The Galaxy Academy U16 and U18 teams beat their counterparts from LAFC Academy today. The rivalry starts young. LA IS 💙🤍💛Our U-18’s & U-16’s defended the crest today securing two victories over our rivals. pic.twitter.com/ssSdOsvAlW— LA Galaxy Academy (@LAGalaxyAcademy) February 22, 2025
Shaun Tskaris is reportedly leaving the LA Galaxy Academy. He is a well-respected Academy coach and his son has played outside back for VCFC. His other son, however, plays for San Jose Earthquakes and they are heading back north to a non-MLS Academy. Tangentially related: Shaun Tsakiris is leaving LA Galaxy's academy.He was probably the best academy coach in the country there for a few years. Won two MLS Next Cup titles back to back. Will be a loss for them, although this season was rough. USSF should look to hire him. https://t.co/HxpNmj45PH pic.twitter.com/TAf6SG8PTy— USMNTProspects (@ProspectsUsmnt) May 5, 2025 (I should add that this account rails on the Galaxy for playing Brady Scott (and sometimes Marcincowski) ahead of Owen Pratt at GK for VCFC (it quote-tweeted some of those tweets in announcing this news). That is one of the byproducts of having 4 goalkeepers on the senior team. In this case, Scott's play hasn't matched his performance from last season and I can see giving Pratt some turns, but Pratt was a disaster his first time playing MLS Next Pro last season in the playoffs and he's still really young).
Galaxy Academy U19 team is up 3-0 over LAFC in the quarterfinals of the MLS Next Cup, with a roster powered by a lot of players who have been getting minutes with VCFC Dylan Vanney with a fantastic strike TOP BINS 🚀What a strike from Dylan Vanney to give us a 3-0 lead in the first half of the @MLSNEXT Cup Quarterfinals! pic.twitter.com/EAkfLSntEe— LA Galaxy Academy (@LAGalaxyAcademy) June 18, 2025 Gabi Arnold powers in the rebound Vanney ➡️ ArnoldThe Blue, White & Gold are up 2-0 courtesy of Gabi Arnold! pic.twitter.com/5OKoEIWIJm— LA Galaxy Academy (@LAGalaxyAcademy) June 18, 2025 Chris Coreas gets the scoring going with a PK No time to waste 🎯Chris Coreas buries the penalty and we take the lead!📺: https://t.co/H3ZNLFs07s pic.twitter.com/Hz6PKnPCSf— LA Galaxy Academy (@LAGalaxyAcademy) June 18, 2025
Here is a link to the stream if you want to watch the LAG-LAFC QF game https://www.youtube.com/live/lqxH3TlHWKE
Galaxy Academy up 4-0 over LAFC Academy in the 54th minute Vanney scores a second goal Can't stop, won't stop 😤Dylan Vanney bags his brace! pic.twitter.com/IWCBqWuMtz— LA Galaxy Academy (@LAGalaxyAcademy) June 18, 2025
Galaxy add a 5th to finish off a 5-1 victory over LAFC in the QFs That's ✋Kai Aina puts away our fifth goal in this @MLSNEXT Cup Quarterfinals match against our rivals! pic.twitter.com/AvR5p6syA3— LA Galaxy Academy (@LAGalaxyAcademy) June 18, 2025
Here's the starting lineup for the U19's starting lineup in the MLS Next Cup semifinals against RSL. Five of these players have received starts with VCFC this year by my count (it may be more than that). There is some grumbling among academies about clubs using MLS Next Pro guys in these academy games, but my take is that it is more of a sign that they are using legitimate age-eligible Academy players in MLS Next Pro, which is what they should be doing. They don't have Harbor Miller or Ruben Ramos Jr in this starting lineup and they are the only age-eligible players who have gotten MLS minutes. Our Starting XI against RSL 🫡📺: https://t.co/Znpmd6nu8l pic.twitter.com/OCTMSNSiUT— LA Galaxy Academy (@LAGalaxyAcademy) June 20, 2025
Galaxy Academy up 1-0 in the 11th minute as Eric Preston (who has had a couple of appearances with VCFC and played 2 games with the USYNT U17 team in March) scores on the rebound
1-0 at halftime Here's video of Preston's goal Why not score first? 😤Eric Preston puts our first away to give us the lead in the Semifinals of the @MLSNEXT Cup!📺: https://t.co/9LOB2k5imj pic.twitter.com/HfNLXgSZkV— LA Galaxy Academy (@LAGalaxyAcademy) June 20, 2025
Let in an equalizer after halftime, but Pepe Magana puts the Galaxy Academy back on top 2-1 ¡DALE GALAXY! 😤Pepe Magana buries our second to give us back the lead and celebrates with our younger Academy players!📺: https://t.co/9LOB2k5imj pic.twitter.com/hs9HR6u8e8— LA Galaxy Academy (@LAGalaxyAcademy) June 20, 2025
Galaxy Academy wins 2-1. On to the finals of the U19 MLS Next Cup! Back-to-Back-to-Back @MLSNEXT Cup Finals Appearances for the Blue, White & Gold 💙🤍💛— LA Galaxy Academy (@LAGalaxyAcademy) June 20, 2025
Galaxy Academy up 1-0 over Cedar Stars Academy in the U19 final of the MLS Next Cup Coreas scores the first Chris Coreas Strikes First 😤Watch the @MLSNEXT Cup Final now: https://t.co/bI8b685PH8 pic.twitter.com/clx4jmfTha— LA Galaxy Academy (@LAGalaxyAcademy) June 22, 2025
Dylan Vanney scores the second goal for Galaxy Academy after Cedar Stars went down a man because of a red card to their GK Galaxy up 2-0 Hartley + Vanney = Goal #2 🫡📺: https://t.co/bI8b685PH8 pic.twitter.com/tCh8aNybuI— LA Galaxy Academy (@LAGalaxyAcademy) June 22, 2025
