NORCO, CA - VancouverWhitecaps FC Residency left Sunday’s clash with Arsenal FC with a mixed bag in terms of results. While the U-18 squad dominated their way to a seventh straight win, the U-16 side suffered their first loss of the 2014-15 United States Soccer Development Academy (USSDA) season.
U-18
Whitecaps FC U-18 Residency (7W-0L-0D) demonstrated the explosive potential of their offensive attack on Sunday, as they scored five consecutive second-half goals as part of a 6-1 victory over Arsenal FC U-18 (1W-6L-2D).
Jordan Haynes and Dario Zanatta each had a brace in the win, while Marco Bustos and Ali Musse both added single markers of their own for the Blue and White.
The match started out with a bang, as just five minutes in, Haynes drew first blood for the ‘Caps off of some nice ball movement from Bustos and midfielder Kyle Jones.
Arsenal FC didn’t take long to respond, as they evened up the score just three minutes later.
Despite some back-and-forth action over the rest of the first half, neither side could break the deadlock, and they went into the break tied 1-1.
In the second stanza, the ‘Caps exploded.
Zanatta put Whitecaps FC in front at 57 minutes, taking a great ball from Musse and making no mistake with the finish.
Haynes got his second of the contest just three minutes later, with Musse once again providing the set-up.
The ‘Caps kept pouring it on, as, in the 65th minute, Bustos took a feed from Francesco Saporito and buried it for his team-leading 12th goal of the season. Scoring at a clip of 1.71 goals per-game, Bustos also leads all of USSDA.
After doing some set-up work, Musse got on the board himself in the 87th minute. Hayden Simmonds-O’Grady set him up nicely, and the Winnipeg, Manitoba product put it away for the 5-1 ‘Caps lead.
Zanatta added another one in the 90th minute to close out the scoring.
As pleased as he was with his side’s performance, head coach Niall Thompson has already turned his focus to the next challenge.
“Overall, I’m happy with the results and, more importantly, the performance of the boys today," said Thompson. “Now, we’re looking forward to a tough test next weekend from De Anza.”
Scoring Summary
5’ – VAN – Jordan Haynes (Marco Bustos, Kyle Jones)
8’ – ARS
57’ – VAN – Dario Zanatta (Ali Musse)
57’ – VAN – Jordan Haynes (Ali Musse)
57’ – VAN – Marco Bustos (Francesco Saporito)
57’ – VAN – Ali Musse (Hayden Simmonds-O’Grady)
57’ – VAN – Dario Zanatta
Vancouver Whitetcaps FC U-18
18.William Diaz; 16.Manraj Bains, 5.Vaggeli Boucas, 11. Jordan Haynes; 23.Francesco Saporito, 17.Jeevin Kang (15.Drake Rendle 45’); 39.Josh Cuthbert (9.Dario Zanatta 45’), 10.Marco Bustos, 20. Kyle Jones (8.Ali Musse 55’); 12.William Grayson (7.Hayden Simmonds O’Grady 55’)
U-16
Whitecaps FC U-16 Residency (5W-1L-1D) put forth a valiant effort, but fell 1-0 to Arsenal FC U-16 (6W-2L-1D) on Sunday.
Arsenal FC scored the only goal of the contest in the 20th minute. A ball in behind caught the ‘Caps defence off guard, and Arsenal took full advantage.
Despite a great effort from the ‘Caps, they had trouble fighting its way through a stout Arsenal defence.
In the end, though the ‘Caps suffered their first loss of the year, assistant coach Ragyn Hall sees it as an opportunity to learn.
“This was a good test for the team, as Arsenal were very hard to break down,” said Hall. “There were some good learning moments for the team today. It was a tough day for the group and on another day we would expect a different result.”
Scoring Summary
20’ – ARS
Vancouver Whitecaps FC U-16
30.Aidan Aylward; 37.Nick Apostol, 40.Brendan Skinner, 4.Matthew Baldisimo, 32.Kadin Chung; 45.Munir Saleh, 13.David Norman (28.Thomas Gardner 32’), 14.Terran Campbell; 36.Cole Morokhovich (44.Nathan Graziano 67’), 41.Duwayne Ewart, 38.Noah Verhoeven (27.Daniel Sagno 55’)
