BURNABY, BC – Both Vancouver Whitecaps FC’s Residency teams capped off a successful season-opening weekend with convincing wins over San Juan Soccer Club Sunday at Simon Fraser University.
A Dario Zanatta hat-trick and Marco Bustos brace powered the U-18s (2W-0L-0D) to a dominant 5-0 win, while Daniel Sagno led the way for the U-16s (1W-0L-1D) in a 4-2 win over their Northwest Division counterparts.
With Sunday’s results, both teams remain undefeated to start their respective 2014-15 United States Soccer Development Academy (USSDA) campaigns.
U-18
The U-18s kicked off the day in style, cruising to a 5-0 win in a one-sided affair.
The ‘Caps opened the scoring in the 15th minute, when Bustos calmly placed a penalty kick into the bottom left corner after Zanatta was hauled down in the box.
San Juan Soccer Club quickly responded with a low strike from the top of the box, but the goal was called back due to offside. From there, Vancouver began to take over.
The ‘Caps had San Juan on their heels for a lengthy period to conclude the half. The likes of Bustos, Zanatta and Francesco Saporito caused all sorts of problems in the attacking third, and they eventually broke through in first-half stoppage time.
It was once again Bustos who did the damage – this time from open play. The 18-year-old attacking midfielder made a 40-yard run down the middle of the park before slotting it home from the left side of the box to give Whitecaps FC a 2-0 lead.
Bustos, who had a hat-trick on Saturday, now has five goals in two matches to start the season.
“He’s on fire,” said U-18 head coach Niall Thompson. “He’s taken on the responsibility of being the captain … it was a great performance from him and the rest of the team.”
After the two sides traded quality chances in the early stages of the second half, Zanatta scored three straight goals in the span of five minutes to put the game out of reach.
First, the 17-year-old Victoria native banged home a rebound from in tight, then he found the back of the net with a left-footed strike from the top of the box, before tapping in a Vana Markarian pass to complete the hat-trick.
“As a striker, you always want to get goals,” Thompson said. “Unfortunately, he didn’t have one yesterday but he was involved in all of them. It was great for him to get off the mark today.”
Goalkeeper Marco Carducci made his first start of the season and kept a clean sheet in the victory.
“After a hard-fought game yesterday, I thought the performance was excellent,” Thompson said. “Overall, we’re very pleased with the opening weekend.”
Scoring Summary
15’ – VAN – Marco Bustos (penalty kick)
45’ + 1 – VAN – Marco Bustos
56’ – VAN – Dario Zanatta
58’ – VAN – Dario Zanatta (Terran Campbell)
61’ – VAN – Dario Zanatta (Vana Markarian)
Vancouver Whitecaps FC U-18 Residency
1.Marco Carducci; 2.Andre Baires, 5.Evangelos Boucas, 6.Eric de Graaf, 11.Jordan Haynes; 15.Drake Rendle, 24.Vana Markarian (17.Jeevin Kang 71’); 23.Francesco Saporito (39.Joshua Cuthbert 69’), 10.Marco Bustos, 14.Terran Campbell (7.Hayden Simmonds-O’Grady 58’); 9.Dario Zanatta (12.William Grayson 67’)
U-16
The U-16s kept things rolling in the second match of the afternoon, as they earned a 4-2 victory on the strength of a Sagno brace.
Whitecaps FC U-16 Residency looked in control from the opening whistle and they were rewarded on 20 minutes, when Sagno got in behind and finished to put the ‘Caps ahead.
David Norman nearly doubled Vancouver’s lead late in the first half on a free kick from a few yards outside the box. The midfielder’s left-footed strike eluded the wall but the San Juan keeper made a diving save and grabbed the rebound off the goal line.
The young ‘Caps, who weren’t really troubled in the opening 45 minutes, took a well-deserved 1-0 lead into the break before things started to open up in the second half.
Vancouver struck on the counter in the 52nd minute, as Sagno coolly finished off a nice passing play with Duwayne Ewart to make it 2-0.
Sagno returned the favour just a few minutes later, feeding Ewart at the back post before the Scarborough, Ontario native finished first time, increasing Vancouver’s lead to 3-0.
To their credit, San Juan Soccer Club didn’t roll over. The California outfit got on the board in the 64th minute, when Alexis Dionisio finished off a nice passing play from close range.
But the U-16s squashed any thoughts of a comeback when substitute Cole Morokhovich made it 4-1 in the 67th minute. San Juan pulled one back on a 75th-minute penalty, but it wasn’t enough as the ‘Caps cruised to their first win of the season.
“It was great for them to get their first win of the season,” said U-16 head coach Rich Fagan. “It was a good weekend with four points from two games. The boys have got off to a good start with their overall effort and performance.”
Scoring Summary
20’ – VAN – Daniel Sagno (Kadin Chung, Noah Verhoeven)
52’ – VAN – Daniel Sagno (Duwayne Ewart)
58’ – VAN – Duwayne Ewart (Daniel Sagno)
64’ – SJ – Alexis Dionisio
67’ – VAN – Cole Morokhovich
75’ – SJ – Shaft Brewer (penalty kick)
Vancouver Whitecaps FC U-16 Residency
30.Aidan Aylward; 32.Kadin Chung, 40.Brendan Skinner, 4.Matthew Baldisimo, 33.Michael Baldisimo; 13.David Norman, 45.Munir Saleh (37.Nicolas Apostol 65’); 49.Glorie Amanda (36.Cole Morokhovich 65’), 38.Noah Verhoeven (34.Georges Mukumbilwa 70’), 41.Duwayne Ewart (44.Nathan Graziano 70’); 27.Daniel Sagno
