Malcolm Murphy’s Match Fit Chelsea U16 team shrugged off the cold to record a pair of shutouts in USSF Development Academy play this weekend, putting themselves in a good early position for the league’s Mid Atlantic Division.

The team evens out to 2-2-1 in division play, three points behind leader FC DELCO, who it lost to 2-1 last weekend on the road. The squads play again in May at Match Fit’s home ground.

This weekend Match Fit defeated Potomac 3-0 and DC United 4-0, with both matches played at the Maryland Soccerplex.

Murphy said he was especially pleased with the performance given that the team largely has been unable to train outside recently due to tough weather on the east coast.

“We’ve found it very difficult to get any training sessions with the New Jersey weather,” he said. “We’ve also had a number of injuries so this is really the first time we’ve been able to put out the squad we really wanted to. So since we unfortunately didn’t really train at all, we’re pretty excited about the weekend and believe we can continue to do well in the future.”

Of course it's the irony of the situation that makes it notable, as Murphy is firmly committed to training rigorously as part the USSF Development Academy's strict guidelines for member clubs. The preparation for this week's matches is definitely not the norm at Match Fit.

The duo of striker Juan Pablo Correa and midfielder Liam Sole were in good scoring form, with each finding the back of the net three times over the two matches. Mike Lowe had the other Match Fit goal.

Murphy said he ran out a starting 11 that included goalkeeper James Sheehan, defenders Andrew Fijan, Evan Heroux, Stephen Krachie and Tim Ballard, central midfielders Liam Sole and Nick Asoli, outside midfielders Rishi Desai and Dante Marini, and forwards Juan Pablo Correa and Mike Lowe.

Match Fit hosts winless PA Classics next Saturday at Mercer Community College. Potomac is now 1-2-1 and DC United 1-2-3 in divisional play. The top three teams in each of nine USSF divisions qualify for playoffs in June.