Gray & Scally's U.S. Narrowly Defeated in CONCACAF U-17s Final

NYCFC's Tayvon Gray and Joe Scally represented the U.S. U-17s with distinction at the CONCACAF U-17s Championships which finished on Thursday evening with a dramatic final vs. Mexico.

With qualification for the U-17s World Cup already secured, Raphael Wicky's boys just fell short, going down 2-1 after extra-time.

The defenders both started in Wicky's XI for the matchup, bringing their combined total of starts to nine and both played a pivotal role throughout the tournament.

Gray came up clutch in the semi-final and final to help put the team in scoring position. In the semi-final against Canada, Gray intercepted a pass and was able to get it to Gianluca Busio who made the assist leading to the first goal of the night.

Against Mexico, Gray recorded his first direct assist of the tournament crossing the ball to find Griffin Yow for a header, the duo's connection led to the lone goal of the night from the U.S. Scally impressed throughout the competition with his tireless runs up the right flank and solidity when the U.S. were without the ball.

Although their efforts came up short as far as the CONCACAF trophy went, the U-17s performed remarkably throughout the tournament, playing with confidence throughout the competition, leaving the squad in good shape for the fall World Cup in Brazil.