The Minnesota United U15 Development Academy marked its first-ever weekend of competition with a rousing victory over FC United Soccer Club, while the U13 and U14 Development Academies suffered a pair of setbacks to their counterparts from Sockers FC as the three Academy sides kicked off their 2018-19 seasons this past Saturday and Sunday in the Chicago area.
MNUFC U13 0 – 3 Sockers FC U13
Minnesota fell behind early, conceding a goal to Vlad Danciutiu and the Sockers in the third minute, which dug a hole that proved to be too deep to come back from. MNUFC went into the half down just 1-0, but Sockers’ player Kevin Contreras took over early in the second half to seal the win for the home side. Contreras scored a pair of goals in the 47th and 58th minutes to push his team’s lead to three, an advantage the defense maintained as it kept the Loons off the scoreboard.
MNUFC U14 0 – 3 Sockers FC U14
The Development Academy match against Sockers played out in a similar fashion as the U13 game and MNUFC was unfortunately again on the wrong end. Sockers’ Paul McCormick opened the scoring in the ninth minute to grant his team an early 1-0 lead. Just before halftime, Luke Van Heukelum doubled Sockers’ advantage in the 37th minute and added his second in the 51st minute to round out the scoring as Sockers’ defense kept the clean sheet.
MNUFC U15 2 – 0 FC United Soccer Club U15
In its first-ever U15 game on Sunday, it looked like MNUFC would go into halftime scoreless, but a pair of goals just before the break carried the Loons to the victory. Ryan Mahabadi opened the scoring in the 36th minute, Mohamed Qaid increased the lead twofold with a strike in the 40th minute and the Minnesota back line recorded a clean sheet to preserve the two-goal win.
The Minnesota United Development Academy U13, U14 and U15 sides are again on the road in the Chicago area next weekend. On Saturday, September 15, the U13 and U14 teams will match up against FC United Soccer Club at 9 and 11 a.m. CT, respectively, and the U15 team will play Sockers FC at 2:00 p.m. The full schedule for all three Development Academy programs can be found on MNUFC.COM.
