DAY ONEWelcome to the 2009 SUM U17 Cup! This blog will keep you informed with results from all of the SUM Cup matches being held at Dick's Sporting Goods Park throughout the coming days. Check back throughout the week for live updates.
We kicked off this morning at 9:30 AM with two close matches. Here are the results from this morning’s matches:
DC United 1-0 Colorado Rapids: The hosts were unfortunate to fall behind early when defender Matt Taphorn lost his footing while in possession, which led to a breakaway goal for DC United striker Julian Griggs in the 4th minute. However, Rapids goalkeeper Chris Couperus was not tested again. The match was very competitive with both teams trading stretches of possession. The Rapids created several dangerous chances throughout the game, but couldn't find the equalizer.
FC Dallas 2-1 LA Galaxy: Ruben Luna gave FC Dallas the lead in the 18th minute, but Galaxy keeper Vince Paldino equalized in the 28th. Paldino was fed by one of his defenders and blasted the ball over Dallas' out of position keeper to find the net. However, Luna wasn't finished. Luna scored his second of the game in the 52nd minute, which proved to be the game-winner.
The next set of games has come to a close. Our first day at the SUM U17 Cup is complete. Here are the results from the later games:
Toronto FC 2-3 Real Salt Lake: Toronto started the game strong notching the first two goals. Keith Makubuya (11th minute) and Eric Ngo (26th minute) were the goal scorers as Toronto looked to be on their way to victory. But the defending champs had other ideas. Real Salt Lake came firing back and scored three unanswered goals to prevail. Donny Toia scored in the 30th minute, Jared Hanze tallied in the 52nd, and James Rogers netted the game winner in the 62nd.
Houston Dynamo 2-0 Kansas City Wizards: Fernando Pina of Houston played brilliantly in net en route to recording an important shutout. Abe Matamoros scored for Houston in the 32nd minute and gave them a lead that they took into stoppage time. In stoppage time, Kansas City pulled their keeper up in to attacking zone for dangerous free kick. Brian Celis of Houston gained possession and ran downfield to score on an empty net and give the Dynamo a 2-0 win.
Columbus Crew 5-1 Chicago Fire: Columbus came out a bit sluggish and allowed Chicago to net their only goal in the 9th minute. Patrick Mullins connected on a header and gave the Fire a lead that would not be able to keep. Columbus then proceeded to score 4 goals in 11 minutes to break the game open. Sage Gardner, (43rd) Kyle Culbertson, (46th on penalty kick) Chris Davis, (50th) and Tyler Ranalli (54th) all tallied. Logan Gumbert then blasted home a header off of a Columbus corner kick in the 67th minute to finalize the scoring.
Overall, a great first day at the SUM U17 Cup. We saw a lot of great competition and look forward to seeing more tomorrow. Games begin at 6:45 PM. See you then!
DAY TWODay two of the 2009 SUM U17 Cup was simply thrilling. Two games decided on penalty kicks, two others by only a goal, and two players with hat tricks. Here are the details from today’s action.
Toronto FC 3-2 Columbus Crew: After scoring five goals yesterday, Columbus picked up right where they left off. It took just nine minutes for the Crew’s Chris Davis to open the scoring and give the Crew a 1-0 lead, but Toronto fired back with three straight goals. In the 13th minute, Toronto’s Matias Naalband equalized, while Jon-Michael Vieria (40th) and Eric Ngo (44th) combined to give Toronto a 3-1 lead. The Crew found the net just once more in the 80th minute when Tyler Ranalli scored, but it wouldn’t prove to be enough for the Columbus.
Houston 1-1 Real Salt Lake (Houston advances on penalties 6-5): Real Salt Lake looked to be poised to defend their title as SUM Cup champions when their own Jared Hanze scored his second goal in as many days in the 10th minute. However, Houston wasn’t fazed. In the 20th minute, Houston’s Abe Matamoros, who also scored his second goal of the tournament, tied the game at one apiece. That was all the scoring until we reached penalty kicks. Both teams made their first five attempts, but after a crucial Salt Lake miss on their sixth, Martin Fiemawhle stepped up with a chance to win, and sent the Dynamo home with a victory.
