VANCOUVER, BC – Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency teams look to continue their success this Sunday as both the U-16 and U-18 teams California side San Juan SC at UBC's Thunderbird Stadium in United States Soccer Development Academy (USSDA) action.
Gordon Forrest’s U-18 team remain on top of the West Conference, Northwest Division standings boasting a record of 14W-6L-2D going into Sunday’s clash against San Juan SC, who find themselves in eighth position in the West Conference, Northwest Division with a 3W-12L-5D record. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. at Thunderbird Stadium.
Following the U-18 match, Whitecaps FC U-16s hope to improve upon their sixth place position in the West Conference, Northwest Division, holding a record of 6W-13L-3D going into Sunday’s match against San Juan SC. The California side are currently in ninth place in the West Conference, Northwest Division with a record of 3W-13L-4D. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at Thunderbird Stadium.
Both Residency sides will be without players from their rosters, as five Whitecaps FC Residency program members are representing Canada at the CONCACAF U-17 Championship. The boys have already qualified for the FIFA U-17 World Cup and will now look to earn a medal in the third-place match against Honduras on Friday.
U-18
The U-18s will be looking to further extend their five match winning streak following a 2-0 win against Portland Timbers Academy on Saturday, April 6. Goals for the Blue and White came from Yassin Essa and Spencer Deboice in the important win that protected their spot at the top of the standings.
Forrest will be looking for a good showing from his team in spite of the absences from the squad.
“There’s been a lot of preparation this week with the players that we do have available,” Forrest commented.
“We’ve got a few players away with the national team and we’ve got two players who are on the road to recovery so there are a few younger players coming into the squad.”
“It will be a difficult one; they’ll come and work hard against us and we’ve got to be prepared for that. It’s good for the players to showcase themselves at home and I think they’ll enjoy a run of playing in Vancouver. It’s great for anyone who wants to come out and watch the players as well.”
U-16
The U-16s will be looking to rebound from a disappointing 4-0 loss to Portland Timbers Academy on Saturday, April 6.
Head coach Craig Dalrymple will be looking for his young team, depleted by call-ups to the U-18s, to continue the performance levels they demonstrated against a more experienced Portland side last time out.
“It will give us another opportunity to call up some U-15s into the squad and there were some real positive signs from the last trip to Portland,” explained Dalrymple.
“The challenge has now been laid out in front of the group to maintain that standard that they performed against Portland. We’ve watched the video a number of times and broken it down and highlighted all the success that they had outside of the score line so I think they’re reasonably confident going into the weekend.”
“We’re not too sure when the U-17 lads get back from their successful qualification to the World Cup but it would be nice in the remaining six games for the boys that have an opportunity to play up an age group or two, to get some of their own success on the field.”
