BRADENTON, Fla. – The Dynamo FC U17 soccer club out of Indianapolis put their time spent at the IMG Cup – College Showcase to good use.

The team has a big weekend coming up when they play Midwest Regional League games, and playing against some of the nation’s finest young soccer talent the past three days can only help the team to prepare.

MORE TOP PLAYERS: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3

MORE COVERAGE: Day 1 Recap | Day 2 Recap

There was no better place to be than playing on one of the 11 top-notch soccer fields at the IMG Academy to accomplish that task.

Besides, there is also something to be said for leaving behind the snow and ice of Indianapolis for the sunshine and beaches of the Gulf Coast of Florida.

“All the snow and cold weather has really made training complicated,” veteran coach John Griffin said after Dynamo FC U17 slugged it out with Houston Dynamo of Tampa U17 on Sunday en route to a 0-0 tie. “We’ve come down here after not having trained a lot. But getting in three quality games has been big. We had to get some games under our belt to get sharp again.”

Griffin’s club did indeed play some tough matches. On Friday, Dynamo FC U17 also played Space Coast United U17 of Florida to a 0-0 tie and came back to beat West Pines of Hollywood, Fla., 1-0, on Saturday.

“Quite frankly, we see different teams here than we do in Region 2 (Midwest),” Griffin said. “That makes it a good experience. Plus, we’re under snow back home.

“Most of our players have been with Dynamo since about the age of nine. The balance of this team is Dynamo through and through.”

 

FC Nashville U17 1, Pinecrest Premier U17 of Miami 1 – Ricardo Aguirre of FC Nashville U17 gave his club a 1-0 lead at halftime, scoring a goal in the first period.

However, Pinecrest’s Robert Shellow of Naples, Fla., responded in kind in the second half to produce a tie on Sunday.

Like the team from Indianapolis, the club from Nashville was grateful for a winter reprieve.

Nashville Coach Desmond Armstrong, who was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2012 after playing for the United States World Cup team and Santos of Brazil, had his team of 14- and 15-year-olds play up in age in order to ensure the best competition.

“It’s been tremendous for our program,” Armstrong said. “It’s been a great experience in terms of speed of play.

“For my team, it exposes their weaknesses. We can identify those weaknesses now. We can improve as players and improve as a team.”

Armstrong wasn’t concerned about his club losing its first two games of the showcase.

“The results are not really the issue for us, especially since we were playing up,” Armstrong said. “But we were competitive in all of our games.

“I think from the first game to the last game we played better. We have learned what it means to compete at a high level. That’s the important thing for us.”

 

Savvy scheduling – All 12 USL Olympic Development Program teams in attendance began their days in the first wave of matches slated for 8:30 a.m. on Sunday.

It made perfect sense, allowing players more time to return to different parts of the country.

The members of the USL ODP teams consisted of players from all around the nation playing together with other players, some of whom they had just met the day the showcase began. Players were selected by opposing coaches they faced while playing in USL Super-Y summer league games.

On Sunday, USL ODP (Parra) U14 blasted IMG U14, 6-1 and USL ODP (Dobson) U16 slipped past Musc Tsunami of Melbourne, Fla., 2-1.

USL ODP (Scott) U14 destroyed Club Atletico of San Juan, Puerto Rico, 7-0, while USL ODP (Atkinson) U16 blanked WCSG Flames U16, 3-0.

Also on Sunday, IMG U16 got by USL ODP U16, 3-2, and Plantation FC U16 of Florida rolled over USL ODP (Kennedy), 4-0.