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After making his pro debut as a late substitute in Bethlehem Steel FC’s 2-0 win over Birmingham Legion on Sunday, 16-year-old midfielder Jack de Vries had a chance to play with a squad of first team players in training on Wednesday.
De Vries replaced Ilsinho early in the scrimmage against the Steel after the veteran Brazilian limped off the field with an injury.
“I’m excited for Jack,” Steel FC head coach Brendan Burke said in his weekly media call on Thursday. “He has good technical ability, he has a little bit of a getaway in terms of his first couple steps and he has a good idea of how to play his position on both sides of the ball. We need to build him up physically now and the ability to repeat efforts.”
Burke noted that de Vries, the son of Colorado Rapids original Raimo de Vries, is being introduced to the Steel around the same time that homegrowns Anthony Fontana and Brenden Aaronson were.
“He’s handled it really well so far,” Burke said.
Other academy players who were part of the Steel squad for the scrimmage were Cole Turner, Nathan Harriel, Leo Afonso and Dante Huckaby. Turner and Shanyder Borgelin also made their Steel debuts as late substitutes in Birmingham. Turner, who normally plays in a holding midfield role and got minutes as a center back in a scrimmage with the first team in Florida, came in at forward for Kacper Przybylko. Harriel and goalkeeper Tomas Romero were unused subs in the match.
In other academy news, the Development Academy season resumed for the three older age group Union Academy teams on a weekend FC Delco also got the second half of their season started with games in Conshohocken against D.C. United.
-Danny Flores made his U19 debut in a scoreless draw against Players Development Academy. Kemali Green, who has been out with injuries for 18 months, made the game day lineup for the first time with the U19s but didn’t see any minutes.
Tonny Temple made his first start in league play at right back and played the full 90 minutes while Kris Shakes recorded the clean sheet. Former Union Academy forward Michael McKeown, a Drexel University commit from Laurel Springs, N.J. played 80 minutes for PDA.
-Patrick Bohui had a brace, but the U17 team was held to a 2-2 draw by PDA. Bohui opened the scoring in the 34th minute and then scored a 65th minute equalizer after two unanswered goals from PDA. He leads the team with 11 goals on the season and has scored 30 in 30 league games since joining the academy in 2017. Donovan Loyola made his U17 debut in the game at left back. Former U17 left back Zephyn Brockert-Kress recently joined the Houston Dynamo Academy after departing in the winter.
-Ian Abbey scored the winner 13 minutes in, Brandan Craig doubled the lead in the 20th minute on a goal from the run of play and Quinn Sullivan had a goal in each half to the lead the U15 team to a 4-0 win over PDA. Owen Moore recorded the clean sheet in goal. Sullivan leads the team with 9 goals on the year.
-The U14 team made it two straight 1-0 wins to start the season against PDA. Dominic Dubon scored the lone goal against Arlington SA in their first spring game and Marcelo Mazzola scored the lone goal last weekend against PDA. Dubon leads the team with 14 goals and Mazzola is second with 11.
Dubon, a Sparrows Point, Md. native, was one of 18 boys called up to the 2019 id2 National Selection International Tour that will travel to Belgium and France March 29-April 9. Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals midfielder Stevie Davis from Doylestown, Pa. was also invited.
-Antonios Horozoglou had the game-winner in the 37th minute and Henry Bernstein and John Bowden also scored in the U13 team’s 3-1 win over PDA. Bernstein is second on the team in goals with six.
-YSC Academy senior Marco Bla made his FC Delco debut in a 2-0 loss to D.C. United’s U19 team at The Proving Grounds on Saturday night. An Old Dominion commit, Bla played the fall season with the Union U19s.
-Colin Beasley put the home team ahead in the 2nd minute with a goal in his FC Delco debut, but D.C. United scored three unanswered to win 3-1 in the U17 game. Former Union Academy winger Willie Bennett scored an equalizer for his new team in the 22nd minute.
-D.C. topped the U15s 5-0, the U14s 3-1 (FC Delco goal was scored by Kaio Reis) and the U13s 4-1 (McKai Hoilett had the goal for FC Delco in the 17th minute).