WHAT’S AHEAD:
Portland Timbers, Montreal Impact Join Academy for 2012-13: The Portland Timbers and Montreal Impact have been selected to join the U.S. Soccer Development Academy for the 2012-13 season. Their inclusion increases the number of MLS Academy clubs to 17 and expands the Academy field to 80 teams for the first 10-month season. The Timbers will join the Northwest Division of the West Conference and the Impact will join a realigned Northeast Division in the East Conference.
Academy on Bye Week: The Development Academy is on hiatus from regular-season play this weekend, but play resumes next weekend, April 14-15, with more than 100 Academy matches scheduled.
LAST WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS:
Central Conference:
- The Crew Soccer Academy Wolves U-15/16 team kept their unbeaten record intact and handed Indiana United Fire Academy its first divisional loss of the 2011-12 season with a 4-1 victory Saturday. Wolves players Ali Cheaib, Zack Atwood, Yamann Sahlool and Sam Brown each tallied a goal as the team improved to 2-0-1 in the division and 8-0-2 overall. Keaton Levock’s 17th-minute goal paced the CSA Wolves U-17/18 team (2-0-0 Great Lakes, 6-2-1 overall) as it shut out Indiana United Fire Academy 1-0 on Saturday.
- Among the local derby fixtures, Shattuck-Saint Mary’s Soccer Academy swept the Minnesota Thunder Academy as the U-15/16 team posted a 2-0 victory and the U-17/18 group earned a 1-0 victory on Ricardo Lopez-Espin’s 90th-minute game-winner. St. Louis Scott Gallagher Metro had a win and a draw against rival St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri. Tyler Swanner had the lone goal for the SLSG Metro U-15/16 team en route to a 1-0 victory, while Louis Berra’s second-half goal helped SLSG Metro U-17/18 overcome a first-half deficit for a 1-1 draw.
- The Sockers FC U-17/18 team improved to 3-0-0 in the Great Lakes Division with a 3-2 victory against Crew Soccer Academy and a 2-1 win against Internationals, increasing their overall record to 7-0-3 while outscoring their opponents 20-7.
East Conference:
- Albertson SC midfielders Jake Freeman and Richard Robinson scored two goals apiece as the U-17/18 team posted a strong 5-1 win against FC Greater Boston on Saturday. Alberton’s defense limited FC Greater Boston – a team that was averaging a shade more than two goals per game – to only a 61st-minute Matthew Dias Costa tally. The Albertson U-15/16 team produced a 2-1 victory against FC Greater Boston, with Jeff Banastey and Mark Romanowski netting goals for Albertson.
- Jacori Hayes and Ishmaiah Calwrie of Baltimore Bays Chelsea scored in the seventh and 87th minutes, respectively, during the U-17/18 team’s 2-0 victory against D.C. United on Saturday in both teams’ Mid-Atlantic Division opener. Baltimore’s defense put together another stout effort with the clean sheet as the team has allowed only 10 goals in 11 matches this season. The U-15/16 teams played to a scoreless draw.
- Players Development Academy’s Max Kroschwitz scored four goals over the weekend, including three tallies during a 5-2 win against Seacoast United at the U-15/16 level. PDA’s two Academy teams combined for a 4-0-0 weekend, with the U-15/16 group also playing to a 2-0 victory against Empire United. The PDA U-17/18 team had two shutout victories – a 3-0 win against Seacoast United and a 2-0 victory over Empire United, improving a 9-2-2 on the season.
West Conference:
- Chivas USA swept Real Salt Lake AZ last weekend, highlighted by the U-15/16 team’s 3-1 victory against the SoCal Division-leading RSL squad. Chivas built a 3-0 lead through the first 45 minutes with Andrew Benitez, Romario Lomeli and Sebastian Velasco finding the back of the net. Chivas USA’s U-17/18 team maintained its division lead with a 1-0 victory as Jose Dheming tallied the game’s lone goal.
- The San Diego Surf earned two victories against Strikers FC on Saturday, with Michael Griswold scoring two goals during the U-15/16 team’s 3-1 victory and Michael Turner tallying a pair of goals to lead the U-17/18 team to a 5-1 win.