The Houston Dynamo Academy had a successful weekend taking on Texas United on the road. The program went 3-1 overall, with the U-17, U-15 and U-13 teams picking up wins, while the U-14 team was narrowly defeated in a defensive battle. The story of the week for the Dynamo Academy was the 8-1 victory for the U-15, which included a hat trick for Jose Nunez.
According to Academy Director Paul Holocher, the weekend was a successful one for the Houston Dynamo Academy. “I thought the teams played very well overall this weekend, controlling of each game and creating many excellent scoring opportunities and goals,” Holocher said. “Through our strong possession we were able to limit the chances against us, which is also a benefit of having and valuing the ball. There were also some excellent individual performances and some fantastic individual actions and team goals.”
U-17:
The U-17 team, which was led this week by High Performance Director Tony Vigil, outlasted their in-state rivals by a final score of 2-1. The play of the match came from defender Iyke Dafe, who made a great defensive play to prevent Texas United from taking a 2-1 lead. With the score tied late, Jesus Orejuela scored from long distance to give the Dynamo a 2-1 victory.
In addition to Dafe and Orejuela, Vigil singled out midfields Zeke Soto and Parker Jackson as difference makers in the match.
U-15
The U-15 team came out with the performance of the week for the Houston Dynamo Academy, securing an 8-1 rout over Texas United. Head coach Daniel Roberts described the team’s performance in the first 15 minutes of the game as “ruthless in front of goal,” as Houston scored three goals in the early portion of the match. Three of the team’s eight goals came courtesy of Jose Nunez.
U-14:
The U-14 team suffered the only loss for the Dynamo Academy this weekend, narrowly falling to their opponents in what was primarily a defensive battle. In the early going, it seemed as if Houston was in control of the match, with the team dominating possession in the first 20 minutes of the match.
However, the Dynamo conceded a goal off a long ball over the backline to go down 1-0. Head coach Shahad Farahani said that the team “lost a bit of our momentum after conceding.” Despite once again dominating possession and creating multiple goalscoring opportunities in the second half, Houston was unable to put any away and ultimately fell 1-0.
U-13:
The U-13 team produced a dominant performance over Texas United, defeating their opponents 7-0. The story of this game was the performance of forward Lucciano Pagani, who scored three goals and added three assists. Head coach Tanner Chassman said that the team “played at a high level,” praising the team’s ability to dominate possession.
