March 12, 2019
RECAP
Casa Grande, Ariz – The Barça Residency Academy U.S. Soccer Development Academy teams traveled to Temecula, California over the weekend and earned three important wins over Arsenal FC.
The U-15s opened the day with a 2-0 shutout win. The U-17s took the field next and had their most dominant performance of the season, defeating Arsenal by a score of 8-1. The U-19s rounded out the day with an exciting 2-1 come-from-behind win over Arsenal.
USSDA (DA)
Barça Residency Academy U-15 vs. Arsenal FC
The U-15s got off to a great start against Arsenal FC. They created three quality goal scoring opportunities in the first twenty minutes of the match and finally broke through with a goal from Jorge Gonzalez in the 22nd minute. They continued to push on but missed a few scoring opportunities prior to the half.
Barça Residency Academy doubled their lead in the 64th minute with a goal from Gabriel Enriquez. They saw out the final 15 minutes of the match and earned a 2-0 shutout win over Arsenal FC.
“Overall, I was pleased with the boy’s performance,” said head coach Daniel Antunez. “We executed the game plan very well and managed to progress inside Arsenal’s box and create a good amount of goal scoring opportunities. I’m very proud of the boys in the way the managed the game and earned the 3 points. “
Barça Residency Academy U-17 vs. Arsenal FC
Next up on the day were the Barça Residency Academy U-17s who had their most dominant performance of the season. Barça started the game very well in both possession and recovery, creating several scoring chances. Ocean Salari opened the scoring in the 4th minute and struck again in the 11th to give Barça an early 2-0 lead. Samuel Mendoza made it 3-0 in the 19th minute. Salari was taken down in the box in the 25th minute, Ulysses Martinez converted the PK to extend the lead to 4-0. Five minutes later, Rokas Pukstas scored his first goal as a Barça Residency Academy player and gave his team a 5-0 lead.
Barça conceded a goal from a corner kick at the brink if halftime that brought the score to 5-1.
In the second half, Saul Sosa scored in the 63rd minute, Ronaldo Guadarrama grabbed a second half brace with goals in the 69th and 76th minute to bring the final score to 8-1.
“We started the game with the desire to dominate all aspects of the game,” said head coach Chris Harmon. “I am very proud of the mentality of the boys to stay disciplined and to put together such a complete performance. We are looking forward to getting back to work and preparing for our next league match.”
Barça Residency Academy U-19 vs. Arsenal FC
The last match of the day saw the U-19s match up against Arsenal in the most exciting match of the day. Barça Residency Academy controlled the tempo of the game but struggled to create chances. Arsenal scored a header from a corner in the 17th minute against the run of play and took a 1-0 lead into the half.
In the second half, Barça increased their speed of play and equalized with a well worked goal from Amadeo Chapru Tate who finished a cross from Guillermo Lopez. Four minutes later, Ilijah Paul gave Barça a 2-1 advantage from the spot after Julian Gains was fouled in the box after a driving run into the area.
Barça Residency Academy was challenged with a number of long balls in the final ten minutes of the game but their back line and goalkeeper, Mikey Reyes, held firm and saw out the game for the 2-1 win.
“This wasn’t our cleanest performance of the season but the guys showed great character in the second half to turn the game around and grind out the win,” said head coach Ged Quinn. “It was important for us to overcome that first half deficit and I thought the performance in the second half warranted the three points. Arsenal always make life difficult when you play them at their fields and for all three DA teams to come away with victories today shows the quality and strength of character we have across the board this year.”
LOOKING AHEAD
The U.S. Soccer Development Academy has suspended all Boys’ and Girls’ regular season matches through the end of April as a precaution against the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19). The most up-to-date information about U.S. Soccer event and match cancellations can be found on ussoccer.com and the DA’s social media channels.
