Well Lucas took another big step in his soccer developement last night as he was called up to another reserve match but this time he played the entire second half. He also was able to participate in his first game against a college team as they played against the Portland Pilots. At the age of 17 this is a big step forward. Lucas said he really enjoyed the atmosphere at the Portland Pilots stadium with some great fans of both the timbers and Pilots there to watch. He was given very specific instructions by the coaches to keep the game very simple. He entered the game with the score tied 2 to 2 and was able to be part of a 3 to 2 win. From an independent report that I received Lucas had a great work rate and looked very comfortable out there. He also had two shots on goal that were both saved by the goal keeper. Congrats to Lucas and Go Timbers! Now up this week is a road trip to Seattle to play Crossfire. To have any chance at the Playoffs the 18s need to win all four of their remaining games.
http://www.soccerbyives.net/2013/04/timbers-harrington-jewsbury.html. Article on Lucas playing in the reserve game .
sorry I have been swamped but Lucas is doing great and logged in another two starts last week in a win and a tie. Played all 90 minutes in both games. Kind of looks like a long shot that the U-18s will make the playoffs so their last game as a team will be first of June against Seattle. Lucas also has three call ups to the reserve team so hopefully that will continue. He is working hard and seems to be either training soccer, at school , or in the gym. I still take him in an arm wrestle but it is getting closer. Finish strong son!
Well I thought the season was over for Lucas as of June 3 when they lost their final game against Seattle. It was a great season for Lucas and the 18s as in my mind they exceeded expectations for a first year academy in the 18 age group. Once Lucas arrived from England he played in every game and started almost of all them. The exciting news is that with the 16s barely missing on the playoffs the timbers are doing something very cool. They are taking the boys from the 18s that are going to be back next season and combining them with the 16s to go and play in the showcase games in Dallas next week. This will be a good preview into next years u-18 team and should be a lot of fun to see how they play together. I am an optimistic person but I strongly feel that next years 18s will be a very very good team. The 5 players returning to the 18s next year are actually 5 of the most technical players from that team. You add that in to a very good group of 16s and you have a very technical possession team for next year. It will be fun to see how they do down in Dallas against some 18 teams. After that Lucas will return to Utah for about six weeks. He will take about two weeks off and then his goal is to be in the best shape of his life when he returns to Portland. If anyone has a suggestion for a personal trainer please let me know. Finish strong Lucas! Also we do have about 5 dvds from the seasons games and we will try to do a YouTube video of clips as soon as we can get to it.
Lucas has now returned to Utah for the summer after almost two years away with only a few brief visits. The trip to Dallas was his last games with the Portland Timbers for the year. He was able to score a nice chip goal down there. Lucas has achieved his goals of a great scholarship at a college he is excited to attend. He started almost all the games for the U -18 this year and received four call ups to the reserve team. Now Lucas has some decisions to make. He can return to Portland Timbers again this year and expect a very similar year. That would be a good decision or he can do a couple of trips to Europe and stay in Utah and play with his La Roca team that has 7 players on it that have division one scholarships. That would be a good decision. Whatever Lucas decides he continues to believe that he will achieve his goals of someday being a professional soccer player. I will let everyone know as soon as Lucas has made a decision.
Well the date came by which the Timbers wanted a decision from Lucas on his plans for this year. As many of you know Lucas has been away from home since the age of 15. he has played for two great academies of the MLS in RSL and Timbers He was called up to 4 reserve games with the timbers and even practiced with the first team. He spend a month in England on trials with Fulham . He spent two weeks with Real Madrid. Lucas has decided that he will continue to pursue his dream to be a professional soccer player but this year he will do it based from his home in Utah. He is very grateful to the timbers for all their interest and hopes to continue a close relationship with them. Special thanks to his u-18 coach Adam Smith. Lucas has committed to UVU for the fall of 2014. With one year until that date Lucas will play with a very good La Roca u-18 team. I will keep everyone who wants to watch Lucas play updated on their schedule. He will be playing with them in the upcoming Surf cup. This year Lucas will have a personal fitness trainer and get in the best shape of his life. He will also guest play with the top us club teams in many tournaments. He will make two trips to Europe for trials one this winter and one at the beginning of summer. Lucas is now unattached and open to any ideas for trials or tryouts. He wants to make this his greatest soccer year ever. He also wants to bring a state championship to his high school of Viewmont High in the spring. Thank you for your support of Lucas and stay tuned.
This weekend Lucas is playing in La Roca cup with his U-18 team. Games Friday and Saturday. Also we are looking for a personal fitness trainer in the Utah market that has experience training professional athletes.
Todd, should we move this thread back over to RSL? Seems Lucas may not be in either academy for now, but I think RSL fans (aka Utahns) would probably still be interested in Lucas's future. Thanks.
Yes I think that is a good idea and also if UVU soccer develops a thread here that could be a good idea.
