BRADENTON, Fla. -- On a day in which the U.S. Under-17 Men's National Team found out its draw in the 2017 CONCACAF U-17 Championship, the group representing the program at the IMG Cup put on another spectacular show in the second day of action on Thursday. Five different players scored in the team's 5-0 rout of RGV Academy U19 as the U.S. U17 MNT secured its second win of the tournament. Tottenham FC Academy tallied its second win with a victory over Baltimore Armour 18DA to set up a must-watch Group 1 battle on Saturday night against the U.S. U17s.
FC Florida Prep Academy beat IMG Academy 18DA for its first win of the tournament while Deportivo Toluca FC won for the second straight day, this time over Black Rock FC.
Tottenham FC 2, Baltimore Armour 0
Tottenham may have won its second straight game but it was not nearly as easy as its first win, an 8-0 blowout of RGV Academy on the first day of action. Baltimore Armour put up a valiant effort but it failed to capitalize on several opportunities.
"It was a great game for us," Baltimore Armour coach Santino Quaranta said. "We played extremely well but we just haven't been able to execute when given the opportunities. And when you're playing against a quality team like Tottenham, who makes it hard to break things down, the game becomes more difficult if you're not able to score goals when given the chance."
The Spurs went ahead in the first half when Samuel Shashoua slipped the ball behind the defense and Kazaiah Sterling finished into the bottom corner from a tight angle. Tottenham went into the half holding the 1-0 lead but the Spurs found it difficult to be as creative as they normally are due to the physical play of Baltimore.
In the second half, both teams were reduced to 10 men after a scuffle between two players. Baltimore kept the deficit to just one goal by playing a solid defense on the back line and controlling the ball at midfield.
Despite the strong play, Baltimore allowed one more goal to Tottenham when Jack Roles got behind the defense and rifled a shot from the edge of the box into the short corner.
Roles wraps up the win with a stunning strike from the edge of the box following a short corner. 2-0.
