FRISCO, Texas—It was a hard-fought, highly physical battle by both sides, but after 90 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of extra were not enough, the Union’s U-18s defeated Monterrey 1 (4) – 1 (1) in penalty kicks on Friday night to advance to the Super Group Final to face Brazilian side SAF Botafogo on Sunday at the Dallas Cup.
Chris Harmon’s starting lineup saw Alex Smith in goal, a back line of Matheus De Paula, Nick Greer, captain Andrew Craig, and Mateo Gallegos, midfielders Timo Mendoza, Lennon Harrington, Tyler Gladstone, and William Ferreira, and forwards John Ruf and Erik Guzman.
The first half began with the Union really pressing and being in control in the early going, but Monterrey saw a couple chances in the 10th minute with two corners. As the first half wore on, Monterrey started to find their footing and the pendulum swung more in their direction. The Rayados put a shot on target in the 14th minute that went easily into hands of Smith, but the pressure was mounting. Greer came through with a big block when Monterrey tried to cross on a promising buildup for them. Smith followed with a huge save in the 17th minute to keep the game scoreless.
As the first half progressed, Monterrey were finding their rhythm and the match evened out in terms of chances and pressure.
Smith almost made a blunder in the 25th minute where he was caught in an awkward situation pulled out of his goal, but he was able to recover the ball. The Union finally saw a quality chance in the 31st minute when Ferreira shot just wide for the Union’s best chance in a while.
The first yellow card of many for the match went to De Paula for a late challenge in the 34th minute, but Monterrey got one of their own shortly after for a foul. In the 38th minute, Monterrey again had some dangerous chances, but the Union’s stalwart defense came up with some big blocks. The center back pair of Craig and Greer were exceptional on the evening. After some really good defending by Craig that sent the ball up for a great counter by the Union, Ruf and Guzman had chances in the box but were unable to get a good shot off. They started to really press late in the first half, but were unable to finish. Ultimately, the teams remained scoreless at the half.
Early in the second half, Smith made another big save after the referee did not call what appeared to be a foul on Mendoza by Monterrey. The referee was kept busy as more yellow cards were doled out to Ferreira and a Monterrey player for fouls on each other in the same altercation, and then Ruf was shown a yellow shortly after for a foul.
The first change for the Union came in the 59th minute when Nehan Hasan subbed on for Guzman, which was immediately followed by some great defending by Greer and De Paula to thwart what looked to be a big opportunity for Monterrey.
Hasan did not take long to make an impact as he found the breakthrough the Union were looking for in the 61st minute to put them up 1-0. After a long ball was sent in toward goal, Ruf leapt up with the Rayados keeper to head the ball. The collision resulted in the ball deflecting out to Hasan while the keeper was caught out of goal. Hasan then chipped it up and into the empty net.
The next Union substitution came in the 64th minute as Theo Reed replaced Gladstone. Reed would get some action soon after as he made a shot near the post that was saved. More chances came when Hasan, looking to get a brace, put a shot toward goal in the 70th minute, but it sailed just wide.
Monterrey were threatening, however, and in the 72nd minute had some skillful passing inside the box, but in the end the attempts were thwarted. Unfortunately for the Union, Monterrey found their equalizer soon after in the 74th minute, making it 1-1. It was, remarkably, the Union’s first goal conceded in the tournament.
Craig was the next yellow card recipient as he tried to stop a counter by Monterrey in the 77th minute. Jett Harrison then subbed on for Ruf in the 81st minute. Looking to perhaps replicate his golazo from earlier in the week, Craig tried to shoot from downtown and just missed nailing the goal in the 88th minute, which would have been an epic (likely) game-winner, but it was not to be.
During the three minutes of stoppage time, Gallegos made a tactical foul that earned him a yellow card, With the match still 1-1 at the end of regulation, two 10-minute extra time periods were in order.
As the final minute of the first extra time half was waning, Ferreira got a free kick after Hasan was fouled. The Union were unable to get a good shot and Monterrey went on the counter, but the Union’s defense thwarted the chance and the referee blew the whistle, ending the first extra time period.
The fatigue was really setting in as the second extra time period was underway, but both teams were battling. Harrison went on great run in the 104th minute, but had no one to cross to, so his shot was easily saved.
De Paula departed for Max Owusu-Antwi in the 105th minute after playing a fantastic game. Smith came up with another great save in the 107th minute but took the brunt of some contact.
After two extra time periods, the match headed to penalties. Unfortunately, the quality stream that was being provided by the Dallas Cup stopped at 107:03, leaving anyone not watching from Toyota Stadium hanging in suspense.
Watch the PKs here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DWsjMSmjXTd/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
For the Union, Harrington, Ferreira, and Harrison all scored on their attempts. Meanwhile, Monterrey made their first shot, but failed on their second when Smith dove to his right and knocked the ball away in a spectacular save. Monterrey missed their third attempt, bringing Mendoza up to the spot to seal it for the Union, which he did to the elation of his teammates and the fans.
It was, in this writer’s opinion, a man-of-the-match-worthy performance by Andrew Craig, whose skill on defense and leadership with the squad have been exceptional. Alex Smith showed great poise in goal and stood tall (both literally and figuratively) when his team needed him to in an impressive performance between the sticks. Along with Craig, the entire back line with Nick Greer, Matheus De Paula, and Mateo Gallegos, were tremendous. The defense as a whole has come up big during the tournament, and they will need to continue that to take home the trophy.
The Union will play Botafogo on Sunday, April 5 at 1:30 PM CDT (2:30 ET) at Toyota Stadium. It will be livestreamed on the Dallas Cup YouTube channel.
Main article photo courtesy of Hmsk Content.
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