Dale Schilly’s St. Louis Scott Gallagher Metro squad earned a pair of home wins last weekend in U18 USSF Developmental Academy play.

Playing at SIU-Edwardsville’s Ralph Korte Stadium on Saturday, a pair of goals by Vince Cicciarelli and a single tally from Jarrett Smith lifted Metro past Colorado Rapids, which got a goal from Zachary Bolden, 3-1. On Sunday, Zac Walters and Sean Kuster scored to give the squad a 2-0 lead over Kansas City Wizards, and they hung on despite a late strike from Will Witherspoon which made it 2-1.

The wins pull Schilly’s team to 3-3-0, trailing only division leaders Colorado Rush in the early-going of the Central Conference Frontier Division.

“In the first game against the Rapids, we had a pretty even game until we scored. Sean Kuster got a good service in on that one,” Schilly said. “We made the most of our chance and defensively we were pretty solid. Cicciarelli is a tough guy to deal with, a big physical strong game.

“Against the Wizards, they were difficult because they have two big guys up front and when we played in November, they dominated us with all the chances and possession. In this game, we were the better side,” he continued. “We played more confidently and scored two very good goals. We’re happy with our progress and where we’ve come from. We’ve been training regularly through the winter and this was our fourth and fifth game. You can see some guys coming together and putting their stamp on the team. Cicciarelli and Kuster are really making a difference and Martin Tobias and Matt Burrus are two guys who are playing much differently now than when we saw them coming out of their high school seasons.”

The squad plays two more home games this weekend, vs. Colorado Rush and Real Colorado.