FRISCO, Texas – The FC Dallas U-17s lost their first match of the Generation adidas Cup in the final match of the tournament Sunday morning when they fell to the LA Galaxy 2-0 on Field 11 at Pizza Hut Park. The Galaxy won the championship match off of goals by Sebastian Velasquez and Mario Rodriguez.
The two teams were evenly matched and the goalkeepers went largely untested for much of the first half. In the tenth minute, FCD forward Bobby Edet looked to have a chance at a breakaway, but was quickly closed on by three LA defenders to send the ball back into the midfield.
The Galaxy scored their first goal in the 21st minute one a two-on-one opportunity. LA’s Raul Mendiola dribbled up the left side towards goal and passed the ball past the Dallas defender to a breaking Velasquez on the right. Velasquez coolly slotted the ball to the near post before FCD goalkeeper Richard Sanchez could recover to give the visitors the 1-0 lead.
Edet had a chance to draw the game level five minutes later, but his shot was caught by Galaxy goalkeeper Daniel Slepukhin.
Dallas opened the second half with some sustained pressure in LA’s defensive third of the field, but the key play of the match was made in the 74th minute. FCD midfielder Diego De La Tejera Farias let loose a shot that a Galaxy jumped in front of to block with his back.
That block led to a quick counter by LA that saw Sean Dhillon send an outlet pass to Rodriguez to get behind the Dallas backline. Rodriguez fired the shot past Sanchez to give the Galaxy a late 2-0 lead.
From there LA displayed a lockdown defense in the dying minutes, blocking another shot by second half substitute Alberto Galvan in the 78th minute, and clearing a ball off the line in the 79th minute to hold onto their shutout and win the 2011 Generation adidas Cup.
Despite the loss, the Galaxy’s two goals were the only shots to get past Sanchez all week, earning him the U-17 Golden Glove as the best goalkeeper of the tournament. Alfred Koroma earned the U-17 MVP award.
Scoring Summary:
LA – Velasquez 21’
LA – M. Rodriguez 74’
Misconduct Summary:
FCD – Ortiz (caution) 28’
FCD – Meyer (caution) 71’
FC Dallas U-17 lineup: Sanchez, Frankenfeld (Reeves 64’), Haberkorn (Ashby 57’), Mion, Laverde, De La Tejera Farias, Acosta, Ortiz (Galvan 70’), Parthain (Yassine 49’), Portillo, Edet (Meyer 41’)
LA Galaxy U-17 starting lineup: Slepukhin, Reyes, Tilley, Tuloima, Antunez, Howe, E. Rodriguez, Raygoza, Velasquez, Arriola, Mendiola
FC Dallas U-15s 2, Seattle Sounders U-15s 5
The FC Dallas U-15s also fell on the final day of the GA Cup, losing the third place match to Seattle Sounders FC by a score of 5-2. Dallas forward Santiago Agudelo Salazar bagged a late brace in the match against U-15 Golden Glove winner Paul Christensen of Seattle.
The Sounders started the scoring early on a goal by David Abbott-Smith in the second minute, but the remainder of the first half was largely back-and-forth with few quality scoring chances.
PHOTOS: U-15s 2, Seattle Sounders 5
Seattle doubled the lead 16 minutes into the second half when David Olsen got a shot past Dallas goalkeeper Sawyer Williams in the 56th minute. The lead was extended to three goals when Sounder Shane Gomez tallied in the 65th minute.
FCD pulled one back in the 67th minute when second half substitute Salazar scored for the home team.
A rapid scoring exchange in the last four minutes brought the score line to its final resting place. Seattle’s Denis Kalamar capitalized on a short, misplaced goal kick to give the Sounders their fourth goal of the match.
Two minutes later Salazar scored his brace for FCD on a golazo from just outside the right corner of the penalty area that he buried in the near upper-90. Not to be outdone, in the 80th minute Kalamar got a brace of his own on a similar goal that he sent in from the left corner of the area to the far upper-90.
The loss gave the U-15s a fourth place finish at this year’s Generation adidas Cup.
Scoring Summary:
SEA – Abbott-Smith 2’
SEA – Olsen 56’
SEA – Gomez 65’
FCD – Salazar 67’
SEA – Kalamar 77’
FCD – Salazar 79’
SEA – Kalamar 80’
Misconduct Summary:
SEA – Kalamar (caution) 68’
FCD – M. Salas (caution) 72’
FC Dallas U-15 lineup: Flores (Williams 41’), Korleski (Gaughan 58’), Murillo, Rodriguez, Martin, Amaro (Olmos 61’), Lara (Ojeda 41’), J. Salas (Bradford 47’), M. Salas, Volkert (Mandelkorn 61’), Ramirez (Salazar 61’)
