The 2015-16 Generation Adidas Cup Eastern Regional Qualifying continued play today in Sanford, Florida after a long winter break for the MLS academy clubs. The weekend opened with New York facing off with DC United, while the Philadelphia Union faced the New England Revolution and hometown Orlando City SC playing Toronto FC.
New York Redbulls 5 - DC United 0
Day 1 of the Eastern Regional Qualifiers began with the New York Redbulls squaring off with DC United.
The match got off to a tightly contested start, as both clubs struggled to control possession in the midfield during the opening minutes.
The Redbulls eventually gained momentum and broke the deadlock in the 28th minute on a counter attack. Zachary Ryan completed the attack beating the United keeper with a simple finish for his first goal of the day and giving New York a 1-0 lead.
The first half continued to be a lively one. The Redbulls had two goals taken off the board from tight offside calls, while DC United weren’t able to really trouble New York’s defense with any threatening attacks.
The Redbulls opened the second half quickly scoring their second goal just three minutes after the half began. First half scorer Zachary Ryan put a strong shot on target that should’ve been saved but squirmed out of the DC keeper’s hands and just over the goal line putting New York up 2-0.
Following Zachary Ryan’s second goal the match was all Red Bulls. Ryan eventually completed his hat trick 10 minutes later converting a penalty kick making the score 3-0 after 53 minutes played.
The Redbulls would end up adding two more insurance goals in the half from Giuseppe Margiottiello and Bratislav Petkovic in the 56th and 70th minutes ending the match in favor of New York 5-0.
Philadelphia Union 4 - New England Revolution 2
Much like the first match, there was no shortage of goal scoring in the day’s second match between the Philadelphia Union and New England Revolution.
Philadelphia’s Anthony Fontana was served a nicely weighted pass in the box and easily put the ball in the back of the net to give Philadelphia the 1-0 advantage in the 12th minute of the match.
For the next 25 minutes the Revolution put on a spirited attack, creating several chances from the run of play and set pieces. Unfortunately for the Revs they lacked the ability to finish any of the multiple chances they produced. The Revolution’s inability to finish would eventually come back to haunt them as the Union would score a second goal in the half. Anthony Fontana bagged his brace on a quick counter attack in the 37th minute giving 2-0 lead which they would see into halftime.
The second half saw the Revolution improve their finishing, but unfortunately for New England the Union’s finishing kept pace.
The Union would continue their scoring six minutes after the second half began courtesy of Matthew Real who pounced on a rebound off the New England keeper to score in the 46th minute. New England just needed two minutes to respond as Amos Shapiro-Thompson slotted home a great cross to make the score 3-1.
Not even ten minutes later, Philadelphia would yet again increase their lead behind a beautiful shot buried into the top corner by Kalil Elmedkhar. Not to be outdone, New England’s Isaac Angking had an equally beautiful goal in the 62nd minute from a free kick that left the keeper with no chance. The strike went over the wall and arced just under the bar and into the back of the net cutting The Union’s lead to 4-2 but that’s how the match would end giving the Union the win.
Orlando City SC 0 - Toronto FC 1
The final, and most evenly contested match of the first day of qualifying at Seminole Soccer Complex was between Orlando City SC and Toronto FC.
The match opened with a lively start, but both teams were unable to create any legitimate chances early on and that’s how the first half continued for almost the entirety of the half.
The tide, however, turned in favor of Toronto just before the half concluded. A Toronto FC counter attack produced a powerful shot that Orlando City’s keeper parried high into the air. Toronto’s Kota Sakurai was the quickest to the rebound and headed the ball into the upper left corner of the net to give the visitors from north of the border a 1-0 lead into halftime.
The second half was a tight affair. Both teams found scoring opportunities hard to come by. Orlando City never truly threatened their opponent’s goal in the second half making it easy for the Toronto defense.
Toronto, however, did come close to scoring on one occasion in the second half hitting the crossbar on a powerful header but that’s as close as they would get to another goal the remainder of the match.
Toronto FC would see out the rest of the match behind a strong defensive display sealing the 1-0 victory for the Canadians. The win gives Toronto 9 points and keeps them at the top of the Eastern Regional Qualifying table after four matches.
Day Two:
The second day of the Eastern Regional Qualifiers at Seminole Soccer Complex will be tomorrow. Toronto face New England at 3pm, DC United play Philadelphia Union at 5pm, and Orlando City host New York Redbulls at 7pm.
