FRISCO, Texas - The Philadelphia Union defense held out admirably against a highly-charged CF Monterrey attack, but the Liga MX side eventually found the breakthrough running out 1-0 winners over the Union in their 2019 Generation adidas Cup opener at the Toyota Soccer Center.
"It was a good effort. It was very competitive,” Union U-17 head coach Gary Lewis told MLSsoccer.com. "Our goalkeeper had a fantastic day and we thought the luck was on our side until then but the result was a fair reflection of the game.”
Normally the backup in goal, Chay Kaplan stood strong for the Union making multiple stunning saves in the first 25 minutes including a first half double-stop out of the top drawer. It nearly paid off for the Union as US youth internaional Luis Flores struck a fantastic effort off the crossbar from 30 yards out, but the teams went to the halftime break level.
Kaplan’s heroics kept his side in the match, but just a few minutes before full time, winger Victor Lopez snuck one through to give Monterrey the group-opening victory. There will be no time to dwell on the result, however, as the Union look to bounce back on Sunday evening against Icelandic side Fjolnir who defeated Jamaica’s Mount Pleasant 1-0 in their first match. CF Monterrey will face Toluca in an all Liga MX affair in the GA Cup Premier Division.
"We’ve just got to shake it off quickly and be disappointed for a short space of time but there’s positives to take from the game and we can tweak a few things,” said Lewis. "We’ve got a chance to get right back at it later and there’s no time to sulk about it, we’ve just got to pick ourselves up and get after it."
