The Earthquakes Academy teams and some recent graduates continue to enjoy success.
This past weekend, the Quakes Under-16 and Under-14 sides earned wins against San Juan Soccer Club, and the U-18s got a little unlucky in a 1-1 draw against San Juan.
“We’re really happy with everything,” academy coach Steven Wondolowski said of the big picture, also noting the strong play of three academy grads: Cal-Berkeley freshman Josh Morton, SMU freshman Bryce Clark and UC San Diego sophomore Malek Bashti.
Of course, Malek Bashti’s younger brother, Amir, scored the equalizer late in the first half of the U-18 Quakes’ tie against San Juan. The Quakes (4-0-1) dominated much of the second half and just missed scoring the winner.
Amir Bashti will be participating in the U-18 national team camp this coming weekend. Both Bashti Brothers are in both good form and serve as great advertisements for the academy program.
The sharp U-14 Quakes team (7-0-0) prevailed 3-0 on goals by Felix Ramon, Jason Yanez and Ricardo Ibarra. The Quakes have outscored seven opponents a combined 25-4. San Jose’s next match is Sunday, Oct. 26 against Merced Atlas Soccer Academy at Golden Valley High School.
Fresh off its success at Generation adidas qualifying in Oregon, the Quakes U-16s got two goals from red-hot Kaya Fabbretti and one from Armon Ojuola in a come-from-behind 3-1 win. After trailing 1-0 at halftime, Fabbretti tied it in the 52 minute before Ojuola scored the winner in the 75minute. Fabbretti tallied his second goal on a penalty kick and leads the team with four goals overall.
“He’s playing awesome. He’s one of our young guys, born in 1999,” Wondolowski said of Fabbretti. “He’s doing well. It’s his first full year of the 16s.”
The U16s (4-1-1) are neck-and-neck with the Vancouver Whitecaps FC (5-1-1) in the battle for first place in the Northwest Division of the West Conference. San Jose's next match is Saturday, Oct. 25 against the Portland Timbers at the Timbers Training Facility
The college guys’ success shows the impact the academy program is having at a variety of levels.
Morton, a defender/midfielder has been playing well for Cal, including helping the Golden Bears beat San Diego State 4-3 on Oct. 12. Clark, a midfielder, made his first career goal for SMU really count. It came 19 seconds into overtime to give the Mustangs a 2-1 win over Temple on Oct. 11. Malek Bashti scored in the 68 minute in UC San Diego’s 2-0 win over Cal StateEastBay on Oct. 12.
“That’s a pretty cool thing right now to watch. Our guys have contributed in college as well,” Wondolowski said.
