Real Salt Lake Under-17 team announced

SANDY — The Real Salt Lake-Utah Under-17 soccer program has announced its 30-player roster for the upcoming summer. Coming from all around the state, more than 100 players put their skills to the test last Sunday in front of the RSL-Utah U-17 coaching staff in hopes of making the final cut.

After leading Wasatch to the state title this year, Alex Espinoza headlines the U-17 squad. The Deseret News' 3A MVP netted 21 goals and 19 assists during this past high school season.

Four players from Brighton also made the final cut, as forward Matthew Coffey and goalkeeper Ian Bartlett will accompany Dylan Brog and Andrew Siddoway into training this summer.

Orem forward Matthew Gay and Provo midfielder Peter Puertas will represent Utah County along with Noah Jackson (Timpview), Cameron McLaughlin (Lone Peak), Bessler Davila (Mountain View), Aaron Caprio (Lehi) and Patrick Fuchs (Lehi).

Representing Davis and Weber counties are Trase Stapley and Giovanny Vazquez of Roy, Victor Galindo (Ben Lomond), John Taylor (Davis), Alex Neff (Northridge), Justin Ward (Woods Cross), Lucas Cawley (Viewmont) and Jordan Steed, Nicholas Thiros and Eric Christensen from Layton.

Also making the final roster were Diego Serna and Keaton Gallegos from Copper Hills, T. Joseph Wheelwright, Max Littlefield, Cody Maas, Marshall Miller, Will Bagrou and Guilherm Silva Deloeme.

RSL first-team assistant coach Miles Joseph will serve as the team's technical director and Greg Maas will retain his coaching duties for a fifth straight summer. Both Joseph and Mass will continue scheduling as many training sessions as possible with the RSL first team, allowing the U-17 club to interact and develop around the club's professional squad.

The RSL-Utah team will also combine with players from the RSL-Arizona and RSL-Florida youth development programs to create a nucleus of young talent for Real Salt Lake in the fifth annual MLS/SUM U-17 Cup this summer.