The Sporting Kansas City U-16s and U-18s returned to U.S. Soccer Development Academy action over the weekend with a pair of games in the Rocky Mountains. The U-16s split matches against Real Colorado and Colorado Rush, while the U-18s took consecutive defeats.
Sporting Kansas City’s academy sides were unable to produce a goal on Saturday as the U-16s fell 3-0 and the U-18s lost 2-0 to Real Colorado at Highlands Heritage Park in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.
The U-16s, however, atoned for Saturday’s setback with a 3-1 win over Colorado Rush on Sunday. Max Rugova, Johnny Klein and Roman Knox all scored in the first 16 minutes at Regency Athletic Complex in Denver as head coach Jon Parry’s team improved to 6-3-0, good for third place in the U-15/16 Frontier Division. For the second straight weekend, the club played without defender Jaylin Lindsey and forward Mason Visconti, who were participating in the U.S. U-15 Boys’ National Team training camp in Bradenton, Florida.
The U-18s entered halftime trailing Colorado Rush 3-0 on Sunday but received two goals from second-half substitutes to set up a tense final half-hour. Nansel Selbol began the rally in the 52nd minute — netting his team-leading ninth goal of the season — while Will Little cut the deficit to one just seven minutes later. Yet the comeback would ultimately fall short, and a 3-2 defeat dropped Istvan Urbanyi’s team to fifth place in the U-17/18 Frontier Division at 5-4-0.
The U-16s and U-18s are off next weekend before ending the first half of the 2015-16 U.S. Soccer Development Academy campaign on Saturday, Nov. 21, at Swope Soccer Village. The double-header against Texans SC Houston kicks off with the U-18s at 10 a.m. CT followed by the U-16s at 12:30 p.m. CT. Both matches are free and open to the public.
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