For the second straight year, New York City FC has captured the U-19 U.S. Soccer Development Academy title, building off last year's victory over LA Galaxy.
This time, the Cityzens took down yet another MLS club in FC Dallas, 2-1, sparked by a dramatic penalty kick save from Stanford-bound goalkeeper Alex Rando 10 minutes into the match. Shortly after, Pittsburgh-bound midfielder Veljko Petkovic opened the scoring and North Carolina-bound forward Jonathan Jimenez (Norwalk, Conn.) added another in 62nd minute.
While NYCFC is based outside of New England, the team had a strong local presence in 2018-19. Drawn by the free-to-play academy and possibly signing a Homegrown Player deal, it's become increasingly common for players from southern Connecticut to pursue the NYCFC path.