Last weekend was an exciting one for the Dynamo Academy teams. Besides the U-11s, all of the teams faced Solar at Houston Sports park on Saturday, April 6. The Sunday games for the U-12s against Lonestar and the U-14s/U-13s games against the Texans were cancelled due to weather.
The U-19s kicked off the weekend with a 3-0 win against Solar. The Dynamo converted two free kicks in the first half and went into halftime up 2-0. The final goal came from forward Jalen Anderson in the 61st minute. The U-17s did not have the same success as their older counterparts. Fighting against a heavily offensive Solar, the U-17s conceded two goals and then failed to hit the back of the net on a penalty kick, falling 2-0 on the day.
The younger groups had mixed results on the weekend. The U-15s were victorious over Solar, pouring in five goals. There were three goals in the first half, one by Ricardo Garcia and two more by forward Jayden Bassong. The second-half goals were scored by midfielder D'Alessandro Herrera and forward Antonio Rubio. This past weekend’s game was the first and only game for the U-15s in this month. Their next appearance will be on May 4th against San Antonio FC. The U-14s went up against Solar this weekend as well, finding windier and warmer conditions than expected. Although they kept a clean sheet thanks to the strong defense of Jose Rodriguez and Angel Garcia, the team missed many golden opportunities in the second half to overcome their opponent and left Saturday with a 0-0 tie.
The U-13s began their weekend well with Daniel Santana scoring two goals in the first half. These goals allowed them to take a 2-1 into the break. In the second half, the U-13a faced not only a highly aggressive and motivated Solar, but also an intense wind that led to four unanswered goals. The final score of the match was a frustrating 5-2.
The U-12s split their doubleheader against Solar on Saturday. After losing 3-0 in their first game, the U-12s fought hard to redeem themselves with a 6-0 win in the second match. Goalkeeper Daniel Godinez and right wing Jorge Estrada (who was playing up an age division) had stellar performances on the weekend and greatly contributed to the success of their team in the second game.