FC Dallas U-15, Real Colorado U-16/17 win U.S. Soccer Girls DA titles
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Via U.S. Soccer) – The inaugural season of the U.S. Soccer Girls’ Development Academy wrapped up with two impressive title matches, as FC Dallas U-15 and Real Colorado U-16/17 became the first-ever clubs to be crowned Girls’ Development Academy Champions at their age groups.
FC Dallas 2, Legends FC 0
FC Dallas is a standard-bearer in the Boys’ Academy, and the club proved to be just as successful in its first campaign on the Girls’ side. Finishing the season as the Frontier Division’s top team, FC Dallas U-15 entered the Playoffs on a 10-game unbeaten run. On Wednesday, it completed a five-game postseason winning streak with a 2-0 win over Legends FC (Chino, Calif.). After early pressure from Legends, Jaedyn Shaw shot a rocket to the top-right corner to give FC Dallas the lead heading into halftime. Shortly after the break, Jordan Baker finished a perfectly-placed through ball from Morganne Eikelbarner to net an insurance goal. Dallas’ stout defense held strong down the stretch to secure the first-ever U-15 Girls’ title, and the program’s fifth title overall after collecting four championships on the Boys’ side (2012 U-18/19, 2015 U-15/16, 2016 U-15/16 and 2016 U-18/19).
“To be the champion of the inaugural year of an amazing and unique platform is incredible for the club,” FC Dallas head coach Matthew Grubb said. “It means a ton to us and hopefully we can continue to carry that banner, for the Academy and for us. This team had the opportunity, with the platform and the training standards, to really grow. You want them to achieve whatever goals they have, and this platform and this championship gave them that confidence to continue to try and strive for those goals.”
WE HAVE OUR U-15 CHAMPION! @FCDallasYouth takes down @LegendsFCSoccer to bring home the ?! pic.twitter.com/owmLO6Jywq
— Development Academy (@ussoccer_da) July 11, 2018
Real Colorado 3, Nationals 0
Real Colorado U-16/17 (Centennial, Colo.) took a tough road to the final, defeating three of the nation’s top five seeds in its playoff run, including a 1-0 victory over No. 1 LAFC Slammers in the semifinals. In the championship game, Real recorded its fifth shutout in six postseason games to defeat Nationals (Pontiac, Mich.) 3-0 and win the inaugural Girls’ Development Academy U-16/17 Championship. After Lydia Totten netted a goal in first half stoppage time, Colorado shifted the game’s momentum for good less than a minute into the second half, as a hand ball in the box set-up forward Taeya Schuepper to double the team’s lead from the spot. In the 66th minute, Real Colorado extended its lead on Schuepper’s second goal of the game. Nationals played hard until the final whistle, but Colorado goalkeeper Halle Mackiewicz and the stellar defensive unit shut the door on any late-game heroics.
+READ: LAFC Slammers win U-18/19 Girls Development Academy title
“It’s so exciting,” Real Colorado head coach Jared Spires said. “No matter how good a club is, you don’t get these opportunities very much. It was a lot of fun. The fact is, they get to do something they love to do, they’re really good at it and they got to do it on the national championship stage. Most importantly, when you look at this national championship, we had to beat some great clubs. Our kids got the opportunity to perform on a big stage and they embraced it.”
She shows up in the big games. Taeya Schueppert's two goals lifted @RealColoSoccer U-16/17s to the first ever #GirlsDA championship. pic.twitter.com/STvQHC8Ucp
— Development Academy (@ussoccer_da) July 12, 2018
