Youth: Four Chargers named to U.S. Academy Select rosters

U.S. Under-17 team members Atsouh Ayah and Tarik Salkicic won’t be the only local players in Phoenix this weekend as four members of the Clearwater Chargers have been selected to train and play in the U.S. Development Academy Winter Showcase as members of Academy Select Teams.

Defenders Ben Sweat (Palm Harbor) and Korey Veeder (Dixie Hollins) have been named to the 1991-92 squad, while midfielder Kevin Pahl (Lakeland Jenkins) is on the 1993 Select #2 squad and defender Kendall Crouse (Lakeland Jenkins) is on the 1993 Select #4 squad.

Each Select squad will play one of the top Academy clubs over the three-day event, with the 91-92 squad containing Sweat and Veeder facing the 1993 Select #1 squad on Sunday.

Both the Chargers Under-18 and Under-16 Academy teams will also be competing at the event, with both sides playing three games in three days beginning on Saturday against the Met Oval from New York. The Chargers will also face the Dallas Texans and New York Red Bulls to round out the weekend.

Youth: Chargers looking to continue momentum

CLEARWATER – After a slow start to the season, the Clearwater Chargers under-18 has clicked into gear as it prepares to host the AFC Lightning on Saturday at 7 p.m. and the Concorde Fire on Sunday at 11 a.m. at Glen Oaks Park in the U.S. Development Academy Southeast Division.

The Chargers defeated South Carolina United 4-1 last Saturday, their biggest win of the young season, as Jagger Martinez scored twice to lead Clearwater to a comeback victory.

“As soon as they scored a goal, we just lit up,” defender Ben Sweat said. “We came up with better energy, scored goal after goal after goal, three goals in less than 10 minutes, and then we kept playing hard until another one went in.”

Sweat, who has committed to South Florida, said the team wasn’t pleased with the way it started the season, but that the squad is now playing better. Having lost only five players from the squad that reached the national playoffs a season ago, Sweat said there is an even amount of pressure among the seniors on the squad to provide leadership for the team younger players.

“We’re pretty much an older team this year,” Sweat said. “I think this year we’re going to have a bigger impact because we’re all going to be leaders, we’re all at that next level already.”

As a result, Sweat is expecting the team to not only reach the playoffs this season, but make a run at the title. Teammate T.J. Roehn said he and the rest of the team believe that is an attainable goal.

“We’re definitely capable of it,” Roehn said. “Coach keeps telling us that we have the talent, we just need to have the work ethic, because talent doesn’t get you there alone. You have to work hard.”

And that hard work begins against an AFC Lightning team that enters Saturday night’s game with a 1-2-0 record. Sweat said after three weekends on the road, it is going to be nice to play at home.

“I like playing on our home field, having that advantage,” Sweat said. “I don’t mind travelling or anything, but being at home is always good.”

Youth: Chargers disappointed with opening weekend

Clearwater Chargers Academy director Garth Pollonais was looking for consistency from both the boys under-18 and under-16 squads as they opened the U.S. Soccer Development Academy season this weekend.

Unfortunately, neither side was able to provide it, as they both went 0-1-1 on the road.

“I thought we played some good soccer at times, I thought we weren’t as consistent in our game as I would like,” Pollonais said. “We were clearly the more talented in both games on the under-18 side, but we needed to do a better job of finishing off our chances, because we created a lot of chances but we didn’t finish.”

The Chargers under-18s earned a point against Birmingham United on Saturday, Korey Veeder scoring in the 67th minute to earn a point for his side, but then fell 2-1 against the Atlanta Fire, unable to overcome a two-goal half time deficit.

“We had our chances in that game,” Pollonais said of the loss. “We made some poor defensive errors that allowed them to go up early, and then we had to play catch-up.”

Clearwater was also reduced to 10 men after the break against the Fire, Shane Wixted being sent off after two yellow cards, but Pollonais said that didn’t affect the Chargers overly as they still were able to create opportunities to tie the game.

“We made an adjustment after we went down to 10 men, and actually we played some good soccer,” Pollonais said. “We moved the ball well, we were getting in behind them, (Wes) Sever had a chance to put away he missed, (Anthony) Baumann had a chance to put away he missed, so we were still creating chances even though we were playing a man down.”

The Chargers under-16's results went in the other order, as they fell 2-1 to Birmingham before a pair of goals by Jesse Caron helped them to a 2-2 tie against Atlanta. Pollonais said the most important thing for the teams to work on ahead of a pair of games in Virginia next weekend was establishing their own style of play instead of reacting to what their opponents wanted to try and do.

“We have to learn to impose our style of play on the opposing team, and not let them impose their game and then we react,” Pollonais said. “They came at us, especially in the Atlanta game, they came at us because they were at home, and we allowed them to get a rhythm in the game. After we started settling in and started playing, it was plain to see we were the more talented team. It’s just that we gave up two goals, and they gained confidence, and we had to try and fight back in the second half.”

Youth: Chargers prepared for U.S. Academy season

The U.S. Soccer Development Academy season begins on Saturday with a new man at the helm for the Clearwater Chargers under-18 and under-16 squads.

Trinidad-native Garth Pollonais has joined the club, and along with Peter Mannino he is eager for both squads to build on the under-18’s second-place finish in the Southeast division a year ago.

“I think our expectations are high,” Pollonais said. “Our U-17/18 is an experienced team, they have been together a while, and out U-15/16 team is a younger team, a talented team, but younger. We know the competition level is very high, and for us to compete, we will have to play consistently all season.”

U.S. under-18 pool players Wes Sever (Tampa Prep) and Kory Veeder (Dixie Hollins) return to the Chargers under-18 squad, along with other local standouts T.J. Roehn (Berkeley Prep), Anthony Baumann (Tampa Prep) and Shane Wixted (Seminole). The Chargers have also added new players, including Wes Charpie (Tarpon Springs) and Bruno Da Silva (Auburndale), to the roster.

With the talent at his disposal, Pollonais said he isn’t looking to one or two players to step up into key roles, rather believing whoever needs to step up at a key moment will do so.

“We have a lot of talented players,” Pollonais said. “From a coaching perspective, I just look at it as we have a talented group of players. I know that players are going to step up as time goes by. I think we have a spirited, strong, talented group.”

The Chargers open with five consecutive games on the road, beginning against Birmingham United in Alabama on Saturday before facing the Atlanta Fire in Duluth, Ga. on Sunday. Pollonais said that while the travel can be tough, with the weekend tournaments top-level youth players play in on a regular basis, the preparation for league play doesn’t change the focus of what the team tries to accomplish in practice.

“We practice three or four times a week, we play a lot of scrimmages away from home so the players can acclimatize to playing away from home,” Pollonais said. “The difference (from tournaments) is that you have to play one game in one city, and then you have to head to another city. But the preparation, getting us ready to perform is the same. We go through our preparation during the week, we make sure we’re fundamentally ready, know what we need to do in order to get the result.”