The Houston Dynamo Academy U-17 and U-19 teams clinched their spots in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy playoffs with wins over Lonestar SC over the weekend.
U-19: Win 3-2 at Lonestar SC – The Dynamo U-19s fell into a hole as Lonestar SC took a 2-0 lead into the halftime break. But two goals from Damian Magallan within the first 15 minutes of the second half and a winning goal in the 75th minute from Jalen Anderson clinched their postseason berth.
U-17: Win 1-0 at Lonestar SC – Coming into the weekend with a slightly precarious position on the edge of the USSDA playoff picture, the U-17s were also able to secure their playoff spot thanks to Danny Ramirez’s header off a Cristian Coelho corner kick at the end of the first half.
U-15: Loss 1-0 at Lonestar SC – A 75th minute goal for Lonestar broke the scoreless deadlock, ending the Dynamo U-15s’ six-game unbeaten streak.
U-14: Loss 3-1 at Lonestar SC – Lonestar SC struck twice in the first 15 minutes, then scored a third late in the second half after the Dynamo were down to 10 men. Reese Miller scored a consolation goal for the Dynamo in the 80th minute.
U-13: Win 4-1 at Lonestar SC – Ricardo Garcia scored a hat trick and Zacarias Escobar-Bowie added a fourth as Houston ran out to a 3-0 first half lead and never looked back.
Playoffs Await
The U-19s and U-17s now turn their attention to the Development Academy Playoffs. The top three teams in each division and the best remaining 11 teams (based on points per game) advance to playoffs.
The U-19s finished fourth in the Frontier Division with a 15-10-1 record (1.7692 pts/game), and claimed the fifth wildcard spot out of 11 available with their weekend win. The U-17s also finished fourth in their division (13-8-5 record, 1.6923 pts/game), and were able to improve their position slightly to the seventh wildcard berth. There are no playoffs for the U-15 age group, but they too finished the season fourth in the division with a 10-6-7 record.
The draw for the eight playoff groups is set to take place on Wednesday, June 6. Both Dynamo teams will be in Pot 4 for the draw. The 2018 Development Academy Summer Showcase and Playoffs will take place at SoCal Sports Complex in San Diego from June 18-26. Semifinalists from playoffs will then compete at the Academy Championships in Kansas City from July 8-11.
