Streak ends, but Baltimore Bays Chelsea U-18s still in Dev. Academy playoffs

By Jimmy LaRoue

The unbeaten streak is over, but Baltimore Bays Chelsea’s Under-18 U.S. Soccer Development Academy squad is still playoff bound.

Bays Chelsea ended at 19 games as it fell 3-1 Saturday to FC Delco, with Christian Morales scoring the team’s lone goal.

Morales’s goal tied the match at 1-1 in the 50th minute, but Delco scored seven minutes later, and tacked on an insurance goal in the 90th minute.

Bays Chelsea rebounded the following afternoon for a 1-0 win, with Richard Greensfelder’s goal in the 13th minute being the lone tally for either team in the match.

Bays Chelsea finished the regular season as the Mid-Atlantic Division champions with a 10-1-1 record, finishing 20-5-2 overall, scoring 63 goals while giving up just 22 in 27 games. They will open the playoffs next week in Dallas, where they have been drawn in Group 8 with Players Development Academy, Crew Soccer Academy and Lonestar SC Academy.

Michael Gamble and Yaw Amankwa led Bays Chelsea during the regular season with 10 goals each.

Bays Chelsea’s U-16s ended their season with a split of their final two games, defeating FC Delco 3-0 behind goals from John Jlopleh (7th minute), Babatunji Osifeso (56th minute) and  Joseph Hall (77th minute), and falling 2-1 to PA Classics. Patrick Koscher put Bays Chelsea up front with a goal in the 30th minute, but PA Classics rallied for two second half goals to win the match.

The loss put Bays Chelsea’s U-16s (6-4-2 division, 14-10-3 overall) out of the playoffs by the slimmest of margins, just missing out on a wild card berth.