Play Your Kids: What teenaged Real Monarchs are learning 2 games into MLS NEXT Pro debut
The league is different from the USL Championship, where the Monarchs called home for the past eight years. This league is owned by MLS, and encourages development, both from the academy and reserves.
HERRIMAN — There’s a new club in town, or at least an old team in a new league: Real Monarchs opened their home campaign in MLS NEXT Pro — officially sanctioned as a third division by U.S. Soccer, and a primarily MLS reserve-heavy side (with one independent club in Rochester, New York) keen on development and sending players upward from academies to first-team pro outfits.
With all that said, winning and losing seem secondary to learning and developing for such clubs. But make no mistake; they still want to win. Real Monarchs almost got a taste of that Saturday.
The Monarchs earned its first point and improved to 0-1-1 with a 2-2 draw with Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 in the third-division club’s home opener Saturday at Zions Bank Stadium.
After a scoreless first half, Pedro Fonseca — the 24-year-old MLS SuperDraft pick out of Louisville — buried a penalty kick in the 54th minute to give the Monarchs the 1-0 lead.
Less than three minutes later, Ethan Zamora earned a second yellow card, reducing the hosts to 10 men for the remainder of the match. But the Monarchs held Vancouver without a shot on goal until Gio Aguilar connected on a cross from Ali Ahmed at the left side of the box to equalize in the 80th minute.
Aguilar finish off a free kick from the right side of the box in the 89th minute to give Vancouver the 2-1 lead. But the Monarchs earned a penalty at the height of stoppage time when Terron Williams’ rip caromed off the crossbar, and Fonseca secured his brace from the spot to tie the match, 2-2.
“It was a battle. I’m proud of the boys; a heck of a fight. We fought until the end,” Fonseca said. “We lost the PKs, but still earn a point. Fortunately, it’s a learning process. It’s something that we’ve got to continue to work on, but I’m really proud of the team fighting with a man down.”
Regular-season shootouts are a thing again
Of course, full-time and stoppage time weren’t the end of the match after 2-2.
Under MLS NEXT Pro rules, both teams earned a point for the draw, while the Whitecaps will earn an additional point for winning the accompanying penalty shootout, 3-1.
It was the Monarchs’ first experience with the rule, which exists solely in MLS NEXT Pro compared to other professional leagues around North America. But it also allows for an extra point and a little bit more drama for the a campaign that is all about development.
And for a club composed primarily of teenagers (more on that in a minute), the Monarchs’ first jaunt through a shootout went well enough — including 16-year-old goalkeeper Gavin Beavers guessing correctly on each Vancouver penalty and saving one.
“They handled it well,” Monarchs head coach Jamison Olave said. “That’s why this league is crazy, to put our players in that kind of situation.
“I’ve said it before: there are many pro players who have played for 10-15 years who have never taken a penalty. Our guys did really well. They’re going to learn from their mistakes, but I’m very happy with what they did.”
Play the kids
For every team in MLS NEXT Pro, there is a different philosophy.
Some view the lower-division club as an extension of the first team, with plenty of mobile movement between the two squads to facilitate injured players’ return to MLS play under various injury and rehabilitation protocols.
Others view it as an extension of the academy, which is probably the closest to RSL’s viewpoint. Neither philosophy is wrong; just different, and it may make for some “Welcome to the Big Leagues” moments for some players.
Real Monarchs may experience some of those; they’re the youngest team in the league — an average age of 18.7 years, with only a modest increase for the addition of RSL center back Nick Besler on loan from the first team.
For the most part, the squad consists of teenagers, academy players or products, and the occasional international signing trying that Real Salt Lake may want to keep a further eye on.
But some of these kids can play, too.
In Week 1, RSL Academy product Christian Nydegger had a team-high two shots on goal, including perhaps the best chance at a goal in the 20th minute of an eventual 4-0 loss at Tacoma. Those efforts were officially rewarded with a full-term contract with the Monarchs, which the 18-year-old Highland, Utah native signed Friday.
Jude Wellings, who started in the midfield Saturday, signed with the Monarchs in January after earning Player of the Tournament honors at MLS NEXT Fest last year. He’s also represented the United States at U-17 national team camp.
Academy product Terron Williams, 16, terrorized the Whitecaps in the first half Friday before the visitors ultimately came back and converted two of their three shots on target in regulation.
So, yes, these guys are young. But you may be seeing them called upon by Real Salt Lake sooner rather than later.
“These boys are willing to fight. No matter the age, every one of them deserves to be here. Their mentality is good. They’re putting in the work.”
That being said, there’s still some veteran leadership on this team …
Fonseca brings bite
Pedro Fonseca is 24, which in Monarchs teams makes him among the oldest on the team. He’s also been through a full collegiate career at Louisville, where he scored 15 goals, added 16 assists and made 48 appearances for a Cardinals side that went to the NCAA Tournament three times.
So in a club lacking experience, Fonseca brings just that — which is probably why he immediately grabbed the ball to take both penalty kicks, and may explain a little why he pauses before ultimately sliding home from the spot (there are other reasons to do this, but we won’t go into them).
“In this moment, it’s something that I have been doing over and over again in college,” Fonseca said. “Now we’re talking about being pros; the title changes, but the mental toughness changes.
“You just have to stay focused on the things you can control, the moment in the game, and do what you have been doing in training.”
And though the second-round pick in the 2022 MLS SuperDraft is still a rookie himself, he has a lot of experience he can teach this team.
“They can learn a lot,” Olave said. “I always say that young guys need heroes to learn. The way Pedro Fonseca handles himself, how he plays, how he manages situations during the game that our players have never seen, they can see that.
“Our players need to be open to learn from guys like Pedro Fonseca, who has played in college, who has more experience. If the players are open to learn, they are going to learn a lot from Pedro.”