Quakes Academy: Back From Break - Southwest Trip

The boys were back in action this weekend after the mid-season winter break in the 2014-2015 USSDA season. They started off the new year with a trip down to LA and Arizona to take on FC Golden State followed by defending league champions RSL AZ. The 18s started off the campaign with a solid 6-1 win in LA with 5 goals coming from Stanford commit Amir Bashti and 1 goal coming from 15 year old phenom, Ivan Valencia. The U16s came away with a point as they drew with FC Golden State 2-2. The team then flew out to Phoenix as they took on RSL AZ the next day. On a back to back against the defending champions, the Quakes U18s were doomed right from the start after a quick red card to CM John Partida early in the game. Quakes lose 3-0. The U16s stood on their heads to win one of the toughest games of the season and shut-out RSL for the 1-0 win, thanks to New Mexican Center Back Francisco Macias. Also to note: USBNT U15 and Quakes U14 Center Midfielder Jean-Julien Foe Nuphaus ("JJ") made his debut with the U16s. The U14 season doesn't continue until February 2nd, so this was a good chance for Stephen Wondolowski to bring in JJ (one of our top prospects) and see how he would fair with the older kids. And after making substitution appearances in both games, I'm confident Wondo and the staff will keep JJ with the 16s for the rest of the season. It's a great sign seeing the likes of Ivan Valencia and JJ playing with kids that are 2-3 years older then them in higher age groups and still maintaining their dominance on the field. This is a sign of great potential and means you should definitely keep an eye out for them.
Up next for the academy is a PNW trip at the end of the month as they take on first place Vancouver Whitecaps academy and Crossfire Premier academy in Seattle the following day.

Florida Showcase

The boys are headed to Florida for a big showcase in front of college coaches. These games are worth points towards the playoffs, they are not friendlies by any means. The U18s will be taking on DC United academy on November 29 and then Chicago Fire academy the next day. They finish the trip against Oakwood academy on the 2nd of December. The U16s have a huge match up against one of the top academies in America, the New York Red Bulls. Following NYRB the 16s take on the Philadelphia Union and then BW Gottschee who are no slouch. They are first in their division, ahead of NE Revolution academy.The U14s are not participating in the showcase.

Halfway There - Quakes Academy Teams are 26-7-5 Collectively Going Into the Winter Break

Although all three teams lost their final games, they can all have their heads held high with fantastic first half's to the USSDA season. The 18s ended on a rollercoaster ride of a weekend, winning their game vs the Crossfire academy 4-0 then losing the next day to first place Vancouver 0-4. The 16s tied Crossfire 0-0 then lost to Vancouver 1-2 in a heartbreaker. The U14s tied #1 ranked FC Golden State in a academy showcase at the Stubhub facility. They later went on to lose to Chivas and Galaxy.

18s Finished: (9-2-1) Second Place

16s Finished: (6-3-3) Second Place

14s Finished: (9-2-1) Ranked Second Overall in the Country

The academy get back into it starting in January after a quick showcase in Florida.

My Analysis of the first half for each team.

U18s

The 18s are having a great season so far, individual standouts are Centerback Jorge Lara (UC Irvine commit) shutting it down in the backline and adding 2 clutch goals. Center midfielder John Partida (cal poly commit) being a general in the center of the park, winning balls on defense and starting quick attacks, also doing an excellent job going box to box. M/F Amir Bashti (Stanford commit) being lethal in attack scoring 6 goals and creating most of the offensive opportunities. M/F Philip Hausen (Harvard commit) only a junior in high school, but has been racking up the goals in his Quakes career. Having missed a significant amount of games due to injury, Philip still has 4 goals. Last but not least, Forward Zac Penner with 6 goals. Individually, these players are outstanding, but if they want to win the championship, they are going to have to start to connect better more consistently to breakdown their opponents. Also, they are going to need to sure up the back line. Jorge Lara has been outstanding, but the other guys on defense need to step up. 

U16s

The U16s have been decent so far. They are having a lot of trouble scoring, but the defense is keeping them in it. If they can unlock the goal scoring, they will be a force to recon with. The coaches have seen this and that has motivated their decision to bring back down 15 year old phenom Ivan Valencia from the 18s to the 16s. Ivan is the player I am most excited about. He began the year with the 18s and was a standout player, scoring 4 goals with the big boys at such a young age. He's a winger/forward hybrid, so good at dribbling, scorching pace, and a great defensive mind and willingness to get back and win the ball. He can do it all. He has to work a bit on his finishing and final third movement, but he is definitely worthy of being called one of our most interesting prospects. 

U14s

What can I say, these boys can play. Beautiful passing, excellent organization, dominating possession.. One could easily mistake these kids as the Barcelona U14s. JJ Foe Nuphaus, Adonis, Diaz, Oscar Govea, Jason Yanez, and Mario Rocha have all been absolute class players and will be an exciting core to look forward to in the future. If I had to choose 1 kid to focus on, it would be RB #34 Mario Rocha. Mario is the youngest of the U14s, but you would not know it by looking at him. He's one of the biggest players on the field, but what stands out about him is not his height, it's his technical skill combined with defensive ability. He looks like a forward out there, dribbling kids with ease, but always getting back on defense and being a shutdown defender. He looks to be what is the future of fullbacks in modern soccer.

