As published in ESPNHS.com

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- When the center official blew the final whistle, Luchi Gonzalez released a triumphant punch into the air that was half excitement, half relief.

Gonzalez coaches the U.S. Soccer Development Academy’s Kendall SC (Fla.) under-15/16 squad that had just edged Bethesda SC (Md.) 3-2 in a rare meeting between Academy and non-Academy programs, which took place Tuesday at the Disney Soccer Showcase.

“As a coaching staff, we had been joking that Academy teams don’t lose to non-Academy teams,” Gonzalez said. “But I had heard really good things about [Bethesda SC]. They have some very good players. They are an Academy-level team. In fact, they’re better than some of [the Academy] teams we’ve played.”

The compliment was reassuring to Bethesda SC coach Brett Colton, whose team never recovered from a 2-0 first-half deficit in a match that was interrupted for 70 minutes at halftime due to thunder storms.

“We gave away two set pieces. We were not sharp. It was not a good performance,” Colton said of Bethesda’s first-half effort where the pace was slow and Kendall controlled the play.

Kendall’s Ricardo Gomez headed in the first goal and Jorge Torres, who assisted in Gomez’s goal, struck a free kick for a 2-0 lead. As the teams returned to action in the second half, a public address announcer issued a storm warning and cleared the fields, which ended up being the additional break Bethesda needed, Colton said.

“We held a team meeting, then smaller meetings,” Colton said. “We talked about our play and that we needed to be better.”

Paul Lewis answered the call with a goal early in the second half for Bethesda that swung momentum.

“After the break, I got the guys out to the field early and get warmed up,” Gonzalez said. “Physically, we were ready. Mentally, we were not. We were up 2-0 and [Bethesda] had nothing to lose.

The Maryland team had the better of the play most of the second half. However, in the final 10 minutes, Eddy Pineiro put Kendall up 3-1 on a shot that went through the Bethesda keeper’s legs. Bethesda responded with a goal by Ngeindaloh Smith, making it 3-2. Bethesda kept the pressure up until the final whistle.

“When it was 3-2, there was belief and hope [for Bethesda],” Gonzalez said. “At the end, though, we got the result and got through it.”

Bethesda SC, which would have been the top seed in its Showcase bracket, was invited to participate in the Academy Division to round out the 16-team field, Colton said.