Orlando City’s U-16 and U-18 USSDA academy teams both took to the fields this past Sunday, with both sides coming away with positive results against Chargers Soccer Club. The Orlando City U-16’s walked away with a hard fought 1-1 draw and the U-18’s finished the day victorious with an emphatic 6-2 score line.
The U-16 Lions found themselves down in the early stages of the game, giving up a goal in the 24th minute to their opponents. However, the Lions responded well though and were able to find an equalizer just 13 minutes later when Mario Licor tucked his effort into back of the net. In the second 45, both teams battled to a scoreless half, resulting in a 1-1 final score. The U-16s are now 3-2-1 on the season.
“We didn’t start well by conceding, but we responded well and got a goal back,” said U-16 Coach Jeff Negalha. “We had some good collective and individual performances, but we just didn’t have enough cutting edge in the box. But I’m just very happy for the kids. They did a nice job in terms of how they progressed through the game.”
The U-18’s displayed a convincing victory against Chargers Soccer Club, producing six goals throughout the win. Nathaniel Adamolekun kick-started things for City, scoring in the 12th minute to give Orlando a 1-0 advantage at the break.
Despite scoring twice in the second half, the Chargers were unable to overcome a five-goal performance from the young Lions in final 45 as Cormac Begley (50’), Juan Jose Hernandez (65’, 76’), David Loera (78’) and Nathaniel Adamolekun (70’) lifted City to a comprehensive win.
“We felt that the team played well against the Chargers for a majority of the game and created a lot of opportunities from good possession and build up play,” said U-18 Head Coach Darren Powell. “The second half we scored some good team goals, but we must continue to improve our play on both sides of the ball as we move forward.”
The Orlando City U-14’s will return to action along with the U-16 and U-18 Lions versus Kendall SC on October 17th in Miami.
