Union Academy teams go unbeaten in final home games of the year

Tiger Graham continued his feverish pace with four more goals to take over the scoring lead in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy on Saturday in a 7-1 win over Cedar Stars Academy at the Power Training Complex.

Graham now has 13 goals for the season and eight in his last three games for the Philadelphia Union Academy U18s. Saturday also marked the second time the Dartmouth commit has scored four goals in a game this season.

Justin McMaster also found the back of the net for the second straight game while Anthony Fontana and Issa Rayyan added goals to match the team’s most lopsided win of the season thus far (a 6-0 win over PA Classics in week two).

With the win, the U18s improved to 7-1-1 on the year and are eight points behind first-place New York Red Bulls in the Atlantic Division standings with three games in hand.

They’ll finish the first half of the season with a three-game series in Lakewood Ranch, Florida next weekend against Atlanta United, Sporting Kansas City and Real So Cal.

U16s
The U16 team twice came back from a goal deficit to tie Cedar Stars Academy in their Saturday game at the Power Training Complex.

Jack Worth put the visitors on top in the 11th minute, but Brenden Aaronson equalized with his second of the season in the 34th minute. Nick Blacklock’s equalizer in the 78th minute gave the U16s a point after Worth’s 50th minute strike.

The U16s improved to 5-1-3 with the draw, but remain nine points off Atlantic Division leader Baltimore Armour with two games in hand. The New York Red Bulls are in second, eight points ahead of the Union, but have played three additional games.

U14s
Selmir Miscic scored in his first appearance with the U14s, but his 54th minute strike was canceled out by a Nicolas Ibanez equalizer with a minute remaining for Cedar Stars Academy – Monmouth at YSC Sports on Saturday.

The goal was Miscic’s eighth of the season. He has seven goals in five appearances for the U13 team.

With the draw, the U14s closed their 2016 schedule on a four-game unbeaten streak and an overall record of 7-4-1.

U13s
Brandan Craig scored in his third straight game to lead the U13 team to a 3-2 win over Cedar Stars Academy – Monmouth.

Jarman Reilly and Aiden Elvidge to give the Union a 2-0 lead at halftime, but Sean Palmer pulled one back for the visitors and Justin Ruiz followed up Craig’s 45th minute strike with a goal in the 58th minute.

With the win, the U13s close the first half of the season on a five-match unbeaten streak and an 8-2-2 record overall.

U12s
For the second week in a row, the U12 team picked up a two-game sweep and didn’t allow a goal in wins over TSF Academy.

Beckham Aiman had a brace and Ian Abbey and Nelson Pierre both scored in a 4-0 win in the first game while Timothy Madden had a hat trick and Anthony Derk and Nicolas Rubio added goals in the second.

With the wins, the U12s finished the first half of their season with a four-game winning streak, a 25-game unbeaten streak and a 25-1-2 overall record. Pierre finished the first half with the team lead in goals at 21, followed by Madden with 19 and Marcello Mazzola with 16.