Late winner propels U-16 team into Generation Adidas Cup finals

Raheem Taylor-Parkes scored with seconds left in regulation to top the New York Red Bulls and book the Philadelphia Union Academy U-16 team a spot in the final group stage of the Generation Adidas Cup on Monday morning at Seminole Soccer Complex in Sanford, Florida.

Taylor-Parkes, a Florida native who played with Toronto FC's academy before joining the Union Academy last year, couldn't have picked a more dramatic time to be the hero for the Union following a blowout loss to Toronto FC on Saturday that put them in a must-win situation.

You can see video of the goal from the Union Academy's Twitter account below.

U16 @PhilaUnion_Acad Taylor-Parks scores winner to get 2nd place in group to advance to top group of GA CUP finals pic.twitter.com/K1L1rl6phj

— Phila Union Academy (@PhilaUnion_Acad) February 16, 2015

The win was the team's second over the Presidents' Day Weekend in the second leg of the East regional and put them into second place in the group with 9 points and a final East region record of 2-1-2. Their first two games, both draws, were played in Conshohocken back in October. New York finished level with the Union on points and Toronto topped the group.

Taylor-Parkes, who drew a penalty kick Jack Skahan was unable to convert against Toronto on Saturday, came on as a substitute in the match. The starting XI was Andrew Verdi, Matthew Real, Auston Trusty, Joseph DeZart, Andrew Aprahamian, Josue Monge, Kurtis Orrson, Lamine Conte, Skahan, Tiger Graham and Jerren "J.J." Nixon.

The final group stage of the Generation Adidas Cup will be held over Easter Weekend in Dallas. A Union Academy team featuring Zack Steffen, Connor Maloney and Zach Pfeffer won the U-17 competition in 2012.