Development Academy Finals Week: Top with stoppage-time game winner for FC Dallas over Baltimore Bays Chelsea

Needing a win to stay in contention for the U-17/18 Development Academy championship match, FC Dallas received a dramatic stoppage-time game-winner off the foot of Jonathan Top for a 2-1 victory against Baltimore Bays Chelsea on Wednesday at the Houston Amateur Sports Park.

FC Dallas forward Danny Garcia, who netted the equalizer in the 64th minute, beat his defender to the end line and cut a pass back toward the top of the box. The ball found Top – who has made two appearances for the FC Dallas first team this season – and the forward was able to take a touch and fire low past Baltimore goalkeeper Andrew Harris in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time, sparking a massive celebration from the FC Dallas bench.

“It was very emotional, the way we won at the end,” FC Dallas head coach Chris Hayden said. “For me, it represents how this team has played all year long – battling adversity, hardship within the club, guys coming off of injuries, players away with the first team and national team duty. Knowing that we had to win the game really to have any chance to advance makes it very rewarding the way we won the game against a team that gave us a lot of problems and pressure on the ball.”

The result prevented Solar Chelsea SC, 2-0 winners against Chivas USA in the other Group 2 match, from clinching the group win outright. FC Dallas and Solar Chelsea SC head to a critical, championship-berth deciding match on Friday. Solar Chelsea SC needs a win or draw to advance, while FC Dallas must win to earn a spot in the U-17/18 championship.

After falling behind 1-0 in the 11th minute following a strong, right-footed strike from Baltimore Bays Chelsea midfielder Romilio Hernandez, Garcia knotted the score at 1-1 in the 64th minute when Top and David Robledo combined to feed the ball to him near the top of the box. The forward only had enough time and space to quickly turn and shoot without looking, but it was enough to sneak past Harris in goal.

“We didn’t want to change the way we played (after the opening goal),” Hayden said. “We felt like we always play better when we have the ball at our feet. I thought we possessed the ball a lot and we also moved the ball forward. The game was quick and there was a lot of energy from both teams. I was proud of the way we responded in the second half with people tired and they still gave 100 percent effort. “

The physical match, which featured 32 combined fouls and seven yellow cards, threatened to boil over several times as emotions ran high. Each team came close to grabbing an advantage in the second half following Garcia’s 64th-minute equalizer.

Each goalkeeper was called upon several times late throughout the match. Harris finished with four saves and FC Dallas goalkeeper Eduardo Cortes stopped three of the four shots on goal he faced.

“It was one of the best games we ever played as a team,” Garcia said.

On Friday, FC Dallas squares off against a Solar Chelsea SC team that it beat three times during the regular season with a combined score of 10-0.

“We know that they’re a very good team,” Hayden said. “I’m proud that two teams from Dallas are going to be in that game.”

-U.S. Development Academy Match Report-

Match: Baltimore Bays Chelsea vs. FC Dallas
Date: July 18, 2012
Competition: Development Academy Finals Week – U-17/18 Division
Venue: Houston Amateur Sports Park
Kickoff: 8 p.m. CT
Attendance: 90
Weather: 83 degrees, humid

Scoring Summary:        1      2      F
BBC                                1      0      1
FCD                                0      2      2

BBC – Romilio Hernandez                             11th minute
FCD – Danny Garcia (David Robledo)             64
FCD – Jonanthan Top (Danny Garcia)             90+5

Lineups:
BBC: 1-Andrew Harris; 21-Malcolm Harris, 27-Tanner Vosvick, 6-Michael DeGraffenreidt, 14-Matt Shinsky; 19-Christian Porras (11-Christian Morales, 37; 12-Jeremy DeGraffenreidt, 72), 8-Richard Greensfelder, 10-Romilio Hernandez (9-Yaw Amankwa, 67), 4-Jacori Hayes, 3-Logan McHugh (17-Ryan Kennedy, 90); 13-Mike Gamble
Substitutions Not Used: 24-Nick Voyton, 20-Sam Tana, 5-Alex Ponvert
Head coach: Steve Nichols

FCD: 22-Eduardo Cortes; 6-Nicholas Rochowski (17-David Robledo, 52), 2-Mark Ashby, 5-Aaron Guillen, 3-Michael Ambrose; 21-Marco Carrizales (28-Marco Ortiz, 72), 8-Flavio Guzman,  14-Kellyn Acosta (39-Bobby Edet, 82); 11-Danny Garcia, 9-Jonathan Top; 27-Jose de la Tejera (13-Alonso Gallegos, 84)
Substitutions Not Used: 44-Estevan Vasquez, 45-Fernando Laverde, 4-Alex Frankenfeld
Head Coach: Chris Hayden

Stats Summary: BBC / FCD
Shots: 7 / 15
Shots on Goal: 4 / 6
Saves: 4 / 3
Corner Kicks: 2 / 7
Fouls: 14 / 18
Offside: 4 / 2

Misconduct Summary:
BBC – Malcolm Harris (caution)                  16th minute
FCD – Nicholas Rochowski (caution)           40
BBC – Michael DeGraffenreidt (caution)       49
FCD – Jonathan Top (caution)                    63
BBC – Matt Shinsky (caution)                      71
FCD – Aaron Guillen (caution)                    81
BBC – Jacori Hayes (caution)                      83

Officials:
Referee: Juliana Duncan
Assistant Referee 1: Danny Thornberry
Assistant Referee 2: Eduardo Mariscal
Fourth Official: Richonne Clark

ussoccer.com Man of the Match: Jonathan Top