D.C.United’s Youth Academy teams played their last preseason matches ahead of the2011-2012 season, taking on their Philadelphia Union counterparts last weekend.
United’sU-18 side fell 3-1 to the Union on Sunday, November 6. Patrick Foss scoredUnited’s only goal of the match after converting a penalty in the second half.
“Thepreseason was very valuable for us,” said United U-18 Head Coach Nolan Sheldon.“It allowed every player to play a significant amount of minutes and we nowhave a very good sense of the qualities of each player, and the team as awhole.”
TheU-16’s finished their preseason schedule with a 1-1 draw against the Union.Nigel Robinson scored United’s early goal after an assist from Suli Dainkeh inthe 15th minute. Lars Eckenrode, Mike Sauers and Christian Rodriguesalso contributed to the result with outstanding performances.
“Thisfriendly match was our last preseason game and I believe the boys are ready tostart the season in two weeks,” said United U-16 Head Coach Roberto Da Silva.“We played a very good game with lots of quick passes, we kept possession formost of the game, and we also took many shots on goal. Although we still havesome areas that we need to improve, overall I was pleased with theperformance.”
