FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Three members of the New England Revolution’s Under-18 team were recently selected by the U.S. Under-18s National Team for the Open Nordic Cup. Defenders Calvin Aroh and Daniel Jones, as well as forward Justin Rennicks all traveled to Sweden for the competition in what was their maiden experience with the U.S. U-18s, having all spent time at tournaments and in camp with the U.S. U-16s over the past year.
The U.S. went 1-2-0 to finish second in group play, beating the Faroe Islands 2-0 on August 4 before suffering 2-0 and 2-1 defeats to Iceland on August 5 and Sweden on August 7, respectively. The final U.S. game was a placement game against Finland on August 9, where they earned a 2-1 win to return stateside with a fifth-place finish in the tournament. All three Revolution Academy players earned playing time throughout the tournament, with Jones scoring the game-winning goal on his U-18 debut against the Faroe Islands, while Rennicks recorded the game-winning assist against Finland.
Jones started in all four games that the U.S. played in Sweden, playing the full 80-minute game in all but one matchup – when he was substituted at halftime against Iceland. With the four games coming in a six-day period, Jones needed to deal with the physical challenges involved.
“Playing all those games in a short amount of time was tough but there was no way I wouldn't want to play,” Jones said. “I made sure I stayed mentally strong and prepared myself physically for the tasks I had in front of me.”
One of those tasks was finding a way past the Faroe Islands in the U.S. U-18s’ opening game. Jones scored what turned out to be the winning goal in the 52nd minute, helping his side to a 2-0 victory.
“The feeling was so surreal,” Jones said when asked about scoring on his U.S. U-18s debut. “As soon as I kicked the ball, I was smiling because I knew it was going in. It's an honor putting on the U.S. jersey but scoring was just amazing.”
Jones, a left back by trade, was pushed in to a slightly unfamiliar role during the tournament. After previously playing left back for the U.S. U-16s over the past year, the West Hartford, Conn. native moved to the more attacking position of left wing back.
“The biggest difference for me was the formation change,” the 16-year-old said. “With the U-16s I played left back but for the U-18s I just played as a left wing back. At first I was a little uncomfortable with it but it turned out it worked in my favor.”
A little further up the field, Rennicks was making a considerable impact as part of the U-18s’ attack. After earning a penalty for his side in the 2-1 loss to Sweden, the forward from South Hamilton, Mass. then set up the game-winning goal in the U.S. U-18s’ placement game against Finland, assisting on Nick Taitague 56th-minute goal. That assist continued the 16-year-old’s streak of tallying either a goal or an assist in each tournament that he has played in for the U.S. Youth National Team’s. Previously while playing for the U.S. U-16s, Rennicks scored against Romania in the 2015 Aegan Cup International Youth Tournament in January and in March, he recorded an assist against Netherlands at the Netherlands International Tournament.
“Being with the U-18s and getting to start two of the four games is an amazing feeling,” Rennicks said. “Being fouled in the box and earning us a penalty that puts us up 1-0 against Sweden was an awesome way to start off the game. We deserved the goal; we dominated the entire first half of the match. Also, getting subbed in a few minutes into the second half against Finland and being able to create the game-winning goal is the best feeling you could ever ask for.”
Rennicks also noted the difference in physicality while playing in an older age-group.
“The U-18s were very physical and brought some great competition and they were always in it to win it.” Rennicks said. “Being with the U-18s improved my playing ability all round and shows me what's it's really like playing at the next level.”
At the heart of the defense, Aroh started his first game for the U-18s in the defeat to Iceland. The Glastonbury, Conn. native was a steady presence in the Revolution Under-16 team in the 2014-15 season, making 28 starts for the team, while he is now making the transition to the Revs Under-18s ahead of the 2015-16 Development Academy season. He was eager to show his quality when he got the start against Iceland.
“Making my first ever appearance with the U.S. U-18s was something I'll remember for the rest of my life,” Aroh, 16, said. “Wearing the U.S. crest is a dream come true – that's the goal for all of us, to represent your country.”
All three players will now enjoy a well-earned break before preparing for the 2015-16 Development Academy season, with the Revs U-18s and U-16s taking on the Boston Bolts and the U-14s facing NYC FC on September 5 to open their respective seasons. Aroh believes each player can bring the experience gained in the Open Nordic Cup as they look ahead to the new season.
“The competition in Sweden was much harder,” Aroh noted. “We hope to bring that same competitiveness that we needed in Sweden and use that in the Academy and hopefully have an even better season than last year.”
