USSDA Winter Showcase: LA Galaxy U-17/18 earns 1-0 win over PDA
LAKEWOOD RANCH, Florida (Via U.S. Soccer) – The LA Galaxy U-17/18 Academy bounced back from Thursday’s 2-1 defeat to the Montreal Impact with a 1-0 victory against Players Development Academy U-17/18s at the Development Academy Winter Showcase Friday morning.
It was PDA that forced the issue early in the match as forward Chad Burnett slipped inside on the right before firing a powerful effort that Galaxy ‘keeper Bennett Sneddon bravely palmed away at the near post in the fifth minute.
Ten minutes later, PDA’s Ernest Mitchell found space on the left and cut his low, curling effort inches wide of the right post.
After sustaining the early pressure, the Galaxy bagged the game’s first goal. Right winger Amigry Pineda beat his man down the right before swerving a cross for Ethan Zubak, who finessed his header inside the left post in the 20th minute.
PDA nearly equalized deep into first half stoppage time when Cameron Allen’s free kick from just outside the box curled over the wall only to see Sneddon paw it up in the air before the chance was cleared out of danger.
The Galaxy pushed looking for a second goal out of the break. In the 58th minute, Alex Ramos pulled his low effort from just outside the area wide right of goal. Eleven minutes later, LA’s Jonathan Hernandez cut back for Pineda at the top of the area, but he curled his shot just past the right post.
PDA came close to the equalizer deep in regulation when Sneddon’s drop kick came back off the head of Isaiah Young, only to trickle inches wide of the right post. In a last gasp chance to equalize, a final free kick from PDA was nodded well over the bar by Joshua Goldstern, as the Galaxy held on for the 1-0 win.
