Washington
D.C.
(Nov. 6, 2013)—
This past weekend
all three
D.C.
United
Academy
teams topped the Virginia Rush at
Morven
Park
.
The U-18s (4-2-2) started the weekend off with a 3-0 victory. Jorge Calix (
Alexandria
,
Va.
; Team
America
) began the scoring for the Black-and-Red in the 6th minute off an assist from Adam Burnaby-Atkins (
Washington
,
D.C.
; Potomac Soccer Association). After receiving a red card, Virginia Rush went down to ten men in the middle of the first half, and United went into halftime with a 1-0 lead. Calix took advantage of the extra United player and scored his second goal of the day from a Gerson Umana (
Lorton
,
Va.
; Prince William Soccer Inc.) assist in the 64th minute. Cristhyan Najar (
Springfield
,
Va.
) netted the third and final goal in the 87th minute.
“Today was a good performance,” said D.C. United U-18 Head Coach Nolan Sheldon. “We did well to control play and create a number of quality chances. The team still needs quite a bit more urgency to score goals and close out games, which will be our focus this week in training.”
The U-16s (3-2-3) continued the scoring trend against the Virginia Rush with a 5-1 win. Owen Marshall (
Bethesda
,
Md.
; DC Stoddert) scored in the 5th minute off a Juarez Milton (
Woodbridge
,
Va.
; Prince William Soccer Inc.) through ball, then scored his second of the day in the 21st minute from a DJ Reeves (
Ashton
,
Md.
; Soccer Association of Columbia) cross. Liam Hoen-Beck (
Vienna
,
Va.
; Vienna Youth Soccer) put in another goal in the 25th minute, assisted by Brennan Ireland (
Annapolis
,
Md.
; Pittsburgh Riverhounds). Juarez added another goal before halftime off an
Ireland
pass, and United went into halftime with a 4-0 lead. The Rush netted one goal in the second half before Reeves added the fifth goal of the day from Jonathon Sousa (Fredrick, Md.; Calverton Soccer Club).
“Overall, it was a great response to the previous week’s performance,” said D.C. United U-16 Head Coach Tom Torres. “The boys brought a strong mentality and kept the ball for most of the match and in their opponent’s half. We were happy with their effort and will challenge them to keep their concentration levels high this week.”
The U-14s (7-0-1) added another multiple-goal victory to their record by beating the Virginia Rush 6-0. Alexis Cerritos (
Beltsville
,
Md.
;
Cerritos
Academy
) scored the opening goal in the 14th minute assisted by Julius Lanisiquot (
Bowie
,
Md.
; Fewster FC). SahrFelix Sandy (
Woodbridge
,
Va.
; North Virginia Soccer Club) put in another goal in the 23rd minute off a Chandler Vaughn (
Woodbridge
,
Va.
; Prince William Soccer Inc.) pass. United went into halftime leading the Rush, 2-0.
Cerritos
scored his second goal of the day in the 46th minute assisted by Conor Gill (
Reston
,
Va.
;
Reston
Soccer
Academy
). Not to be outdone,
Sandy
also scored his second goal of the day in the 52nd minute from another Gill pass. Kidus Lemma (
Fairfax
,
Va.
; Mclean Youth Soccer Association) netted the fifth United goal in the 67th minute, assisted by
Sandy
. Gill added the sixth and final goal in the 79th minute off a Lemma cross.
“It was a solid performance on both sides of the ball,” said D.C. United U-14 Head Coach Jonathan Frias. “It was good to see some of the guys gaining confidence in the final third and defensively getting another clean sheet. Our focus this week in training will be to have better shape in transition going forward.”
All three D.C. United teams will continue their USSDA seasons on Nov. 10 against the PA Classics. The U-18s and U-16s will play at the Classics Turf Field and the U-14 team will play at the Weaver Road Complex both in
Manheim
,
Pa.
The U-18s will kickoff at 12 p.m., with the U-14s following at 2:15 p.m. and the U-16s at 2:30 p.m.
