Christian Molina, the captain of the Houston Dynamo Academy U-15 team, was named Most Valuable Player of the C3 Cayman International Youth Football Tournament in George Town, Cayman Islands from Feb. 18-22. Molina, a freshman at Mayde Creek (Houston) High School, played 90 minutes in both games of the tournament.
This season with the Dynamo Academy U-15s, Molina has scored four goals and provided six assists in eight appearances.
The first match for the Dynamo Academy U-15s was against Swindon Town FC’s U-15 squad (England League One) on Feb 20. Early on in the encounter, Dynamo Academy midfielder Chris Molina was denied by the post after taking a one-touch opportunity provided by Gianluca Natera.
Minutes after the Dynamo opportunity, Swindon Town was awarded a penalty after an unsuccessful challenge on a player in the penalty area. Dynamo Academy goalkeeper Charlie Filby stopped the spot kick from Stan Stanley to keep the score level. Swindon Town opened the scoring in the 25th minute after a mental lapse in the Dynamo Academy defense.
The Dynamo Academy responded with adjustments in the second half, generating more possession of the ball and the equalizer finally came from defender Christian Nelson in the 55th minute.
Shortly after, Swindon Town received another penalty after Nelson made a late challenge in the box and Town’s Tyreke Johnson converted the spot kick.
The Dynamo Academy maintained possession for most of the second half and created more chances and it eventually paid off. Veri Hoher dribbled into the box before finding the net to tie the score and the game ended in a 2-2 draw.
In its second game, the U-15s suffered a 2-1 loss to the Cayman Island’s Select U-15s. After falling behind by two goals, the Dynamo fought hard to come back. Forward Hector Ramirez found the back of the net 15 minutes from the final whistle, reducing the deficit to 2-1. But Cayman Island goalkeeper Finnegan Huffington made several great saves to deny the Dynamo an equalizer.
Meanwhile, back in the United States the Dynamo Academy U-18 team resumed U.S. Development Academy play with a 5-1 win over Lonestar SC on Saturday, improving their season record to 5-5-4 (19 points). Five different U-18 players scored in the win: Justin Reyes, Eman Usen, Christian Lucatero, Irvin Ramirez and Thomas Barboza. The U-18s are currently in seventh place in the Central Conference with 13 regular season games remaining.
The Dynamo Academy U-16s played to a 2-2 draw with Lonestar SC on Saturday. Goals from Cameron Walker and Alex Quintanilla – an equalizer in the 80th minute – helped the U-16s erase a pair of deficits. The U-16s (7-2-5; 26 points) are currently in second place in the Central Conference, seven points below FC Dallas and six points clear of the Colorado Rush.
