As the Development Academy heads into its final full month of play, here’s a look at some of the top U16 teams in action in the Western Conference.

Arsenal stocked: Division-leading Arsenal FC faced a stiff test against Irvine Strikers, to whom they had lost earlier this year. But on Sunday, Arsenal had too much weaponry for the Strikers to handle.

The Strikers came out with a strong game-plan, designed to neutralize Arsenal playmaker Raul Mendiola. Striker defenders shadowed Mendiola throughout the game to disrupt Arsenal’s attack, and went into half-time up 1-0 after a goal from Sean Dhillon.

Arsenal stuck to their guns, though, and was able to get a goal each from Ulises Mosqueda, Jordan Gibbs and Raul Mendiola to earn the 3-1 win. Dennis Flores, Nicolas Camacho-Diaz and Eduardo Quezada also played a big part in the victory.

With the win, Arsenal maintains a healthy lead in the SoCal division (25 points to 17) over second-place Chivas USA. Speaking of Chivas…

JP Medina, Cal Odyssey

Chivas charging: Chivas USA went down 2-0 early to San Diego Surf of Sunday, but charged back into the game by dominating the second half and scoring three goals to get the win.

Coach Samuel Rivas’ decision to insert the tall and athletic center back duo of Max Rico and Ivan Delgado helped stymie the Surf’s long-ball attack, and central midfielder Chayanne Santiago was dynamic distributing the ball on offense.

Chivas got goals from Santiago Gomez, Frederico Bobadilla and Sergio Cervantes, while Marcial Cazares and youngsters Jake McGuire and Nick Ledesna also performed very well.

With the win, Chivas maintains its second-place spot in the West Conference’s SoCal division behind Arsenal FC. But Chivas needs to keep winning, with Nomads SC and Irvine Strikers breathing down their neck in the standings.

Odyssey intact: Cal Odyssey was not in top form as they faced last-place Mustang SC on Sunday, but still eked out a 1-0 victory behind a goal from forward Daniel Flores.

Odyssey created plenty of scoring chances in the first half behind the two-way abilities and creativity of central midfielder Jon-Paul Medina and forwards Flores and Gregory Antognoli, but were never able to finish.

Goalkeeper Matt Dishno and a strong back line including Josh Alvarez, Eric Posada, Nick Watson and Cesar Gutierrez maintained the shutout, though, and Flores’ second-half goal (off a beautiful dish from Medina) turned out to be enough for the win.

With the victory, Odyssey (22 points) stays undefeated in divisional play, trailing only California Development Academy (25 points) for the division lead.