The Sporting Kansas City Academy U-16s booked a spot in the Championship Division of the 2017 Generation adidas Cup with two pivotal qualifying wins over the weekend at Houston Sports Park.
Eight total berths were at stake in the Generation adidas Cup Championship Division, reserved for the top two finishers in each of the East, Central and West regions, plus the two best third-place teams. Those eight clubs won the opportunity to face international sides and compete for the Generation adidas Cup title, with the finals slated for April 7-15 at Toyota Soccer Center in Frisco, Texas.
After falling to Toronto FC on Friday, the U-16s rebounded with a pair of shutout victories over the Houston Dynamo and Chicago Fire to finish third in the Central qualifying region and keep their GA Cup hopes alive. Led by head coach Josh Gardner, Sporting KC entered the weekend with a 1-1-1 record in the Central qualifying region, having played its first three qualifying matches last October at Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City.
The U-16s fell to Toronto FC 4-2 on Friday, conceding the first four goals of the game before mounting a rally behind strikes from Ryan Fessler and Gianluca Busio.
Sporting KC bounced back the following day with an impressive 4-0 win against the Houston Dynamo. Goalkeeper Alex Brown kept the clean sheet, Mason Visconti bagged a brace and Grayson Barber and Jonathan Munoz added goals to complete the rout.
Brown and Sporting KC posted another shutout Monday afternoon, defeating the Chicago Fire 1-0 behind Sean Karani’s 25-yard blast in the first half. The result gave Sporting KC a 3-2-1 qualifying record, good enough for third place in the Central Region and advancement to the Championship Division of the Generation adidas Cup in April.
With GA Cup qualifying in the rearview mirror, the U-16s will turn their attention back to the 2016-17 U.S. Soccer Development Academy campaign. Gardner’s team will be joined by the Sporting KC U-18s for a doubleheader against the Colorado Rush on Saturday at Fort Hays State University Soccer Stadium in Hays, Kansas. The U-18s will kick off at noon CT before the U-16s take the field at 2:30 p.m. CT. Follow @SKCAcademy on Twitter for live updates throughout the season.
