Dev. Academy: Baltimore Bays Chelsea U-18s extend amazing unbeaten streak
By Jimmy LaRoue
Baltimore Bays Chelsea’s Under-18s continued their dominant run of form, extending their unbeaten streak to 20 games with a 2-0 win over Match Fit Chelsea Saturday and a come-from-behind 4-3 win Sunday over NJSA 04, clinching a Mid-Atlantic Division title and a Development Academy playoff berth.
In the come-from-behind win, Bays Chelsea went down 2-0 by the 15th minute, but recovered to tie the match by halftime on goals from June Korrio Player to Watch Michael Gamble in the 39th minute and Tanner Vosvick in the 43rd minute.
Romilio Hernandez put Bays Chelsea up 3-2 in the 74th minute, and Ishmaiah Calwrie added another in the 85th minute, but two minutes later, Zachary Hicks cut the Bays Chelsea lead to one, but the Baltimore side held on for the win.
Bays Chelsea’s U-16s defeated Match Fit Chelsea by a 2-1 margin, with Vosvick and Patrick Koscher, who also play up on the club’s U-18 team, picking up the goals. Koscher’s was the match-winner. Bays Chelsea finished the match with 10 men as Christopher Haskins was sent off on a straight red card. On Sunday, Bays Chelsea fell to NJSA 04 1-0.
In other local action, D.C. United’s U-16s split their weekend games, defeating FC Delco 4-0 and falling to PA Classics 1-0 on an own-goal. Michael seaton had two goals in the win, while Cristhyan Najar and Jorge Calix getting goals for United.
“Overall, we were extremely happy with the way the team played,” said D.C. United U-16 Head Coach Tom Torres on the club’s website. “We can see the confidence that the boys are playing with and the quality that is being shown. We were proud that they competed for two complete games. It was unfortunate to lose due to an own goal, but our expectation is for them to keep this form into this weekend.”
Meanwhile, United’s U-18s were shorthanded and fell twice in shutouts over the weekend, 2-0 to FC Delco and 1-0 to PA Classics.
Both teams will travel north to take on Match Fit Chelsea’s teams on Saturday, before facing NJSA 04’s squads on Sunday. Both the U-16 and U-18 squads will be looking to solidify their position in the Development Academy playoffs.
Potomac, meanwhile, had mixed success over the weekend, as its U-16s tied PA Classics 2-2 but fell to FC Delco 5-1, while the U-18s lost to PA Classics 1-0 and tied FC Delco 2-2. The Richmond Strikers U-16s and U-18s both lost twice over the weekend to North Carolina Fusion and CASL FC Chelsea Academy. The U-18 Strikers fell 4-1 and 3-1 to Fusion and CASL, respectively, while the U-16 Strikers lost 1-0 to Fusion and 8-0 to CASL.
The Development Academy regular season concludes this coming weekend. Currently, the U-16 Bays Chelsea and United sides are narrowly behind second-place PA Classics in the Mid-Atlantic Division, with the top two in each division making the playoffs. Twelve additional wild-card teams will also make the playoffs. PA Classics, at 4-1-6 in the division, has 18 points, while Bays Chelsea (5-3-2) has 17 points and United, at 4-2-4, has 16 points
Bays Chelsea U-18s are solidly in first place, while United are six points back of second-place FC Delco with two games to play.
McLean Youth Soccer split its weekend games with North Carolina Fusion, with the U-16s winning 4-1, while the U-18s falling 3-0. McLean’s U-18s are still in 2nd place in the South Conference Atlantic Division, though Fusion’s win closed the gap to just one point.
Both United’s U-16s and U-18s are currently among the top 12 wild-card teams.
[ + Development Academy U-16 Standings ]