Galaxy Academy win 3-1. Cedar Stars scored on a mistake in the back by a really strong striker playing two years up, but Galaxy tack on an insurance goal by a mistake in the back by Cedar Stars I would say that this wasn't the most impressive of this group's MLS Next Cup victories, since they played up a man for 70 minutes. Cedar Stars Bergen is a really strong non-MLS Academy that picks up a lot of players that the Red Bulls and NYCFC miss on in the NYC area or who don't want to or can't travel to to the MLS Academy training sites. At U19 with a bunch of VCFC players, Galaxy should have won by more. Nevertheless, Cedar Stars won in the semis over Orlando City playing a man down with a furious comeback. They'll have some strong DI players who will get farther than the Galaxy Academy kids because they have a chip on their shoulders. They fight really hard. That said, winning 3x in a row is no joke and isn't luck 3X MLS NEXT CUP CHAMPIONS 🏆🏆🏆 pic.twitter.com/m6x6zRok4l— LA Galaxy Academy (@LAGalaxyAcademy) June 22, 2025
Thanks for posting all this. Do you have a sense of who might make it in the pro's? I remember when the Galaxy Academy was winning all sorts of things (back with the Villarreal brothers, etc.) and had players of the year and none of them really did much at the next level.
Yes. He's finishing out the season. Plus, he son Mateo was on the team. Here's an instagram post where you can see him in the back with the white hat and sunglasses (he's short!).
It's always hard to predict these things. The most likely candidates from this age group have already signed senior team contracts and gotten MLS minutes this year (Harbor Miller and Ruben Ramos Jr). Pepe Magana is a promising CB who has signed a VCFC contract and is rumored to be getting a Miller/Ramos-type promise of being signed to a homegrown deal soon. Of the remaining kids, the GK Owen Pratt has the most buzz, but goalkeepers develop late. He's playing up a year and probably needs to get minutes with VCFC next season if not this summer/fall. The Galaxy holding on to four senior-quality goalkeepers has a cost in developing keepers. Scott has been out and they've played Marcinkowski, who needs game action himself, with VCFC the last two games. The other player who has a chance to make it is Dylan Vanney. He is young and needs to get stronger, but the game just slows down for him. He's already been an impact player for VCFC. Plus, with a father who has played in the pro career, he probably has a better idea of what it takes.
I should clarify/correct part of my post above. Magana and Pratt have already signed deals (or pre-deals) for Homegrown Contracts. Both are signed with VCFC through 2026 and then their deals convert to MLS HG contracts for 2027-2029 with club options for 2030. https://www.lagalaxy.com/news/la-galaxy-sign-four-la-galaxy-academy-players-to-homegrown-contracts Two other players who signed at the same time and are mentioned in the story, but weren't part of the age group that won MLS Cup, are Riley Dalgado and Vicente Garcia. Garcia is really young (14 when he signed) and I expect we're as or more likely to see a return from him in a sale to LigaMX or from training compensation fees as we are to see him on the first team. It's more of a lottery ticket when you sign a 14 year-old, but the reason to do it was to keep him from moving to a LigaMX Academy. Dalgado is a LB who had a strong season at VCFC last season. He was injured at the start of the year, but is back to full speed and starting again for VCFC. He's the oldest player in this group and starts his HG contract in 2026. If the Galaxy did sell Aude in the summer window, there's a chance Dalgado would advance to a Harbor Miller role next season as a third stringer who is sometimes in the 18 or called into play on occasion. At a minimum, expect to see him get some minutes at Coachella next winter. He's not quite as offensive-minded as Miller, but he's a smooth, skilled,and probably more mature player at LB than Miller. Plus, left backs don't grow on trees, so I'm sure they would like to develop one, especially since Nelson will only get more expensive.
Owen Pratt was named the U19 GK of the tournament Laundry service needed? Call the fellas for a few clean sheets. 🧼Congratulations to the recipients of the Best Goalkeeper pres. by @allstate award. #MLSNEXTCup pic.twitter.com/rFm1Q6kjnb— MLS NEXT (@MLSNEXT) June 23, 2025 Dylan Vanney was named the U19 MVP No M-V-P without H-I-M. 🏆🏆Congratulations to the Most Valuable Player pres. by @adidasfootball in their respective age group. #MLSNEXTCup pic.twitter.com/cXkXTSo2Oj— MLS NEXT (@MLSNEXT) June 23, 2025
Dylan Vanney and Pepe Magana named to the MLS Next Cup Best IX Last name ever, first name greatest. Your #MLSNEXTCup Best XI. pic.twitter.com/6ZgmFLC003— MLS NEXT (@MLSNEXT) June 24, 2025