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The New York Red Bulls U16s are playing in the Development Academy National Championship match.
The New York Red Bulls U16s are playing in the Development Academy National Championship match.
The New York Red Bulls U16s are playing in the Development Academy National Championship match.
It's pretty awesome, so I wrote it three times. (Don't worry, I used CTRL + C, so I won't be getting carpal tunnel THAT quickly).
The Red Bulls earned their place in the final with a 2-1 win over Georgia United thanks to goals from Brian Saramago and Noah Powder. They are playing the powerful FC Dallas Academy who won their semifinal match against the Philadelphia Union, 3-0.
The championship match is at 8 p.m. and will be streamed on YouTube.
HOW THEY GOT HERE
New York Red Bulls
Led by Manager Simon Nee, the high scoring Red Bulls U16s based in Hanover, New Jersey went an impressive 23-1-2 during the regular season and finished the year ranked first in the country. The team is strong on both offensive and defense, scoring an impressive 74 goals during the regular season while only conceding 19. In April, the Red Bulls took home the Premier Division of the Generation adidas Cup with a 2-1 win over storied Colombian club Independiente Medellin.
They’ve blitzed through the playoffs, scoring at least four goals per match. During group play they beat IMG Academy (5-1), Solar Chelsea (6-1), and the Portland Timbers (4-2). They easily handled Chivas USA, 4-2, in the quarterfinal, and won a tight match against Georgia United in the semifinal, 2-1.
FC Dallas
FC Dallas had an impressive regular season, going 19-3-5 and finishing first in the Frontier Division. They entered the playoffs with the fifth seed nationally and went 3-0 during the group stage, beating SC United Battery (4-0), St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri (1-0), and the LA Galaxy (2-0). They beat Beachside SC, 6-0, in the quarterfinal and Philadelphia Union, 3-0, in the semifinal.
Oh, and they haven't lost a match since December.
Some thoughts
If the Red Bulls U16s are an offensive juggernaut, the FC Dallas U16s are an offensive-er juggernaut. (Shut up.)
They finished the regular season with 86 goals for and only 28 allowed, and feature a trio of dominant scorers: Giovanni Montesdeoca (20 goals), U.S. youth international Devin Vega (21 goals), Toshiki Yasuda (18 goals). It's fitting that the Red Bulls will face their toughest test in their biggest and final match of the year. The center back pairing of Kyle Perno and Mason Deeds will have to contend with this strong attack.
However, it's not going to be as simple as stopping Dallas' attack. They also haven't allowed a goal in seven matches. Prolific strikers Brian Saramago and Omir Fernandez will be forced to live up to their billing and break through, possibly multiple times, if the Red Bulls are going to win the match and take home the national championship.
HOW TO WATCH
The match is being streamed on YouTube. You can find the link on ussoccer.com and we'll tweet it out on the Once a Metro Twitter account before the match starts.