Potomac area USSDA review: Bethesda snags playoff spot, late drama for PWSI, Richmond

Bethesda-Olney teams continued their strong push toward the postseason, Baltimore Bays had a successful weekend against New Jersey Cedar Stars Academy, and two local sides played high-scoring thrillers in the U-13/14 age group this weekend in Potomac area Development Academy action.

[player_box id=43439 leftright=right]PDA and Prince William Courage competed in one of the most riveting matches of the season in the U-13/14 age group on Saturday in New Jersey, a fast-paced 4-4 draw with some of the top attacking players on the East Coast coming up big for their teams. U.S. Youth [player_box id=43432 leftright=right]National Team forward Eric Calvillo and Hernan Blanco Jr spotted the away side a 2-0 lead within the first 15 minutes, but PDA battled back to ultimately earn the tie, receiving a 79th minute equalizer from Ivan Loncar just three minutes after Ivan Cruz had put Prince William up 4-3.

+Read: Richmond United, Bethesda SC, Maryland United U-14 ECNL sides thrive at South Carolina showcase

[player_box id=44595 leftright=right]Zach Riviere had a brace for PDA, scoring two goals in a three-minute span in the second half, and William Basanaga put the home side on the board in the [player_box id=46699 leftright=right]42nd minute. Tyler Clegg scored PWSI’s other goal in the 57th minute, which put the team up 3-1 at the time.

[player_box id=54161 leftright=right]Richmond United earned a 3-3 draw against Lehigh Valley United in a back-and-forth battle at West Creek. Miles Peay and Alexander Levengood each scored to give the home side a 2-0 halftime lead, but Lehigh Valley netted three early second half goals to take the lead by the 60th minute. Dawson Berger struck twice and Justin Solano scored one all within a seven-minute span for LVU.

However, Luke Mega stepped up in the 77th minute to equalize for Richmond United and salvage a point. The goal was Mega’s team-leading 10th of the season, while Levengood netted his eighth and Peay found the net for a third consecutive match.

[player_box id=43826 leftright=right]In the U-15/16 age group, Bethesda-Olney (11-7-5) improved to the No. 2 overall playoff seed with a 3-1 road win against Richmond United (8-13-4). Juan [player_box id=54893 leftright=right]Ramirez had a brace for his seventh and eighth goals of the season, good for second on the team. Eric Matzelevich followed up last weekend’s two-goal effort against Baltimore Bays with a 50th minute goal to give Olney the lead for good, after Michael Fitch knotted the game at 1-1 for Richmond in the 42nd.

[player_box id=46654 leftright=right]Collin Jouan scored a 74th minute equalizer and a 78th minute go-ahead goal for D.C. United (8-6-7) against PA Classics (9-7-5) on Saturday, but Sean O’Hearn countered with an 80th minute equalizer for Classics to earn the 2-2 draw.

[player_box id=46700 leftright=right]Brady O’Connor‘s hat trick helped Baltimore Bays (5-18-1) to its second win in its last three outings, a 3-2 victory at home over NJCSA (4-15-4). Santo Arena had a second half brace for NJCSA in the loss.

In the U-17/18 age group, Bethesda-Olney (10-6-7) powered its way inside the playoff bubble with a 4-2 win over Richmond United (5-16-4). Travis Cooke and Austin Graham came up big early for Richmond United, spotting the home team a 2-0 lead at the half. However, Olney scored four goals and shut down the Richmond offense in the second half to earn the win.

[player_box id=43477 leftright=right]Ibrahima Kouyate opened the second half with a 46th minute goal, and from there, Ofentse Kale evened things up at 2-2 in the 61st minute, Max [player_box id=48004 leftright=right]Graham gave Olney the lead in the 67th and Kale netted an insurance goal in stoppage time. Olney now holds the No. 10 spot out of the 11 wild card positions.

[player_box id=54280 leftright=right]Elsewhere, D.C. United (15-5-2) dropped a 2-0 decision to PA Classics (8-9-4) and Baltimore Bays (2-19-2) picked up a 1-0 win over NJCSA (6-14-4). Bays have now won two of their last three games, having allowed just one goal in their last 270 minutes of play. Matthew Carey scored the game’s only goal in the 75th minute while Frank Assaro and Gregory Andreou were among the key contributors defensively playing the full 90 minutes, helping Chase Vosvick earn the clean sheet in goal.

See below for full results from this weekend’s Potomac area Development Academy action posted on Report-a-Score.com…

U-13/14

U-15/16

U-17/18