FRISCO, Texas -- Just hours before the FC Dallas first team would face the Houston Dynamo in the championship game of the Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic in Florida Saturday night, the two Texas teams’ Under-18 squads played to a 2-1 victory for the Dallas side at Pizza Hut Park.
READ: FCD U-16s fall to Santos U-16s 1-0
The match started slow, with the first scoring opportunity coming in the 20th minute as a Dynamo forward was able to get on the end of a high pass for a dangerous header that went just wide of goal.
Five minutes later it was Dallas’ turn, as they got their first threatening look at goal when midfielder Daniel Garcia worked his way around two Dynamo defenders and onto the edge of the Houston box. Garcia sent in a cross that was kicked high over the goal and into the pond on the south end of Field 5, and later said he thought his side should have done better with their chances in the first 45 minutes of the match.
“We should have went up in the first half but we missed a couple,” said Garcia “We should have put it away in the first half so we could relax in the second half a little bit and keep the tempo down.”
Just two minutes after that Houston would take the 1-0 lead off a goal from Chance Bergen. The action refused to slow down as just four minutes after the Houston goal David Robledo would tally for FC Dallas off an assist from Uriel Soto in the 31st minute.
“It was good to come back that quick and I’m glad I could be the one to score it,” said Robledo. “It immediately got us back into the game.”
The pace stayed high through the end of the first, as each side would see quality scoring opportunities fly just over the opposition’s crossbar before the intermission.
The second half started slower than the first, with the first scoring chance not coming until FC Dallas midfielder Jose Perez tested Houston’s ‘keeper in the 69th minute. Ten minutes later Houston would threaten once again, but the South Texas team’s long distance strike barely cleared the crossbar.
The deciding goal of the game came in the 83rd minute when FC Dallas’ Jose Perez worked the ball up the right sideline to substitute Jack Coleman. Just outside the Dynamo box, Coleman sent a cross over the Houston defense that found the chest of Victor Pinal and then the back of the goal.
“I turned around and saw it and just put it in off my chest,” Pinal said of his game-winner. “I knew if I headed it I would’ve missed, so I just had to think fast.”
Pinal’s quick reaction would be the difference-maker, as Houston’s final scoring opportunity of the match went wide to the right side of goal in the 90th minute. FC Dallas Academy coach Francisco Molina said he was proud of the way his team took over after halftime.
“In the second half with the wind at our back I think that we dominated the game,” said Molina. “We won the divided balls and we took care of the ball. We played our style and when we play our style we are a tough team to beat.”
Molina went on to say that he thinks tomorrow’s 10 a.m. match against the Monterrey U-18s will be another highly-contested game.
“It’s going to be a great game to watch. They take care of the ball and so do we. I think people need to come out and see this game.”
Follow @FCDallasYouth on twitter for in-game updates during tomorrow's match.
READ: FCD U-16s beat Tigres 3-0
READ: FCD U-18s comeback from two-goal deficit to tie Monterrey 2-2
FC Dallas U-18 lineup: Bryan, Pineda (C. Garcia 46), Hagan (Rochowski 65), Estrada (Perez 46), Ramirez (Coleman 60), Guzman (Ambrose 60), Gamino, Robledo, Soto, Pinal and Garcia
Scoring Summary:
Houston Dynamo - Bergen (27')
FC Dallas - Robledo (31')
FC Dallas - Pinal (83')