Real Monarchs had a break in the USL schedule over the weekend, but Head Coach Freddy Juarez took advantage of the opportunity to play a Saturday friendly against the U.S. U-17 National Team. Using the morning scrimmage as a chance to get extended minutes for some players who hadn’t seen as much playing time of late, the Monarchs raced to a 2-0 lead before ultimately holding on for a 2-1 victory.
Colin Rolfe scored an early goal and Eti Tavares added another before the U-17s pulled one back before halftime on a scramble in the box off a corner kick. The second half saw the Monarchs control possession and close out the match, giving Juarez a glimpse of a few different styles within the 90 minutes.
“I thought it was a good response from our guys,” Juarez said. “It’s a younger team, but traditionally the 17s will win games like this because guys think it’s going to be an easy game. By no means what its easy. They forced us to work, to transition, to defend, to attack. It was a good response from them.”
In addition to working some players into more playing time, the Monarchs also saw the first appearances for newcomers Jesus Leal in the midfield and Ameth Ramirez in the attack. Both established themselves early on in the match and made impacts.
“I’m very happy with Jesus. We can work on some things, but his ball circulation and decision making were good,” Juarez said. “I’m happy with Ameth. He put himself in position in the six-yard box and created opportunities. Both of them had very good debuts for us.”
The U.S. U-17s were in Utah as part of a training camp ahead of the 2016 Torneo Naciones de Mexico in Mexico City, which runs from Monday until August 29 and will see the U.S. face Portugal, Qatar and Mexico.
The Monarchs sit 11th in the Western Conference at 8-11-5 and will face ninth-place Arizona United SC on Saturday in Peoria, Arizona.
