FRISCO - FC Dallas’ senior team isn’t the only team in the club who has seen recent success with clean sheets.
FCD’s U-16 Academy heads into the semifinals of the Development Academy playoffs this week in Carson, California having not been scored on in four games. Through three group stage matches and a quarterfinal contest, the U-16s have outscored their opponents 13-0.
“It’s a group effort, and it’s what they do in training Monday through Friday [that] I think allows them to get shutouts in games,” U-16 head coach Luchi Gonzalez said. “It doesn’t mean we’re going to continue to get shutouts, but I’m pretty confident it’s going to be difficult for teams to score on us if we keep playing the way we’re playing.”
The Philadelphia Union, FCD’s semifinal opponent, has some great individual pieces and national team players that could pose a threat, according to Gonzalez. Philadelphia has 12 goals through four games, outlasting the New England Revolution 5-3 in their quarterfinal bout.
“Our focus is never the shutout,” Gonzalez said. “The focus is to respect the opponent; to respect Philadelphia. We’re going to respect what they can do, but we’re going to focus on what we’ve been doing all year, the way we play and our style, our organization and our chemistry and how we play as a group.”
Gonzalez credits each player of his back four and goalkeeper for stepping up in playoffs to hold shape and contribute to FCD’s success.
He said keeper Ben Hale has been big time with important saves while backs Eddie Munjoma, Reggie Cannon and Alex Gerondale have provided offensive options while getting back to take care of business on defense. He added Hector Montalvo’s personality to command, Brandon Terwege’s technicality, Austin Ashley’s ability to shutdown opponents and his other keepers competing have all played a factor in the four clean sheets.
“I think all five from the backline to the goalkeeper have been fantastic and the guys coming off the bench,” Gonzalez said. “As a group, they’re there strong. I don’t think it's one single guy that can make or break you. I think it’s the group that’s strong.”
Sometimes when a team is on a stride the way the FCD U-16s are, the team can tend to slow down a bit. However, that’s not the way Gonzalez is approaching this next game.
“I’m a young coach, but I also have gained some experience,” Gonzalez said. “We could have easily taken it easy this week and kept everybody healthy for the travel, but we went the other route. We trained as hard as we’ve ever trained because they’re conditioned to push themselves, and they know that’s the expectation.”
Kickoff for FCD’s semifinal is set for 5 p.m. Thursday at Stub Hub Center Field 3. If FCD wins, the team will face the winner of New York Red Bulls and Georgia United on Saturday.
