Eye on the Academy- Looking at the Reserve Matches

A number of academy players have been called up to play in RSL’s reserve matches and this week’s game was no exception.  Jose Hernandez and Niki Jackson were tagged for Tuesday’s reserve match vs Chivas USA, where Jackson finished a Lovel Palmer cross in the 90th minute.  Check out the video highlight here.

Since this is the final game of the reserve season, it’s worth taking a look back at which academy players received call-ups during the year.

• Justen Glad- A U-16 who’s played 183 total minutes.  He started vs Portland and received a lot of praise, including having Andy Williams call him “mini-Borchers”.
• Jose Hernandez- Was a U-16 until this summer and played 19 total minutes.
• Niki Jackson- Played 20 total minutes and scored 1 goal.
• Brooks Lennon- A U-16 who played 33 total minutes.
• Corey Nemeth- Did not get any playing time in any reserve matches.
• Fito Ovalle- A U-16 played 25 total minutes.
• Sebastian Saucedo- A U-16 who played 90 total minutes. He’s looked like a dangerous attacking player.

The following are former Academy players who have been called up this season, but are now playing collegiate soccer:

• Jordan Allen- Started against the Whitecaps reserves on July 16th in Salt Lake City. Played 154 total minutes.
• Andrew Brody- Played 26 total minutes.
• Ive Burnett- Played 67 total minutes.
• Coco Navarro- Scored for RSL against the Colorado Reserves in Salt Lake, then started the next game (also against the Colorado Reserves) in Commerce City. He also started against Chivas USA in LA on May 20th. Played 237 total minutes.
• Jon Zabasajja- Played 13 total minutes.

Benji Lopez also played reserve minutes as an academy player before signing with RSL.

The fact that there are 4 and a half (Hernandez) U-16s who have played for the reserves is a pretty good sign, especially when they’re earning praise for their play with the Academy team as well. Another good sign is that Glad, Lennon, and Saucedo were also picked up for the USMNT U-18s.

Next time, I’ll take a look at how some of the Academy Alumni are doing out in the big world of college soccer.

Niki Jackson in latest reserve match.
Photo by Charles Barnard