CARSON, California - Leading scorer Darwin Jones had a great chance. Maybe two, or three.

Jamael Cox had his prime opportunity too.

But in the end, Washington Premier FC was unable to convert and took a 1-0 loss in the first day of U16 play at the Development Academy National Final that was characterized as much by Washington’s missed chances as by PDA’s winning play.

PDA coach George Nazario seemed to sense it as well.

“The way that we played really takes some of the gloss away from the three points, to be honest with you,” he said. “This was well below our standards. Washington is definitely a good team and they created some matchup problems for us.”

The matchups were most exposed in the second half where Washington pressed to generate the game-tying goal. Between Jones, Cox and Sean Okoli the team from the Pacific Northwest found some combinations that worked and the floodgates of opportunity opened up.

There were breakaways, there were set pieces.

But no goal.

Down the stretch, Jones stripped a defender, which he is prone to do, and made a wide open run at PDA goalkeeper Jake Wagmeister who curtailed the shot. Two more late shots stood out from the rest, another Jones flick that hit the right post, and a perfect through ball to Cox who tugged a shot left.

Not lost in Washington’s failed attempts was the play of Wagmeister, who commanded his space and never appeared panicked or deterred by the many shots fired his way.

Even Nazario had to concede: “He played well, but there’s not much else to say.”

Wagmeister was part of an interesting non-call in the final few minutes when he came out to challenge Okoli and appeared to pull him down inside the box. Surprisingly, the referee didn’t see it that way and ruled a handball on Okoli.

Brandon Allen scored the game-winning goal for PDA on a counter attack near the end of the first half. Allen launched a shot from just left of the top of the box that eluded keeper Nathan Cox.

PDA forward Nathan Bruccoleri had a solid outing and made some things happen up front, but as a whole it was about as displeasing a three points as a team can earn.

Whatever that means.

U16 PDA Lineup
Starters: Jake Wagmeister, Matthew Wiltse, Matthias Sheeleigh, David Westlake, Will Joels, Tommy Uttaro, Daniel Metzger, Johan Hernandez, Giovanni Esposito, Robert Barrera, Brandon Allen.
Subs: Joseph Mineo, Kyle Roach, Shaquille Hamilton, Randy Falk, Kyle Feather, Nathan Bruccoleri.

U16 Washington Premier FC Lineup
Starters; Nathan Cox, Chase Hanson, Kenneth Phillips, Jeremy Wenzel, Even Robicheau, Sean Okoli, Pablo De la Cruz, Troy Peterson, Jamael Cox, Darwin Jones, Andrew Weishaar.
Subs: Jacob Betchel.

DERBY COUNTY WOLVES 3, FC DALLAS 1

Derby County Wolves (white)

Reed Losee scored two goals and the top-seeded Wolves used a second-half explosion to open the finals with a convincing win.

Thought of as the favorite by many, Derby County did little to dispel its standing, battling through a scoreless first half before breaking out.

Losee, the team’s leading scorer throughout the year, scored on a rebound midway through the second half to get his team on the board while Jordan Tyler made it 2-0.

Bryan Leyva converted a free kick to make it 2-1 in the 78th minute but the Wolves true defensive victory was neutralizing the always dangerous and academy-leading goal scorer Ruben Luna, who only had a couple of legitimate chances to make something happen.

Losee put the finishing touches on the match with a counter attack in the 82nd minute.    

U16 Derby County Wolves Lineup
Starters: Joshua Barens, Dzenan Catic, Sean Cunningham, Adam Grinwis, Nathan Hicklin, Reed Losee, Nicholas Prys, TJ VanSlooten, Eric Weberman, Stefan Grigorakis, Jordan Tyler.
Subs: Sean Magee, Kyle Rutz, Kotaro Mitsuhashi.                            

U16 FC Dallas Lineup
Starters: Christopher Figueroa, Daniel Garcia, Jacob Gerondale, Giovanni Gomez, Moises Hernandez, Bryan Leyva, Ruben Luna, Nelson Morales, Daniel Premenko, Victor Ulloa. Jacob Gerondale.
Subs: Alex Frankenfeld, Matthew Dunn, Darin Kruzich.

CHICAGO MAGIC AS MONACO 4, NEW YORK RED BULLS ACADEMY 1
        

Chicago Magic AS Monaco

Chicago Magic AS Monaco blitzed New York Red Bulls goalkeeper Keith Cardona, in what was likely a rare experienced for the sure-handed standout keeper.

Leading scorer Aaron Horton was as good as advertised, scoring twice to give his team an early edge in its group after the opening day of the tournament.

Tyler Engel (penalty kick), Aaron Horton and David Caban converted second-half goals for the Frontier Division regular-season champs, while Victor Manosalvas scored New York’s lone goal on a PK in the 25th minute.

The Red Bulls, who can be an exciting possession-style club, should rebound well and could still be a factor throughout the week.

U16 Chicago Magic AS Monaco Lineup
Starters: Jovani Castanon, David Abidor, Billy McGuinness, Mitch Albrecht, Scott Lakin, Tyler Engel, Jacob Bushue, David Caban, Oliver Mayer, Arturo Garza, Aaron Horton.
Subs: Jacob Ginsburg, Marc Gidden, Jimmy Ramirez, Miguel Acosta, Gabriel Virdaru, Cody Wilkins.

U16 New York Red Bulls
Starters: Keith Cardona, Christopher Garcia, Brandon Adler, Brian Gallego, Paul Ehrenworth, Christian Battistesa, Oscar Gonzalez, Kemal Can Gurel, Michael Innocenzi, Jonathan Gonzalez, Victor Manosalvas.
Subs: Oscar Castillo, David Najem, Clifford Lyle.

CAL ODYSSEY 1, GREENSBORO YOUTH SOCCER 0

It felt like a home game for Cal Odyssey. With the commute obviously closer for their local fan contingent, the stands were filled with vocal well-wishers.

And when striker Gregory Antognoli put in the game-winner midway through the second half, he somersaulted over to his fan club and basked in the moment. It was a neat scene, and picture-perfect goal as Antognoli busted up the line, drew out the goalkeeper and calmly placed one by him.

“It was a pretty routine goal,” he said. “I was thinking about doing the airplane, but I saw the crowd was excited so just decided to run over to them.”

Greensboro controlled most of the positions but was a step slow in the scoring area. Midfielders Hassan Kouyateh and Jordan Lessard were smooth with the ball but couldn’t connect with teammates for chances, particularly when Odyssey sagged its defense late in the match.

“I think we’ve proven what we can do throughout the playoffs,” Antognoli said. “We can win it all but we have to continue to improve and play together.”

U16 Greensboro Youth Soccer
Starters: Thomas Allen Jr., Eduardo Alvarez, Jonathan Campbell, Austin Dunker, Ryan Hanson, Charles Keeley, Hassan Kouyateh, Jordan Lessard, Hans Lohmeyer, Matthew Mills, Mamadee Nyepon.
Subs: Patrick Parker, Andrew Walker, Alhaji Kanneh, Myles Mansfield.

U16 Cal Odyssey
Starters: Gregory Antognoli, Villyan Bijev, Kyle Cadigan, Matt Dishno, Chris Newmark, Jose Segura, Trevor Spurgeon, Isaiah Trejo, Christopher Young, Jon-Paul Medina, Nicholas Watson.
Subs: Jesus Garcia, Nana Yaw Ameyaw-Sakyi, Ruben Chavez.