VANCOUVER, BC – There were wins for both Whitecaps FC Residency sides against Cal Odyssey on Sunday in the teams’ penultimate matches of the current United States Soccer Development Academy (USSDA) season.
The U-18s continued their rich vein of form, thumping Cal Odyssey 5-1 before the U-16s completed a successful day for the Whitecaps FC Residency teams with a 2-1 win.
The teams finish the regular season with matches against Crossfire Premier on June 1 at UBC Varsity Field.
U-18
The U-18s showed their dominance throughout the match as they saw off the challenge of Cal Odyssey with a 5-1 victory.
They opened the scoring in the first minute with a long range effort from Mitch Piraux flying past the Cal Odyssey keeper.
Marco Bustos doubled Vancouver’s lead with a shot from just inside the box in the 45th minute.
Whitecaps FC were awarded a free kick outside the area on 54 minutes which was finished with aplomb by striker Yassin Essa.
Essa then turned provider in the 75th minute putting the ball through for substitute Titouan Chopin to race onto before cooly finishing past the 'keeper.
Cal Odyssey managed to get a consolation goal on 80 minutes but Whitecaps FC sealed the win in the 90th minute when Chopin grabbed his second of the match.
Head coach Gordon Forrest was pleased with the outcome of the weekend.
“There were some really good individual goals today,” said Forrest. “We set quite high standards for the players and the players set their own high standards and that dropped a little bit, but that’s going to happen every now and again. I think from the two games over the weekend there are a lot of positives to take from both games.”
Whitecaps FC lineup:
Nolan Wirth; Quinton Duncan (Matthew van der Eyden 75’), Alexander Comsia, Jackson Farmer, Jordan Haynes; Liam Elbourne, Mitch Piraux, Marco Bustos (Matthew Chow 67’); Yassin Essa, Carlos Marquez (Titouan Chopin 55’), Spencer Deboice
U-16
Whitecaps FC put the disappointment of losing a close match on Saturday behind them as they beat Cal Odyssey 2-1.
It didn’t take long for Vancouver to take the lead when in the 7th minute some good combination play saw the ball played behind the Cal Odyssey defence for Dario Zanatta to run on to. The striker showed great composure to play the ball round the 'keeper and roll the ball into the empty net.
Zanatta got his second of the match on 14 minutes when Vancouver won the ball in midfield and broke quickly with the ball again played through the defence for Zanatta to latch onto and finish with confidence.
Cal Odyssey managed to get a foot back into the match as they got themselves a goal on 20 minutes.
There would be no repeat of Saturday’s loss though and it was Whitecaps FC who looked more likely to add to the scoreline with substitute Aymar Sigue getting into good positions on two occasions but both times being closed down before being able to get a shot away.
Assistant coach Rich Fagan was pleased with the 2-1 victory and the mental strength shown by the players after Saturday’s loss.
“When we got to the dressing room it was as if yesterday hadn’t happened,” commented Fagan. “They were re-focused and ready to play today. In terms of results, it was an improvement but it was another dream start. We scored two goals early and we did a very good job of keeping possession of the ball after that and really concentrating and focussing on individual roles and responsibilities.”
Whitecaps FC lineup:
William Diaz; Kadin Chung, Matthew Baldisimo, Vagelli Boucas, Eric de Graaf (John Kasper 60’); Jeevin Kang (Francesco Saporito 65’), David Norman, Tommy Gardner; Andy Xu (Daniel Sagno 50’), Dario Zanatta (Aymar Sigue 50’), Terran Campbell (Joshua Cuthbert 65’)
