The first round of 2015-2016 Generation adidas Cup east region qualifying wrapped up with Orlando City SC picking up a victory against the New England Revolution, the New York Red Bulls putting in a dominant performance against the Philadelphia Union, and TFC Academy suffering a 2-1 loss at the death to D.C. United.
Orlando City SC will host the next round of qualifying in February. The top two teams from all three divisions – East, Central, West – will represent the MLS against elite international clubs in the Champions Division in the Spring. Teams that do not qualify for the Champions Division will compete in the Premier Division.
Final Standings After Round One
New England Revolution 1-2 Orlando City SC
New England Revolution took on Orlando City SC in the first match on the final day of the first round of qualifying.
The Revolution started off strong, scoring three minutes in. Laszlo Dorogi got on the end of a cross from the right flank, took a touch and then side-footed a shot from just outside the 6-yard box off the post and in.
Orlando City notched the equalizer early on in the second half. Jose Aldaco Jr. was in behind the Revolution backline following a perfectly weighted through ball by Vandon Menning and made no mistake, placing the ball into the bottom left corner to level the match.
Orlando City went down a man just a few minutes following the equalizer as Jordi Avila received his second yellow card of the match for a late slide tackle.
The team defended an all out attack by the Revolution and managed to break the deadlock with 10 men.
Allen Seals made a darting run down the left flank from his own half and dribbled his way into New England’s penalty area before being brought down by Connor Haskell.
Landen Haig stepped up and put the penalty into the upper left corner of the net to give Orlando City a 2-1 lead.
Haig’s goal stood as the game winner as Orlando City came away with three points.
Philadelphia Union 0-4 New York Red Bulls
The New York Red Bulls put in another impressive performance in their final match of the weekend.
Nine minutes in Omir Fernandez opened up the scoring for New York, pouncing on a scramble in the box and smashing a volley past Union goalkeeper Carlos dos Santos.
Fernandez scored his second of the match and his fifth of the tournament just before halftime, tapping home a cross in close following a nice give and go on the right side of the pitch.
The Red Bulls extended their lead to three 10 minutes into the second half with Christopher Gloster placing a shot into the bottom right corner from just outside the 18-yard box.
Gloster made it 4-0 with his second of the match just a minute later, finishing off a cross in the Union penalty area to put the game out of reach.
Toronto FC Academy 1-2 D.C. United
Toronto FC Academy took on D.C. United in the final match of the first round of qualifiers on Monday.
TFC Academy got off to a great start, opening up the scoring in the fourth minute.
Ayo Akinola sent a low cross into the box and a D.C. defender, in an attempt to block the cross, knocked it into his own net.
D.C. had a great opportunity to level the match in the 28th minute but TFC Academy goalkeeper Brogan Engbers came up with a huge save to denying Alexis Cerritos in close.
Midfielder Kota Sakurai nearly gave TFC Academy a 2-0 lead in the second half but his free kick from about 25 yards out struck the crossbar.
With the match being the third in four days and fatigue kicking in, TFC Academy opted to make substitutions early on in the match, a move that came back to haunt them.
TFC Academy’s final substitution was made 17 minutes before the final whistle with defender Riley Ferrazzo coming on for injured Joseph Vitulli.
10 minutes later Riley Ferrazzo hobbled off the pitch with a knee injury. He received treatment and came back on but was clearly struggling.
D.C. United equalized with just three minutes left in regulation.
Taking advantage of the injured Ferrazzo, D.C. attacked down the left wing and a found substitute Bryce Orsini in the box who took one touch and placed a low shot past Engbers.
TFC went down to 10 men as Ferrazzo hobbled off the pitch unable to continue due to his injury.
Shortly after TFC Academy midfielder Josh Moreira suffered a similar injury as Ferrazzo and was also unable to continue. TFC Academy were down to 9 men and unable to make any more substitutions with a few minutes left on the clock.
With TFC down to 9 men, D.C. United was able to capitalize and score the game winner in stoppage time.
Casimir Zekoua collected the ball at the top of the box, pushed it to his right and released a powerful strike that beat Engbers short side to give D.C. United a 2-1 victory at the death.
For information on the tournament click here: http://bit.ly/1RsufZZ
Day 1 Recap: //www.torontofc.ca/news/2015/10/day-1-recap-generation-adidas-cup-east-region-qualifiers
Day 2 Recap: //www.torontofc.ca/news/2015/10/day-2-recap-generation-adidas-cup-east-region-qualifiers
