March 22, 2021
RECAP
Casa Grande, Ariz – All five Barça Residency Academy Pre-Academy teams competed in the 2021 Phoenix Cup that was hosted at various sites around the valley. The Barça Residency Academy U-17PA team took home its second tournament title of the season with an overtime win over AYSO United in the Final.
After a scoreless first half with few chances for either side, AYSO United opened the scoring in the 58th minute of the match. It was no one other than the team’s leading scorer, Jacob Sincuir, who scored the game tying goal in the 73rd minute, tallying his fifth goal of the tournament. With a 1-1 scoreline at the end of regulation, the game was determined in a penalty shootout. Goalkeeper Conscience Abba came up with two critical saves that secured the championship for Barça Residency Academy.
Route to the Final
The Barça Residency Academy U-17s began their tournament run on Friday evening where they met a polished Riverside FC team who stunned them with a rare 0-2 loss. Knowing they needed to win-out for a chance at the title, Barça shaped-up on Saturday and put together a dominant 6-0 shut out win over SC del Sol (Huang 3, Sincuir 3, Higham 1). Bar¬ça had to win it’s final group stage match on Sunday morning to keep their hopes of advancing to the finals alive – in which they did courtesy of a game winning goal by Jacob Sincuir that secured at 1-0 result over San Diego Surf.
With the U-17s Phoenix Cup Championship win, at least one Barça Residency Academy team has taken home a first-place trophy in every tournament that the academy has competed in in the 2020-21 season.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Pre-Academy U-17, U-18, and U-19 teams will travel to Dallas, Texas to compete in the Dallas Cup that will take place March 27 – April 4.
