continued to battle it out but neither could close the deal and the game ended up tied up at 2-2.
Real Colorado (red) v CASL (grey)
The tie clichéd the group title for Carmel ahead in their group's standings and advanced them to the national championship on Saturday night where they will play New Jersey side PDA.
Other Games
The other early game was between Albertson and Schultz Academy. Albertson, with two losses, had already been eliminated prior to this match, while Schultz Academy was hoping for a big win and a Carmel loss in order to make it to Saturday's final. Even though Schultz needed the win to advance, Albertson held strong with their defense and neither team was able to score as the game ended at 0-0.
The next game was at between the Chicago Magic and PDA. PDA had already secured a spot in the finals but this was a gentleman's match and these kids always want to win. The Magic struck early on as Arturo Garza scored on in the 18th minute. PDA responded but not until the very end of the half as Jeffrey Eisenbud tied things up in the 40th minute. The second half was a stalemate between the two competitors and the score stayed at 1-1 as PDA advanced and the Magic's road to the championship ended.
The other late game was between Real Colorado and CASL. Both teams came out firing with goals in the first half. Nick Rodriguez got things started with a 12th minute goal for Colorado. It wasn't long though before Chipper Root evened the score at 1-1 with his 29th minute goal. The teams kept fighting and Real finally got their second goal at the end of the first half, courtesy of Kyle Venter. Neither team could put another one in before the end of regulation and this hard fought battle ended all group play for the week at 2-1.
