Following their 1-0 loss Saturday afternoon to De Anza in the four-team MLS Next Play-in tournament, the BUSC Under-17 team knew they still controlled their destiny in terms of advancing.
Win against Sacramento Republic on Sunday morning and Ballistic would be on their way to Maryland for the MLS Next Interleague Playoffs.
And win they did, getting a pair of goals from Ronald Zhai for a come-from-behind, 2-1 win against Sacramento Republic. It was the first win for Ballistic against SAC this year against three losses.
Sacramento got on the board in the first 10 minutes and held the 1-0 lead to the first half.
After the break it didn’t take long to turn the game around as Zhai struck twice in the first five minutes to give BUSC the 2-1 lead that would ultimately send them to Maryland.
Holding the lead, Ballistic turned to goalie Akash Poola who preserved the lead with a pair of brilliant saves in the second half.
The U-17 team will join the U-16 and U-19 teams from Ballistic in Maryland May 12-16 to fight for a spot in the MLS Next Cup, set for July in Texas.