DC United 1-1 LA Galaxy (LA advances on penalties 4-2): The Galaxy wasted little time before they jumped up to a 1-0 lead. In the 5th minute Riley Wolfe connected, much to the dismay of the DC United players. DC regained their composure and went ahead to tie the match in the 32nd minute when Marcus Salandy-Defur found the net. This score held until the end of regulation and sent us to penalties. After DC’s second miss, Christian Alvarado kept the Galaxy perfect, and sent DC home with a loss.
FC Dallas 6-2 Kansas City Wizards: FC Dallas scored the first six goals of the match against a clearly overmatched Kansas City squad. Ruben Luna, the tournament’s leading goal scorer with five tallies, scored three times, (13th, 23rd, and 44th minute) while teammate Darin Kruzich also scored multiple times in the 11th and 48th minute. Marco Carrizales also scored once for Dallas in the 66th. Even after finding themselves down 6-0, Kansas City didn’t quit. Chris Brown and Lucas Throckmorton scored in the 70th and 73rd minute and showed that Kansas City has the potential to be a very dangerous team. But after a Paul Oliver red card in the 79th minute, the Wizards lost their momentum and settled for a 6-2 loss.
Colorado Rapids 3-4 Chicago Fire: In a back in forth game that came down to the last couple of possessions, the Fire, led by Patrick Mullins’ hat trick, earned a much needed three points. Chicago’s Matt Lalonde opened the scoring in the 20th minute to give the Fire a 1-0 lead; but Colorado would strike back. Rapid’s striker Curtis Stecyk ripped a shot into the back of the net in the 35th minute to tie the match just before the half. A high scoring half began when Mullins tallied his first goal in the 53rd minute and gave Chicago a 2-1 lead. But yet again, the Rapids had an answer. In the 64th minute, after a full field sprint, Luke Chapman was rewarded with his first goal of the tournament and all the sudden the game was tied again. Mullins would go on to score two more goals in a three minute period (67th and 70th minute) to deliver what he thought would be a sure Fire victory. But the Rapids showed great resilience once again. Tesho Akindele scored in the 75th minute and gave the Rapids a chance. As the final whistle drew near, the Rapids, similarly to yesterday, created a couple great scoring chances, but were unable to connect.
As teams start to gain knowledge of their positioning in the tables, they will take Monday off to prepare for an all important Tuesday. Tuesday will be the last day of competition before the final games are announced. The teams will be fighting for their tournament lives and we expect to see some great games. Here are the up to date standings. See you Tuesday!
After Sunday's Games
| FC DALLAS | 6 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| HOUSTON DYNAMO | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| REAL SALT LAKE | 4 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| DC UNITED | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| COLUMBUS CREW | 3 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TORONTO FC | 3 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| CHICAGO FIRE | 3 | -3 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| LA GALAXY | 2 | -1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| COLORADO RAPIDS | 0 | -2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| KANSAS CITY WIZARDS | 0 | -6 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
DAY THREE
The final day of the group stages of the SUM U17 Cup is complete. As everyone scrambled for position, we saw some great games. Here are the results:
Houston Dynamo 1-2 Columbus Crew: Chris Davis of Columbus scored in the 14th minute to give the Crew an early lead. The Crew struck again in the 50th when Zachary Leedom tallied his first goal of the tournament. With time winding down and the Dynamo desperate for a goal, Bryan Celis delivered. Celis hit a rocket off the post and in to put them within one with three minutes to play. But the Crew held strong in the back and walked away the victors.
LA Galaxy 5-4 Chicago Fire: In an old fashioned shootout the Galaxy held on to win the highest scoring game of the tournament. Christian Alvarado scored his first of two goals in only the 2nd minute. Chicago’s Jason Brindle equalized just 8 minutes later in the 10th. Alvarado then scored his second in the 12th minute, as we were well on our way to a high scoring affair. Cristhian Hernandez scored twice for LA (22nd and 41st), and Nathaniel Schnitman also found the net for the Galaxy (32nd). In addition to Brindle’s early goal, Chicago was supported with goals from William Butler in the 24th and Patrick Mullins in the 27th and 55th. Mullins’ second goal was the last of the scoring, as the teams settled down and the Galaxy was able to hold on for the win.
Real Salt Lake 1-1 FC Dallas (Real Salt Lake advances on penalties 5-3): Karson Payton gave Salt Lake a huge 1-0 advantage in the 30th minute. FC Dallas’ Ruben Luna, the tournament’s leading goal scorer, and Real Salt Lake’s Jared Hanze were both shown red cards in the 34th minute for an altercation, and both will miss their team’s final match tomorrow. After the ejections, Jonathan Top was able to tie things up for FC Dallas in the 47th minute. No one else could find the net for the duration of the game, and Salt Lake prevailed in penalties.
