Generation adidas Cup: MLS sides push on

Generation adidas Cup: MLS sides push on
by David McNabb
March 30, 2015

FRISCO, Texas — MLS academy teams continued to represent themselves well in the second day of the MLS Generation Under-17 adidas Cup at the Toyota Soccer Center in Frisco. The New York Red Bulls responded with a shootout win over Recife while San Jose and Philadelphia Union each forced highly respected Palmeiras and Eintracht Frankfurt into needing late second-half goals to come away with 1-goal wins. FC Dallas also picked up another notable victory lead stay atop Group B with a victory over Real Salt Lake.

The Cup takes a day of rest Tuesday after back-to-back playing days before resuming pool play Wednesday. The semifinals will be Thursday night with the final Saturday night.

New York Red Bulls 1, Sport Club do Recife 1 (3-1 PKs)

Red Bulls keeper Zavier Kennedy-Reed did his best Tim Krul imitation and had two blocks in penalty kicks for the Red Bulls to take the lead in their Group with a victory over the Brazilian club. The Red Bulls rallied to tie the score in the second half, 1-1, and pressed action before going into penalty kicks. Ryan Mingachos had the third and clinching goal after Jared Gilbey and Noah Powder put in their goals.

“We have a lot of quality, we want the five most confident guys and they raised their hands to take the the kicks under pressure,” Red Bulls coach Simon Nee said.

It was a nice moment for Mingachos who had been assessed with the first half foul to set up the Recife goal. Recife scored first on a penalty kick on a shoulder-to-shoulder call which could have uncalled as well.

The Red Bulls pushed for chances on multiple occasions and had built momentum going into PKs. Kyle Casey scored the tying goal as the Red Bulls pressured the goal, got a goalie bobble and a score. Bratislav Petkovic had nearly put in the game-winner with a header on his first touch as a substitute. Brian Saramago, Mason Deeds and Rodrigo D’Andrea had first-half chances which narrowly missed the back of the net.

In penalty kicks with a large crowd of college coaches and players and spectators surrounding the last match of the early session, Kennedy-Reed put on a show with confidence, skill and a pacing, towel-wearing routine patterned after The Netherlands’ star goalie.

“I saw Tim Krul in the World Cup, and said, 'that’s me.'” Kennedy-Reed said.

FC Dallas 1, Real Salt Lake 0

In a rematch of last year’s semifinal, FC Dallas emerged with a 52nd minute goal by Toshiki Yasuda on a nice ball from Weston McKennie. FCD and RSL played to a scoreless halftime draw with few scoring chances with play concentrated between the tops of the penalty boxes.

FCD meets Pumas in its third pool game after having opened with two wins. FCD goalie Carlos Avilez got the shutout but also got terrific help from defenders Alex Gerondale and Adrian Ramos. A Game 2 starter, Juan Ramirez was involved on each side of the field with good ball control and hustle.

RSL has lots a pair of 1-goal decision and faces Bilbao in Game 3 of pool play Wednesday.

Palmeiras 2, San Jose 1

In a well-played match, Palmeiras scored its game-winner in the 68th minute after a relentless second half surge against a determined San Jose. Palmerias scored the game winner on Artur’s nice right-footed chip shot over the goalie from short range. It capped a furious rally led by Palmeiras’ Vitinho who took over the middle with quick runs toward goal, some strong shots and deft passing which the Quakes did well to hold off as long as they did.

San Jose took a deserved 1-0 halftime lead. Theo Huxam chipped in a goal in the 28th minute. San Jose responded well from a 3-0 loss in Game 1 against the talented Brazilians, who had a 4-0 rout in Game 1 over Philadelphia Union. San Jose’s Kristoc Camacho did a good creating offense almost single-handedly as San Jose made sure to have enough defenders to hold off Palmeiras. Camacho’s activity led directly to Huxam having some space for a score.

San Jose keeper Cameron Douglas had six saves in a standout effort. He blocked a free kick and penalty kick from the deceptive Vitinho which is a good day’s effort on its own. San Jose got great defensive play from C.J. Grey, Ivan Valencia and centerback Armon Ojoula and right back Rhys Pak all combined for multiple stops against Palmerias, which came out with a 35-minute sense of urgency in the second half.

San Jose has two losses but it’s play against Palmeiras will provide momentum and Philadelphia Union as both quality sides will be looking for a win against each other in a Game 3 finale. Palmeiras will get another strong test from Eintracht Frankfurt in pool play conclusion.

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