FC Dallas 97B Gold takes U-17 Dallas Cup in thrilling all-FCD final
DALLAS - With a goal worthy of winning any tournament, FC Dallas 97B Gold defeated FC Dallas 97B Premier in the U-17 Dallas Cup Final.
With a 9:30AM kickoff on Sunday morning, the all-FCD final started out a bit sleepy as the teams played to a scoreless first half, but things quickly got going in the second 45 minutes.
In the 55th minute, FCD Gold's Payton Catagnus was taken down in the box forcing the referee to point to the spot. Osvaldo Veloz made no mistake with the penalty kick to put FCD Gold up 1-0.
Just four minutes later, FCD Gold doubled their lead with the goal of the tournament. Dominick Faletto received a ball near the top of the box with his back to goal. The striker with a blonde streak of hair on the side of his head proceeded to chest the ball and unleash a bicycle kick that found the back of the net.
FCD Premier would not go quietly, however.
In the 66th minute, Sergio Lara scored from the penalty spot to cut the lead in half, bringing Premier right back into the match.
FCD Gold seemingly put the game out of reach in the 80th minute as Levin Dyson found Cisse Abdoulaye at the top of the box and the striker scored in the 80th minute to restore Gold's two-goal lead.
The match looked to be over as four minutes of stoppage time began, but an FCD Gold own goal in the 92nd minute sparked a furious final few minutes at the Cotton Bowl. Premier came close to finding an equalizer, but couldn't tie the match and 97B Gold became the second team in FC Dallas Youth history to take home the historic Dallas Cup "Boot & Ball Trophy."
"I don't even remember how it came in. I just know it came to me so I popped it up and my first instinct was just to bike it. I didn't know what else to do," said Faletto who remarked that it was his second career bicycle kick goal. "It's huge because we weren't even supposed to be in the tournament and now we've won it. We won Dallas Cup!"
FC Dallas 98B Premier loses heartbreaker in U-16 final
DALLAS - FC Dallas 98B Premier fell to Juventus SC of Canada 3-2 in overtime after a hard-fought match for the Dallas Cup U-16 Championship at the Cotton Bowl.
FC Dallas got off to a dream start, striking first in the 13th minute. Off a corner kick, Matthew Gonzalez whipped an in-swinging cross in to the six-yard box. Adan Garcia beat his man and the keeper to the spot, powering home a header to send the home crowd into frenzy.
FC Dallas Premier was not done yet for the half. Two minutes into first half stoppage time, FCD pushed for a second goal. Matthew Gonzalez sent a beautiful curling ball in to Gerber Chavez who made no mistake this time. Chavez chested the ball and smashed a low shot past the Juventus keeper. The 98B Premier team took a 2-0 lead to the half.
In the second half, Juventus SC continued to press in search of the opening goal, but the Premier defense held solid with the help of goalkeeper Sodolak coming up big with back-to-back saves in the 57th and 58th minutes.
Juventus would finally break through the organized FC Dallas Premier back line with a beautiful team move. A back-heel from Enzo Gomez played David Ramos in one-on-one with the keeper and he beat Sodolak in the 63rd minute.
Juventus would equalize just two minutes later in the 65th minute. David Ramos was played through and cheekily chipped the Sodolak to bring his team back level.
With the scores tied at the end of regulation, the teams went into two overtime halves of ten minutes each. After the first half of extra time ended scoreless, Juventus SC scored the decisive goal of the match off a corner kick in the 95th minute. The ball was sent in and punched out by Sodolak. It fell to Steven Orozco at the top of the semicircle and he made no mistake, hitting a beautiful shot in to the side netting to give his team the lead for good.
“It really shows you how much both teams wanted it. In a matter of seconds, a moment of losing concentration cost us,” head coach Jesse Suarez said after the match. “The two goal lead is one of the hardest leads to carry in the world of soccer. We have to regroup, keep working, and go from there.”
“I couldn’t be more proud [of the team]. They left their hearts on the field. That’s just the way soccer is. There has to be a winner and a loser. Today, it wasn’t our day.”