Kansas City Wizards 0-1 DC United: In a very physical match, the lone goal came from Luiz Cartagena on a breakaway down the right side of the pitch in the 50th minute. Kansas City had a couple of great chances down the stretch but couldn’t deliver when they needed it most. DC earned their second shutout and a much needed three points.
Colorado Rapids 2-1 Toronto FC: In the main stadium at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, the Rapids had a tough test facing Toronto FC. Toronto had played the better soccer up until this match, but no one told the Rapids that. In the 42nd minute, Eduardo Fuentes of the Rapids found the back of the net off of a great feed from Rapid’s keeper Chris Couperus. Toronto was able to equalize in the 58th, but Luke Chapman of the Rapids scored in the 70th minute and gave the hosts a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Once the final games are announced, they will be posted. Games begin at 9:00 AM Wednesday morning with the championship at 11:00 AM.
DAY FOUR
The SUM U17 Cup has come to an end and DC United are champions once again. Here are the details from today’s final round.
Kansas City Wizards 5-1 Colorado Rapids: The first half of this game was played very evenly. Both sides had stretches where they looked like the better team. In the last minute of the first half, the Wizards broke through as an unmarked Derek Schrick headed a free kick passed Rapid’s keeper Matt Kagie. After the half, Kansas City picked up right where they left off. In the 43rd minute William Witherspoon scored, followed by a Jordan Zarse goal in the 50th. Rapids forward Luke Chapman scored his third goal of the tournament in the 63rd to bring the deficit back down to two. But the Wizards were too much for Colorado on this day. Goals by Michael Oakley in the 66th and Lucas Throckmorton in the 76th sealed the deal and gave the Wizards their first win of the tournament.
Toronto FC 1-2 Chicago Fire: After a disappointing loss last night, Toronto looked to be out for redemption in the early going. Oscar Cordon scored in jus the 3rd minute and gave Toronto an early 1-0 lead. Just after the half Chicago was able to tie things up, which made for a very exciting finish. With the game still tied in stoppage time, Chicago found a game winning goal in the final moments from Peter Beasley.
Houston Dynamo 2-1 LA Galaxy: Houston scored the first two goals of the match and never looked back. In the 30th minute, Jade George found the net, and just after halftime in the 41st, Irvinn Ramirez made his mark on the score sheet. But LA wasn’t going to give up. Jesus Rochin was able to score and bring the game back to a one goal deficit. LA was unable to find the equalizer and the Dynamo held on for victory.
Real Salt Lake 1-0 Columbus Crew: The third place game was very intriguing to cover. Last years champions, Real Salt Lake, took on the surprise team of the tournament, the Columbus Crew. At the first half whistle we had seen a very even match, neither team scoring a goal, but that didn’t last too long in the second half. Donny Toia scored the games only goal in the 48th minute as Real Salt Lake took home third place.
DC United 1-1 FC Dallas (DC wins on penalties 6-5): DC took place in yet another memorable final. In the three year history of the SUM U17 Cup, DC United has appeared in all three finals. They won the event two years ago but lost last season in penalty kicks. This season they were able to win on penalties. DC United led for the majority of the game after Luiz Cartagena scored in the 15th minute. That lead held right up until the final moments of regulation. In the 78th minute, Jonathan Top equalized and sent the game into two 10 minute overtime periods. After a scoreless overtime, penalties were necessary to decide a champion. In the seventh round, a costly miss by FC Dallas opened the door for a DC championship. Joel Condor sent the final kick into the back of the net and DC we’re crowned champions.
Overall this was an incredible weekend. We saw fantastic play from all teams and can’t wait to resume the event next summer. I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have. Thanks for checking in!
2009 SUM U17 Cup Update
Byron Cephers’ goal in the 90th minute gave the Real Colorado Foxes a 2-2 tie with the Rapids Reserves Wednesday morning at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
The Colorado Rapids announced two roster moves today, as the club signed Scottish midfielder Jamie Smith and waived midfielder Terry Cooke.
Ross Schunk’s goal in the 2nd minute was all the home side needed as the Rapids' reserve squad earned a 1-0 victory over the Real Colorado Foxes Wednesday afternoon at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
