It wasn’t until the final whistle of the US Soccer Development Academy group stage that the Union U18s could storm the field knowing that they had just clinched a spot in the knockout round of the playoffs.
The Union had cleared a path for themselves to advance by notching two 2-0 victories in their first matches of the group stage against Beachside SC and Chicago Fire. All that was left for U18s to do was secure a draw against Kendall SC, or they’d have to hope that a few things fell into place.
As the match against Kendall SC got underway, it seemed as if anything that could possibly go wrong, did.