The Dynamo Academy U-18 squad, presented by Statoil, entered the Dallas Cup without a win since February 16. But it took only one game in Dallas for the Dynamo to regain their form and now the team sits only 90 minutes from hoisting the prestigious Dallas Cup.
After a dramatic semifinal match, in which the Dynamo gave up four unanswered goals but pulled out the game winner in the 90th minute, Houston responded with a comfortable 4-1 win over California based club PAC Tigres on Saturday afternoon. The win served as a bit of retribution for a Dynamo club that was knocked out of last year's Dallas Cup by the same PAC Tigres squad.
Houston jumped out early on PAC, taking a 2-0 lead into the half behind a PAC Tigres own goal and a team-leading eighth goal from homegrown forward
Bryan Salazar
(pictured, right).
After PAC picked up a goal early in the second half, the Dynamo responded with goals from Irvin Ramirez (pictured, above) and Carlos Ibarra to seal the victory. The U-18s have now scored 23 goals in their five Dallas Cup matches.
The Dynamo's opponent in Sunday's championship match will be IF Brommapojkarna, a Swedish club that defeated IMG Academy 2-0 on Saturday. Sunday's championship match will kick off at 3 p.m. CT in the historic Cotton Bowl.
Houston will be looking for their third Dallas Cup title, after winning the cup in 2008 and 2010. The Dynamo also advanced to the 2007 championship match before falling to IMG Academy in the U-19 championship match.
