LAUDERHILL, Fla. – Nitro Charge kicked off the second matchday of the 2015 adidas MLS Player Combine in style, turning in a dominant performance to beat adiZero 2-0 on Sunday.
Southern Illinois-Edwardsville forward Christian Volesky and Oregon State striker Khiry Shelton had the goals for Nitro Charge, which improved to 1-0-1 at the Combine with the win.
Volesky opened the scoring in the 18th minute, heading acorner kick from Nick Besler (above) inside the far post from the middle of the six-yard box. Shelton doubled the advantage in the 47th, collecting an Akeil Barrett pass on the left side of the box before slotting his shot past ‘keeper Tomas Gomez.
The match was delayed for about an hour by lightning, with the referee stopping play in the 39th minute before resuming play at the start of the second half.
Sunday’s second match was a veritable goal fest, with Predator topping Nativo 4-3 in a back-and-forth affair.
Predator jumped out to a 3-1 first-half lead, getting goals from midfielder Conor Hallisey in the 25th, Generation adidas signing Romario Williams in the 33rd and forward Sidney Rivera in the 38th. Center back Skylar Thomas had Nativo’s first-half goal, sliding a loose ball past goalkeeper Spencer Richey from close range in the 35th minute.
Nativo got the better of Predator in the second half but came just short of completing the comeback. University of San Francisco forward Miguel Aguilar played a major role, scoring in the 61st minute to make it 3-2 and setting up Michigan State’s Adam Montague for a 75th-minute strike.
Predator forward Sagi Lev-Ari’s 67th-minute goal was the difference, giving Predator the 4-3 win and keeeping them unbeaten at 1-0-1.
All four teams will have Monday off, closing out Combine play on Tuesday with Predator facing adiZero and Nitro Charge taking on Nativo.
ADIZERO – NITRO CHARGE
Goals by Period 1 2 F
AdiZero (0-2) 0 0 0
Nitro Charge (1-0-1) 1 1 2
Scoring Summary:
NIT -- Christian Volesky (Nick Besler) 6
NIT -- Khiry Shelton (Akeil Barrett) 47
Misconduct Summary:
none
Lineups:
AdiZero (4-1-4-1): Tomas Gomez; Braian Acuña (Wes Charpie 46), Sergio Campbell, Ramon Martín del Campo (Anthony Manning 46), Connor Brandt; Tyler Arnone (Cristian Roldan 77); Kingsley Bryce (James Rogers 46), Fabio Machado (Andrew Tusaazemajja 46), Cristian Roldan (Cameron Iwasa 46), Dominique Badji (Vladimir Hood 46); Andy Craven (Duke Lacroix 61).
Substitutes not used: none.
Nitro Charge (4-2-3-1): Eric Osswald; Saad Abdul-Salaam (Will Seymore 71), Aaron Simmons (Nick Besler 54), Will Seymore (Axel Sjöberg 46), Otis Earle; Nick Besler (Oumar Ballo 46), Matt Polster (Seth Casiple 46); Jaineil Hoilett (Cameron Porter 46), Laurie Bell (Akeil Barrett 46), Rob Lovejoy (Khiry Shelton 46); Christian Volesky (Stefano Bonomo 46).
Substitutes not used: none.
Shots – AdiZero 6, Nitro Charge 13
Shots on Goal – AdiZero 2, Nitro Charge 7
Saves – AdiZero 5, Nitro Charge 2
Corner Kicks – AdiZero 7, Nitro Charge 3
PREDATOR – NATIVO
Goals by Period 1 2 F
Predator (1-0-1) 3 1 4
Nativo (1-1) 1 2 3
Scoring Summary:
PRED – Connor Hallisey (unassisted) 25
PRED – Romario Williams (unassisted) 33
NAT – Skylar Thomas (Kay Banjo) 35
PRED – Sidney Rivera (unassisted) 38
NAT – Miguel Aguilar (unassisted) 61
PRED – Sagi Lev-Ari (Romario Williams) 67
NAT – Adam Montague (Miguel Aguilar) 75
Misconduct Summary:
NAT -- Andy Thoma (caution) 39
Lineups:
Predator (4-4-2): Spencer Richey; Boyd Okwuonu, Daniel Keller (Zach Steinberger 67), Craig Nitti (Adrián Reta 72), Adrián Reta (Jose Ribas 46); Salvador Bernal (Luke Mishu 46), Zach Steinberger (Shawn McLaws 46), Ignacio Maganto, Connor Hallisey; Sidney Rivera (Sagi Lev-Ari 46), Romario Williams (Sidney Rivera 72).
Substitutes not used: Fatai Alashe.
Nativo (4-1-4-1): Earl Edwards Jr.; Oniel Fisher, Skylar Thomas (Tim Parker 46), Nikola Paunic, Andy Thoma; Jean Carlos López Moscoso; Manolo Sanchez (Miguel Aguilar 46), Marco Fenelus (Adria Beso Marco 46), Ricky Garbanzo (Dzenan Catic 46), Alberto Riascos (Andy Bevin 46); Kay Banjo (Adam Montague 46).
Substitutes not used: none
Shots – Predator 11, Nativo 19
Shots on Goal – Predator 7, Nativo 9
Saves – Predator 6, Nativo 3
Corner Kicks – Predator 5, Nativo 9
