U.S. U-20 Men’s National Team earns 3-1 win over Jamaica

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LAKEWOOD RANCH, Fla. (Via U.S. Soccer) – Two goals from Hannover 96 forward Sebastian Soto and a third strike from 2017 U-17 FIFA World Cup goal-scorer Ayo Akinola, gave the U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team a 3-1 win against Concacaf counterpart Jamaica to open the 2018 U.S. Soccer U-20 Men’s Invitational.

With the win, the U-20 MNT moved to the top of the tournament standings, with two games remaining against the U.S. U-19 MNT and Venezuela.

2018 U.S. Soccer U-20 Men’s Invitational Standings

Soto’s first goal of the night came in the 8^th minute. After a penalty in the box set up the striker to put one away from the mark, a nifty save from Reggae Boyz’ goalkeeper Tajay Griffiths deflected right to Soto who sent the rebound into the net.

Nineteen minutes later, Soto completed his brace, this time with some help from K.S.C. Lokeren midfielder Juan Torres. After getting into the box and cutting a ball low through the Jamaica defense, Soto finished off the attack to put the USA up 2-0.

Entering the second half looking to add to its lead, the U-20 MNT did just that five minutes in. Keeping the ball in the Reggae Boyz half of the field, the USA shifted numbers into the box. A bouncing ball fell to Akinola in the penalty area. Leaving little doubt behind his strike, the Toronto FC Homegrown volleyed the ball into the net from the left side of the box.

A tightly contested match for the remainder of the second half, Jamaica erased the would-be shutout two minutes after the clock struck 90 minutes. The goal came from attacker Nicque Daley.

While the Reggae Boyz will look to bounce back against Venezuela Sunday (11 a.m. ET), the U-20 MNT will try to stay stop the table when it takes on the familiar faces of the U.S. U-19 MNT. The match is slated for 4:30 p.m. ET at IMG Academy.

– U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team Match Report –

Match: U.S. U-20 Men’s National Team vs. Jamaica
Date: August 21, 2018
Competition: 2018 U.S. Soccer U-20 Men’s Invitational
Venue: Premier Sports Campus; Lakewood Ranch, Fla.
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET
Weather: 75 degrees; light rain

Scoring Summary:                  1          2          F
JAM                                         0          1          1
USA                                         2          1          3

USA – Sebastian Soto                         8th minute
USA – Sebastian Soto (Juan Torres)   27
USA – Ayo Akinola                              50
JAM – Nicque Daley                            90+2

Lineups:
USA: 1-Brady Scott; 13-Jaylin Lindsey (14-Sergino Dest, 76), 5-Mark McKenzie (Capt.), 4-Chris Richards (16-Lennard Maloney, 85), 3-Chris Gloster; 6-Brandon Servania, 7-Juan Torres, 8-Alex Mendez (17-Shaft Brewer Jr., 46); 19-Ayo Akinola (24-Christian Cappis, 73), 20-Griffin Dorsey (2-Manny Perez, 73), 9-Sebastian Soto (11-Paxton Pomykal, 41)
Subs not used: 12-CJ Dos Santos, 18-Sam Vines, 21-Andres Jimenez
Head coach: Tab Ramos

JAM: 13-Tajay Griffiths; 6-Nickache Murray, 2-Kimani Gibbons, 5-Jamoi Topey, 3-Trey Bennett, 8-Ricardo McIntosh (16-Richard Thompson, 73), 11-Shande James, 4-Calwayne Allen (15-Nathan Thomas, 46); 10-Tyreek Magee (Capt.) (14-Brandon Smith, 81), 9-Nicque Daley, 7-Kaheem Parris (12-Kameron Lacey, 46)
Subs not used: 1-Daniel Russel

Stats Summary: USA / JAM
Shots: 12 / 7
Shots on Goal: 6 / 5
Saves: 4 / 3
Fouls: 16 / 8
Corners: 8 / 1
Offside: 6 / 1

Misconduct Summary:
JAM – Calwayne Allen (sent off)         38th minute
JAM – Nicque Daley (caution)            46
JAM – Kameron Lacey (caution)        70

Officials:
Referee: Gabriele Giusti
Assistant Referee: Madzid Coric
Assistant Referee: Santiago Lorenzo
4th Official: Andres Vidales

Please note: Match was 90 minutes on natural grass.