The U.S. Under-20 Men’s Youth National Team routed the Dominican Republic 6-0 in the 2022 Concacaf U-20 Championship Final on Sunday evening in Honduras. Having already secured berths to the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup and 2024 Olympic Games with wins earlier in the tournament, the USA also secured its third straight CONCACAF U-20 Championship title with this win.
Sunday’s Final featured two of the three Barca Residency Academy alumni on the USA squad. Diego Luna started the game and was excellent in the midfield in his 90 minutes of play. In the 37th minute, Luna provided a wowing assist as he sent a slight, no-look, short pass into the area to Paxten Aaronson, who turned toward goal and fired a shot past the keeper to give the USA a 2-0 lead.
Caden Clark entered the game in the 58th minute and had an immediate impact as he connected with Niko Tsakiris in the 61st minute for the USA’s sixth goal of the match.
Caden Clark and Diego Luna led the USA in assists for the tournament, both tallying five assists each. All three alumni scored a goal in the tournament. Clark and Pukstas scored in the opening match on June 18 vs. St. Kitts and Nevis while Luna netted his goal on June 25 against Nicaragua.
With the conclusion of the U-20 tournament, Clark, Luna, and Pukstas have returned to their home teams, New York Redbulls, Real Salt Lake, and HNK Hajduk Split respectively.
