Sunday was a banner day for Real Salt Lake’s development system as the U.S. took on Trinidad and Tobago in an international friendly at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Florida.
With RSL Academy product Aaron Herrera and former Real Monarchs defender Noah Powder, RSL had two players in the match, highlighting two of its many pathways for youth development. Herrera came through the RSL Academy – starting with the Academy’s second team in his first season - before signing with Real Salt Lake prior to the 2018 season and started for the U.S. Meanwhile, Powder signed as a promising young player with Real Monarch entering the 2019 season before working his way up to a first-team contract late last year and made came off the bench as a late substitute for Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday.
Both players made their international debuts in a 7-0 win for the U.S., but in starting the match and playing into the 78th minute, Herrera put on display his rapid growth over the past three seasons.
“He had a very good first game. He picked and chose when to go forward and dealt with situations very well. It was nice to see his debut,” RSL Head Coach Freddy Juarez said. “I didn’t see any nerves. His timing in the attack was very good. We saw a lot of growth in that, so that was great to see.”
Herrera, 23, was part of a defense that limited T&T to two shots in the match, the first coming on a penalty in the 66th minute. He also showed his propensity to get into the attack, not only sending balls in from the right side – including one that found the head of Jonathan Lewis before being saved by Adrian Foncette – but also in leading Paul Arriola up the right wing on several occasions with precise balls up the line.
“That’s Aaron’s strength. That’s one thing that we saw a lot of growth in last year. In our system of play, we wanted to get him higher up the field in the attack. He got a one-on-one and got that cross in to Lewis and the goalie had a great save on that,” Juarez said. “I hope it’s another step in maturity and professionalism and holding people to higher standards. Now they’ve seen a higher level. Aaron needs that maturity and being a leader that he can bring that and demand that from himself and his teammates.”
It didn’t take long for the U.S. to take control in the match, with Lewis taking a pass from Jesus Ferreira and depositing it into an open goal in just the second minute of the match. Ferreira followed it up with his first international goal in the ninth minute on an assist from Sam Vines as the U.S. took the early 2-0 lead.
Lewis, Ferreira and Arriola each had two goals while Miles Robinson added one of his own to complete the route.
While the U.S. had three weeks of January camp to prepare for the match, Trinidad and Tobago had a much shorter build-up, with several players, including Powder, arriving just days before the match in Orlando.
Powder, 22, entered the match in the 82nd minute to make his debut. After starting his pro career with New York Red Bulls II in 2018, he now has 97 appearances across all competitions, 44 of which came with Real Monarchs over the course of the last two seasons.
That path for development, under the guidance of Monarchs Head Coach Jamison Olave, is another pipeline for players to reach Real Salt Lake’s roster and one the club has used to its advantage, with eight players on the current roster who were once signed to the Monarchs.
“We feel there are multiple ways to get to the first team. One is starting with the youth system and brigning up a player through the Academy. There is also the route of finding good promising internationals and bringing them into the Monarchs with Olave and his crew,” Juarez said. “It showed that if you get someone who is promising into some good professional games, that’s another way of developing a player. It was nice to see him there and hopefully there is more to come for Noah now that he’s on an MLS roster.”
RSL is scheduled to start preseason training camp on February 22, with the 2021 MLS regular season slated to kick off on April 3.