It has been a great fall for Lucas with about 23 games played including La Roca Cup , Surf Cup, and Sparta Cup and now the premier fall league. His La Roca team has played some beautiful soccer and plays the right way. Lucas is playing the best soccer of his life and his dedication is amazing. He has trained with La Roca and some with Forza U-18 teams. He has a personal trainer the specializes in Pro athletes and he is in the best shape of his life. The La Roca team won the fall league with Lucas playing his preferred position as offensive mid in a 4 3 3 . With fellow UVU signee Victor Galindo at his side they have dominated the midfield. And I would stack those two up against any academy midfield in the country. Lucas tallied 10 goals from the midfield position and had 13 assists in the ten game fall league. Lucas had a tough choice to make two weeks ago when he received his first pro contract offer from a team in Europe. We were very grateful for the interest but Lucas is committed to playing this next fall at UVU. He was honored and has not achieved one of his goals in life which was to receive a pro contract offer. The day will come when he will play professional but not yet. This next two weeks will find Lucas playing in the Utah State Cup and trying to bring the championship back to his club team that was not able to win it while the past two years while Lucas was off playing academy soccer. Sparta are the two time defending champions and Lucas looks forward to getting the title back to La Roca. The championship game will be played and RSL practice field America first field on October 26 at 330 pm. Thanksgiving will find Lucas playing in a Las Vegas tournament and he will play in the presidents cup in February down in Phoenix. Ok more updates to come! And Vamos La Roca, Viewmont, and UVU!!
Lucas will be down in Las Vegas for thanksgiving playing in the WCDA for La Roca u 18. He is training very hard this winter with Core Fitness of Layton ,Utah to build more strength and speed.
Well the big moment has arrived and Lucas is officially a member of the 2014 Utah Valley University Soccer Team. Here is a link with all the details of the new program. A very impressive group of boys. Could this be the new sleeping giant of college soccer? Time will tell. http://www.wolverinegreen.com/sports/m-soccer/spec-rel/020514aaa.html
Lucas will be playing what might be his last Youth Soccer Club tournament this weekend down in Phoenix. He will be guest playing with Forza u-18 and will be playing in the u-19 mens group in the Presidents Cup . Three fun things about it are that he will be playing against RSL Elite , number 2 most of the players on this team comprise the Viewmont team he will be playing on next month, and finally Forza is the team he played with his first three years of club soccer. Should be a fun trip!
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/...s-Alta-Viewmont-battle-to-preseason-draw.html Nice article on the Viewmont vs ALta game and Lucas and Logan hooking up for an imp[ortant goal.
Well Viewmont and Lucas are off to a solid start. Lucas with the game winner against Juan Diego. So far Lucas with 6 assists and 2 goals in four games and the team sits undefeated. Now time for region games with the first against rival Davis on Tuesday.
Lucas had one of the best assists I have ever seen to win the game against rival Davis. Davis did a good job of man marking Lucas whereever he went but Lucas still was ahard to contain hitting the pole once and causing all sorts of havic. http://davisclipper.com/view/full_s...l?instance=news_special_coverage_right_column
Well another game and another close score. Lucas scored a nice game winner goal with his left foot against Weber on Thursday to keep Viewmont undefeated after 6 games. Also here is a youtube video of lucas assist against Davis from a short corner. Lucas made an unbelieveable move to get by the first defender that was not captured on the clip but you do see the end result of his run.
Lucas leads Viewmont into top 50 national ranking. http://www.studentsports.com/soccer/2014/03/25/boys-spring-fab-50-march-25/
A hard fought defensive game in which Lucas made a nice run from a short corner to win the game in overtime. Some good pictures of the game here and article. http://www.standard.net/stories/2014/03/26/prep-soccer-stoppage-time-penalty-kick-lifts-viewmont
Another close victory for Viewmont in a 2 to 1 road win over Fremont. Lucas played a lot of Offensive mid and was able to really dictate the game in the first half where viewmont had a 2 to 0 lead. Second half got tight when Fremont scored against the run of play. Viewmont goes into the spring break undefeated and in first place in their region. Lucas with 8 assists and 4 goals. Now time to set back and relax for a few days. Lucas could use the break he has been man marked and double teamed in almost every game. Notice the picture in this clipper article Lucas once again with two people marking him. http://www.davisclipper.com/view/fu...t-Rams?instance=secondary_stories_left_column
Spring break is over and Viewmont and Lucas continue to be undefeated with two more wins. Lucas has added another goal and mores assists in two vicotories over Syracuse and Northridge. Lucas has also been nominated for Gatorade Player of the Year and one of stats I found amazing is that Viewmont is a combined with his 9th grade and senior year is 25 wins 3 ties and 1 loss when lucas plays. With him gone his sophmore and junior year they were 18 wins 14 losses and 2 ties . Up next on the road at Davis.
http://www.studentsports.com/soccer/2014/04/15/boys-spring-fab-50-april-15/ Viewmont moves up in national rankinigs after 10 game unbeaten streak to start the season.