For All Academy Info

Epic Goonie Comeback as the Quakes Dominate the De Anza Force

It was Derby day for the boys as each team took on the De Anza Force Academy on Saturday. At 11am the U18s took on the Force in their first game at the Quakes Training Facility. This was my first game attending live this year, so I can give more in depth analysis. The 18s were coming into this game missing star center midfielder John Partida (personal) and 15 year old phenom Ivan Valencia (played with the 16s due to player shortage). Also Amir Bashti was gassed and subbed of early due to the fact that he had played just 2 days earlier for the USYNT vs LA2 (he scored a PK in that game). As for the game itself, it started with a set piece goal for the Quakes coming from Harvard commit Philip Hausen. De Anza answered back with 2 quick goals. 2-1 at the half. Brise Rory scores for the Quakes in the 54' minute. Then a goal by De Anza in the 66' minute. 3-2 De Anza with just 3 minutes left to play. At this point Philip's dad told me, and I quote "This will be their first loss of the season, unfortunately." Not so fast Mr. Hausen, it's GOONIE TIME. Quakes get the late goal from Suliman Khorami, with a cracker from outside the box. The boys were not satisfied though. With a set piece on the side of the box, they cross it in and the ball is met by centerback Jorge Lara past the far post, heading it in over the head of everyone, skimming the post and going in winning the game with this 90' minute goal. Insert crazy fun celebration involving shirtlessness, smoke and many hugs. Quakes win the derby 4-3 and stay undefeated. Hard to analyze the game without 2 main pieces (John Partida and Amir Bashti), but one player that really stood out to me was UC Irvine commit, centerback Jorge Lara. Forget the goal, he was a beast in defense. Mr. Hausen who attends every game thinks he is our best player as well.

The U16s did not have the same good fortune as the 18s. They lost 2-0, but don't let the score line fool you. We could have very easily won that game 3-2, had we finished our clear chances. I'd go as far as saying we dominated the game. The De Anza goals were pretty lucky, but still no excuse. I was very excited for this game because it was my first time seeing "The next TT" Ivan Valencia. To start with, Ivan is a Winger. He can probably play 2nd forward, but he's really really good defensively, winning the ball back. He created all of the Quakes chances and had 3 clear chances at goal, he should have buried them, but I'm still impressed none the less by how he developed those clear chances. (Note: He had been playing with the U18s every game this season before this game). I happened to be talking to Chris Dangerfield during the game and he was impressed with Ivan as well. We even had a little chuckle when he pulled a Djalo on the endline (sombrero's some kid).

And finally the 14s. They played the Force at John Mise Park. What can I say, WE DESTROYED THEM. 6-0. No analysis needed, our U14s are f'ing good. Really good. So fun to watch and honestly, they play more entertaining than our first team did this year..

Future's looking good! Get your soccer fix and keep up with the academy.
Here's a link to the website

Quakes Academy Go Undefeated In A Massive PNW Trip

The San Jose Earthquakes academy faced their toughest test of the season as they made their annual trip up to Seattle and Portland to take on the Timbers academy followed by the Sounders academy. The boys made us proud once again going undefeated in all 4 games. The U18s beat Portland 3-0, with goals coming from Philip Hausen (2) and Zac Penner (1). Also JT Marcinkowski with a big PK save. The following day they beat Sounders 2-1, both goals coming from Yousef Diyab. All this without their best player, Amir Bashti. He is with the USYNT right now. The U16s tied Portland 0-0 and beat Seattle 1-0. This was a massive trip and really solidifies us as a top academy in the nation. Hopefully this continues, not only for the season, but for a long long time. Although it has taken awhile, the wave of homegrowns is coming and in a few years it will be a constant cycle of about 2 players a year. (knock on wood...)

For all your academy info: http://ussda.demosphere.com/teams/68797515/47187491-68797603/TEAM.html

Big Week For The Club

This has been a hectic week for me and the club. Thankfully, Dom Kinnear has come to save our team. But this doesn't only affect the first team, this affects the academy and the youth system as well. I will work hard to find out how Dom plans on improving and adjusting the academy. He will want to implement his system into our academy and that will be fascinating to follow (more to come). In the mean time, Quakes academy alums Bryce Clark and Josh Morton have been doing some great things. Josh who has been recovering from an ankle injury has returned and played in 2 big games for Cal recently. The first being a HUGE win vs #2 UCLA and secondly another big win vs another Pac12 opponent, SDSU. You can see the young center-back (#21) in Palo Alto as Cal takes on Stanford on Monday at 7pm. Now for our other promising freshman defender, Bryce Clark. Clark as been starting every game for SMU as they have won 7 of their last 8 games, helping them raise their ranking to 21st in the country. He also scored his first ever college goal in OT to win the game for SMU! Congrats Bryce!

Video of the Golazo 

Quakes Academy Weekend Round-Up

Quakes Academy Weekend Round-Up

As usual, the Little Gonnies are making us proud (And helping ease the pain of the first team) with a #CleanSweep of the Santa Cruz Breakers this weekend, away at Cabrillo College in Aptos. Another goal for young Ivan Valencia (15) for the U18s. He and top prospect Amir Bashti are really paring up well in Marquis White's 4-2-3-1. If Ivan can keep up this type of play, he can be the next Tommy Thompson. U18s and 14s still undefeated. U16s have lost just 1 game.

Scores:

U18s: 2-1

U16s: 8-0

U14s: 2-1

No games scheduled this coming weekend.
For all your academy news: Academy Website