CARSON, California - And we have a final.

It took three days and a total of 12 matches to get there, and now it’s officially determined that D.C. United and Carmel United will meet for the U18 Development Academy title.

Both teams punched their ticket to the final match in completely contrasting ways Tuesday at the Home Depot Center.

In their typically dynamic style, D.C. served notice with a 5-1 explosion against PDA, a win that vaulted the team past their New Jersey opponents in the standings, as well as Real Colorado, which lost a surprising game to CASL Chelsea FC.

D.C. scored four unanswered goals in the second half to bury PDA for good.

“Basically at halftime we had a huge talk and we wanted to come out with so much more energy,” said striker Christopher Hegngi, who recorded two goals just 16 minutes apart. “We had to improve on what we had started in the first half and everyone answered the call. This is what happens when we bring our all.”

That might be a scary proposition for most teams, but it won’t be for battle-tested Carmel United. In the calm and composed been-there-done-that demeanor that’s guided them to this point, Carmel showed championship mettle once again during a 3-3 draw with IMG Soccer Academy.

IMG needed a win to capture Group One over Carmel, and appeared headed for as much when they took a 2-0 lead late in the first half. Luis Ocejo provided the lead in the 38th minute. Rebounding a teammate’s missed shot off the post, Ocejo trapped the ball and made a move to shift goalkeeper Jon Dawson before scoring on a move that showed great patience.

But Carmel, with many holdovers from last season’s U16 championship, wasn’t quite done. Austin Oldham provided a momentum shifting score in the 38th minute, settling a pass before firing it in from 20 yards out.

Carmel continued their momentum through the second half where Matthew Sanner scored twice, the second, a left-footed volley on a ball sent in from Harrison Petts.

Trailing 3-2, Miguel Medina tied the match in the 86th minute on one of the more remarkable goals of the tournament. From more than 35 yards away, Medina blasted a strike that dipped just under the net and past Dawson.

The goal was inconsequential as Carmel achieved its goal by toughing out yet another match.

Aside from a 1-0 loss to Real Colorado on Sunday, little has been tough for D.C. United, a team loaded with talent. Michael Funes scored two goals and Andy Najar one in their latest rout, a match that raises the question of whether D.C.’s firepower will be enough to overpower the guile of Carmel.

“We haven’t played them,” Hegngi said. “We’ve been working all year and now it’s all right in front of our eyes in the final. We’re finally here. We’re just focused on ourselves and trying to play the best we can.”


U18 D.C. United lineup
Starters: Abdul Hamid, Alex Herrera, Ethan White, Kevin McBride, Nicky Yin, Michael Funes, Julio Arjona, Paul Torres, Michael Burgos, Andy Najar, Shane Cook.
Subs: Sam Bradley, Ryan Runion, Willian Bioh, Chris Perez, John Ciampa, Christopher Hegngi.

U18 PDA Lineup
Starters: William Smith, Matthew Pesci, Bonny Londono, Hunter Gorskie, Ryan Whalen, Jeffrey Eisenbud, Kyle McCarthy, Jossimer Sanchez, Alex Bramall, Dylan Renna.
Subs: Christopher Medina, Vincent McEnroe, Scott Keogh, Jordan Beckett, Anthony Ciccone.

U18 Carmel United Lineup
Starters: Jon Dawson, James Vollmer, Tyrone Martin, Michael Wignot, Jared Isenthal, Nikita Kotlov, Jarrett Baughman, Jeremy Vollmer, Harrison Petts, Ryan Fier, Matthew Sanner.
Subs: Zakk Rankin, Austin Oldham.

U18 IMG Academy Lineup
Starters: Larry Jackson, Jon Eckford, Ambry Moss, Alex Walters, John Rayha, Reinaldo Brenes, Martin Ontiveros, Jorge Risquez, Luis Ocejo, Andres Acevedo, Luis Calzadilla.
Subs: Jon Eckford, Benjamin Barshai, Miguel Medina, Fernando Mares, Ricardo Batista, Tyler Currence.

FC GREATER BOSTON 4, DALLAS TEXANS 2

Charlie Rugg continued his strong finals showing with two goals as FC Greater Boston got its first win of the tournament.

With the victory, Boston finished third in it is group while Dallas came in fourth, unable to record a win.

Boston put the Texans behind the eight-ball fairly quickly as Rugg scored in the fourth minute on a pass from Scott Prozeller that he flipped in. Chris Pettiglio followed with a goal in the 27th minute to give the team a 2-0 advantage at the break.

The Texans did play inspired soccer down the stretch. As the match became more of a free-for-all, Zachery Barnes put one in net, combining with Blake Wise to help Dallas mount a small charge that featured a couple of near goals in the final minutes.

U18 FC Greater Boston Lineup
Starters: TJ Van Riper, John Miller, Will Donovan, George Hodge, Kaegan Kelly, Leon Brown, Scott Prozeller, Hamade Cantave, Brendan Caslin, Chris Pettiglio, Charlie Rugg.
Subs: Ciaran Nugent, Owen Fox, Sean Fitzgerald, Cecil Jeffrey, Gideon Gyasi.

U18 Dallas Texans Lineup
Starters: Colin Murasek, Beau Breckenridge, Mark Daus, Aaron Reifschneider, Jacob Garnett, Brett Helm, Zachery Barnes, Gino DePaoli, Conor Doyle, Chris Sendejas.
Subs: Ray DeLeon, Blake Wise, William Diebold.

CASL CHELSEA FC 2, REAL COLORADO 0

Real Colorado had a chance to control its own destiny, and with a win would’ve advanced to the title game. Instead, CASL Chelsea took control and got some vindication for a pair of subpar performances earlier in the week with an impressive victory.

CASL hung tough through the first half and got two second-half goals from Martin Murphy to surge in the end.

Murphy bent a beautiful free kick just under the crossbar and beyond the outstretched hand of goalkeeper Mate Aguirre in the 69th minute and added his second nine minutes later on a good run that ended with him finishing on the right side of the box.

Real Colorado was uncharacteristically slow to the ball, and paid for its aggressiveness in the midfield as it tried to generate some goal scoring.

U18 CASL Chelsea FC Lineup
Starters: Joseph Goodwin, John Patrick Rafferty, Nicholas Butterly, Kevin Stam, Glenn Scott, Thomas Garner, Justin Smith, Martin Murphy, Jared Girard, Michael Smith, Joseph Babington.
Subs: Jeremy Shelley, Ryan Metts, Patrick Donahue, Lester Nare, Isack Nyongabo.

U18 Real Colorado Lineup
Starters: Mate Aguirre, Drew Beckie, Kyle Venter, Scott Branson, Taylor Kemp, Anis Abdulgasem, Levi Ross, Connor Talbert, Alex Tarnoczi, Brent Ham.
Subs: Matt Hammett