DANVILLE, CA - Vancouver Whitecaps FC U-18 and U-16 Residency sides wrapped up their three game road trip on a high note with a pair of wins against San Jose Earthquakes Academy on Sunday. The results see both teams remain a perfect 3W-0L-0D in the young United States Soccer Development Academy (USSDA) season.
The U-18 team fought tooth and nail to turn an early 1-0 deficit into a well-deserved 2-1 victory, while the U-16 squad comfortably handled their counterparts 4-0.
U-18
The U-18 Residency team made it three for three on their West Coast road trip to begin the 2013-14 campaign, edging San Jose Earthquakes U-18 2-1 in sunny California.
In their second game in as many days, the boys in Blue and White showed great resiliency in fighting back for the win after having conceded first to San Jose.
The Earthquakes managed to break the deadlock on 29 minutes on a partial breakaway. However, just two minutes later the ‘Caps had a response through Jordan Haynes. The Peterborough native was the recipient of a fantastic ball in from Matthew Baldsimo and did well to control it, beat his man, and let go of a rocket from the top of the box.
From there, the ‘Caps were extremely positive going forward. They earned the advantage on 65 minutes by virtue of a clinical finish from Kianz Froese, who scored in both games over the weekend. Froese was the beneficiary of some clever build-up play from Matthew Chow and Marco Bustos that led to the goal.
A superb save from Nolan Wirth with just over 10 minutes remaining in the match quelled San Jose’s best opportunity to equalize.
With U-18 head coach Gordon Forrest at home sick, assistant coach Steve Meadley took charge over the weekend and was extremely pleased with the effort shown from his squad on the last game of a long road trip.
“It’s been a great three-game road swing for us and this was by far was our best performance,” said Meadley. “It was a positive way to end the road trip and a great way to set us up for the rest of the season," said Meadley.
The manager was especially pleased with the team’s offensive prowess.
“The boys were very good right from the opening whistle. The passing was quick and crisp. We created enough scoring chances today to last us the entire season.”
Scoring Summary:
29’ - SJ- Jeremy Romero
31’ - VAN - Jordan Haynes (Matthew Baldisimo)
65’ - VAN- Kianz Froese (Matthew Chow, Marco Bustos)
Vancouver Whitecaps U-18 Residency:
Nolan Wirth; Matthew Baldisimo (Andre Baires 57’), Jackson Farmer, Nicholas Prasad, Sam Adekugbe; Kianz Froese (Nike Azuma 83’), Mitch Piraux, Marco Bustos; Matthew Chow (Kyle Jones 78’), Jordan Haynes, Titouan Chopin (Mason James 67’)
U-16
For the third straight match, the U-16 team romped to victory and for the third straight match, they did so while keeping a clean sheet. The end result was a 4-0 win over San Jose Earthquakes U-16 in the second match of Sunday's academy doubleheader between the two MLS rival clubs.
Terran Campbell opened the scoring for the away side on 21 minutes. Winning the ball deep in San Jose’s third of the pitch, the Burnaby native drove aggressively into the Earthquakes' 18-yard box before clinically slotting it home.
Dario Zanatta doubled the ‘Caps’ lead shortly after halftime; Zanatta was played behind San Jose’s defence by a delightful through ball from midfield maestro Francesco Saporito.
Two insurance goals were provided by Aymar Sigue and Dario Zanatta, on 55 mintues and 65 minutes respectively, to seal the result for Vancouver.
In the 70th minute, Rahid Rahiem was introduced onto the pitch. The youngster was formerly a member of the Earthquakes Academy before moving to Vancouver.
Head coach Rich Fagan told whitecapsfc.com that his squad came out extremely motivated after having watched the first team clash on Saturday night.
“The boys were excited to play against an MLS rival, the fact that the first team played them the night before made it even more special,” Fagan said. “I am extremely pleased with the players’ hard work and their performance.”
After starting the season with three strong showings on the road, the U-16 and the U-18 teams get set to host Pateadores this upcoming Saturday at UBC. The U-18s kick off at 12 p.m. PT, followed by the U-16s at 2:30 p.m. PT.
Scoring Summary
21’ – VAN – Terran Campbell
46’ – VAN – Dario Zanatta
55’ – VAN – Aymar Sigue
65’ – VAN – Dario Zanatta
Vancouver Whitecaps U-16 Residency
Aidan Aylward; Joshua Cuthbert, Eric de Graaf (Manraj Bains 65’), Matthew Baldisimo, Kadin Chung (Erik Morden 41’); David Norman (Rahid Rahiem 70’), Thomas Gardner, Jeevin Kang (Dario Zanatta 41’); Franceso Saporito, Terran Campbell, Aymar Sigue.
