Through the first two days of the Generation adidas Cup, the San Jose Earthquakes are one of the pace-setters from the Under-17 sides.
After a memorable come-from-behind win on Saturday, the Earthquakes U-17s won a second straight game. This time, instead of a high-scoring affair, San Jose’s defensive ability helped make the difference in a 1-0 win over Dutch side AZ Alkmaar.
Homegrown signing Chance Cowell, making a second appearance at the tournament, provided the winning goal in Sunday’s victory. His strike in the 16th minute held up, as a back line of Hudson Kohler, Kevin Jimenez, Scott Chavira and Connor Owen teamed up with goalkeeper Matthew Guerra to keep the clean sheet.
San Jose sit atop Group E heading into Monday’s final round of group games, needing just a draw against CF Montréal to win the group.
Here’s a rundown of some of the other notable results from Sunday’s action:
San Jose’s younger age group also won again, beating Club Necaxa 1-0. Kaedren Spivey scored for the second straight day, and his 34-minute tally secured the full points.
The Philadelphia Union U-15s picked up a second win on Sunday, beating FC Dallas by a 2-0 margin. Willyam Ferreira scored a penalty in the 40th minute to open the scoring, while Malik Jakupovic sealed it with a strike late in the second half. Jakupovic now has three goals from his first two games in Florida.
One day after rampaging past Manchester United, Atlanta United came up against St. Louis CITY SC with a chance to take control of the group. An early goal from Amir Henry put Atlanta up, looking to be on course for a second straight win. But St. Louis stormed back, with Brendan McCrory and Jack Hennessy scoring goals in the 23rd and 28th minutes, respectively, to take the lead. After Atlanta went down to 10 men, Jovanni Giffin extended the lead to 3-1. Ignacio Suárez-Couri scored a second for Atlanta in stoppage time, though it ended up only as consolation.
It was a late show for LA Galaxy, who beat CF Monterrey thanks to a 54th-minute goal by Angel Villatoro. Angel Flores Alvarez opened the scoring for Rayados nine minutes into the game. That was quickly canceled by Roman Holliday, who equalized for the Galaxy five minutes later. Villatoro bagged the late winner, making it 2-1 and boosting LA into second place in Group H.
Things remain wide open in Group A, as Real Salt Lake and Weston FC remain tied at four points after Sunday’s action. RSL beat Nashville SC with Reignen Magsino scoring a first-half winner. Weston drew 0-0 with FC Nordsjælland, winning a shootout for the second straight day.
FC Cincinnati won a second straight game at the youngest age group, edging D.C. United by a 1-0 score. Jared Cardenas scored the lone goal of the game in the 43rd minute, his second of the tournament.
The New York Red Bulls battled back from a two-goal deficit, earning a 2-2 draw with the Houston Dynamo. Tristan Cottle and Kian Walsh put the Texas side up in the first half. The Red Bull rally was triggered by substitute Desmond Chemweno, who scored in the 47th minute. Deven Cadigan tied it in the 55th minute, and an epic shootout took place after. The Dynamo earned the extra point, winning 12-11 on penalty kicks. Houston face Toulouse on Monday, needing a win to finish first in Group E.
Arguably the day’s biggest upset came in a Group A match between FC Cincinnati and the Philadelphia Union. Jykese Fields put Cincinnati in front with a seventh-minute strike. Forward Stefan Chirila doubled FCC’s lead in the 35th minute. With the 2-0 win, all four teams in the group are tied on three points heading into Monday’s games.
The Houston Dynamo made it two wins from two games, winning 1-0 versus the New England Revolution. Fadel Kone’s goal in the 32nd minute secured the three points. A win or draw against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors on Monday and Houston would win Group G.
Nashville SC kept their chances of a first-place finish alive with a 3-2 victory against Austin FC. Chris Avila put Austin up in the 17th minute. It was a short-lived lead, as Tristan Tropeano tied the game six minutes later. Nashville midfielder Cesar Soucre put his side out in front right before the half. Austin’s Gavin Wolff answered, tying the game in the 44th minute. Another Tropeano goal sealed the win, giving Nashville a chance heading into a Monday meeting with River Plate.
After falling to the Galaxy on Saturday, the Red Bulls bounced back with a 3-0 win against Orlando City. Raymond Diouf, homegrown signing Davi Alexandre and Jeffrey Bryjak provided the goals.
Another team that got into the win column after a loss on Saturday was Sporting KC. Tomiwa Adewumi scored the late winner in stoppage time to secure a 1-0 defeat of Inter Miami.
Real Salt Lake control their fate heading into Monday’s final slate of group games. RSL picked up two points, drawing 3-3 against Atlético Nacional from Colombia, then picking up the extra point with a 3-1 shootout victory. The two sides went back and forth for the duration; Christian Ramón Negrete Zúñiga opened the scoring 13 minutes into the game, and Real Monarch signing Omar Marquez provided the response. Grayson Carter put RSL into the lead, only for it to be canceled out by Juan José Rosa Arboleda. Forward Zavier Gozo put RSL up by a 3-2 score, only for Zúñiga to tie it late.
RSL meet Miami, with the latter needing a win to have a chance to win Group B.
