FRISCO, Texas - The FC Dallas Academy U-17s earned one point after a 1-1 draw against St. Louis City SC despite falling 5-3 in the tie-breaker penalty shootout (St. Louis earned two points total for the regulation draw plus shootout win).
FCD U-17s lineup: Aaron Salinas 1, Nighte Pickering 11, Nolan Norris 32, Dylan Lacy 39, Kristian Kelley 41, Mason Grimm 42, Tate Jones 44, Anthony Ramirez 51, Gabriel Brandon 54, Alejandro Urzua 55, Malachi Molina 31
Forward Nighte Pickering, who scored the winning goal in FCD's last match against Columbus, had the first chance of the game less than a minute in when he turned on the edge of the box and forced a save from St. Louis’ goalkeeper with a left-footed effort. Four minutes later, St. Louis opened the scoring when their forward rounded FCD ‘keeper Aaron Salinas and rolled the ball into an empty net. Dallas nearly equalized immediately when Anthony Ramirez found the bottom corner but he was whistled for offside.
Dallas did find the equalizer in the 10th minute when Ramirez dribbled down the right and found Kristian Kelley who hit it first time into the far corner. Malachi Molina was close to the go-ahead goal when he cut inside on his right foot passed two defender but his curling shot was just wide.
FCD continued to search for a winner throughout the second half and came close in the final minute when Pickering sent in a low cross to substitute Kevin Kelley but his lunging effort looped just over the crossbar. With the score tied at 1-1 after the 60-minute regulation, the match went to a shootout where St. Louis prevailed 5-3 after their keeper saved Jared Aguilar's attempt. The shootout win earned St. Louis an extra point in addition to the one point for the 1-1 regulation time draw.
The draw earned FCD one point for the regulation draw which puts them in second place in Group B for the time being (Columbus Crew and Club Tijuana play their game in hand later today). Dallas plays its third and final group match against Tijuana tomorrow, Tuesday, April 12 at 3PM at Toyota Soccer Center for a place in the knockout round.
