Real Salt Lake AZ tops Vancouver in USSDA U-15/16 third place game

U-15/16: Real Salt Lake 3, Vancouver Whitecaps 2

(Via U.S. Soccer) – In the U.S. Soccer Development Academy U-15/16 third place game, Real Salt Lake AZ came out looking to finish their season strong and were rewarded for their play, despite a near-comeback effort from Vancouver.

After knocking on the door for several minutes straight, RSL finally got on the board in the 20th minute when Pedro Mondragon struck in a loose ball.

RSL added to its lead in the 56th minute, when they converted on a free kick opportunity. After Julian Vazquez made a dummy run to clear a lane, Luis Arriaga took a shot from just outside the box, and nailed the attempt low and hard to the far post.

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Seven minutes later, the Casa Grande academy padded their lead to three. Working from the left third of the midfield, Vazquez played it through to Sebastian Soto, who finished top corner as the goalie came out in attempt to save the effort last second.

Even with a three-goal deficit, Vancouver elected to continue to press on the accelerator, and were rewarded in the 70th minute. After a free kick near the midfield center box was deflected, Keenan Foley hit the ball just right and pushed it into the back of the net.

Three minutes later, Alessandro Hojabrpour scored to put the RSL victory at risk, working up into the box before taking a touch to his right and slotting it in the upper right 90.

Despite the pressure from Vancouver, RSL was able to hold on to finish out their season with a 3-2 victory and secure their place within the top three teams in the nation.