In 2015, the Real Salt Lake-Arizona Academy’s U-18 team had perhaps the best season in the history of the USSDA. With a 37-4-4 overall record, RSL-AZ’s 1997-born team reached the national championship match for the third time in four years, scoring 177 goals in the process while allowing just 38.
Already there are high expectations on the Casa Grande, Arizona, campus, but that season raised the bar nationally for what type of season can truly be considered elite.
“We’re not making any comparisons or putting any pressure on them,” Technical Director Martin Vasquez said. “This is a different team, a different season, a different year. And we try to stay focused on that.”
Although Vasquez strives for that level of success with each class of players that comes through the Academy, he is also realistic about his expectations for the teams and that is never more evident than in the 2015-16 season. Now halfway through the calendar, the RSL-AZ U-18s sit second in the Southwest Division at 8-4-3 while the U-16s are fourth at 9-4-2. They both have used different means to reach those ends, but Vasquez is both satisfied with the results thus far and optimistic that the teams are in a good position to make big steps forward in the second half of the season when the schedule resumes on January 16.
At the U-18 level, it has taken tremendous turnover, but the team has managed success behind a stellar offensive output from forward Elijah Rice.
“At the end of last year with the group we had and how far we went, we weren’t sure what kind of team we were going to have. We only had four or five guys returning,” Vasquez said. “We’re pleased with the collective play and some guys have stood out, so I think we’re going in the right direction.”
Rice, 17, has 14 goals in just 12 matches to lead all scorers in his first season with RSL’s Academy while Alec Felix and David Ramos have three goals each. Although Rice’s scoring production would indicate that he is solely responsible for the team’s success, the accolades are actually spread throughout the roster, as the defensive record has been solid throughout the year.
That is the focus of the team as it looks to solidify its identity in the second half of the season. Those defensive successes create the opportunities for Rice to shine in the attack.
“When we talk about tactics and the team that we want to be, we have a good understanding of how we want to defend. But when we attack, you have to have that killer instinct and to have that killer instinct you have to have the right personnel,” Vasquez said. “I think Elijah Rice has that killer instinct. He’s a pure finisher and we are very pleased with him.”
Whereas the U-18s are getting the vast majority of its goals from one player, the U-16s have the balance that was a staple of the record-setting U-18 team last year. While none of the players are approaching to torrid paces of Damian German, Brooks Lennon, Jose Hernandez and Edgar Duran, who all scored over 24 goals last season, the mix of talented young players with vast potential is ubiquitous.
“I think this group is going to be similar to the ’97 group because of the similarities that we see between them on the field and off the field,” Vasquez said. “The qualities they have – I think it’s going to be very similar to that group.”
Like the recently-graduated class, the U-16s have a pair of playmakers out of the midfield. Similar to the way now-professionals Brooks Lennon and Sebastian Saucedo, Aristotle Zarris and Luis Arriaga are talents that make a difference. Arriaga leads the team with seven goals while Zarris is among five players with at least four goals.
That duo draws particular praise from Vasquez.
“These are guys that are special and can change the game at any time,” he said.
When RSL-AZ returns from the winter break, it will do so with a home-friendly schedule that includes 14 of the final 21 matches in Casa Grande. That, coupled with the growing understanding between the players while they continue to develop within the system that consistently produces championship-caliber teams and professional-ready players give Vasquez reason for enthusiasm about the remaining calendar.
“We know how many games it takes for our teams to have a clear understanding. We play against older teams and more athletic teams and we might not get the results, but we’re focused on the team play and at the end of the day when we get that understanding we start being very consistent with results,” he said. “That’s where we are right now and when we get into the second part of the season, we’re going to be better.”
