Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency teams faced their counterparts from Sounders FC Academy in three seperate matches on Saturday at Simon Fraser University and acquitted themselves very well, going undefeated against their Pacific Northwest rivals.
U-18
The U-18 'Caps got the day going with an entertaining 3-2 win over their cross-border rivals in a match that wasn't as close as the score indicated.
Marco Bustos continued where he left off last season, scoring a hat-trick on the day. The first goal of the new season for Whitecaps FC Residency came only eight minutes into the match. The dynamic playmaker made a long run up through the middle of the field before cutting into the box and firing a low left-footed strike into the bottom far corner.
Seattle had a chance to level on 17 minutes but hit the crossbar on a free kick. It was all 'Caps for the remainder of the half with near goals from both Terran Campbell and Kianz Froese.
The second half saw more of the same for the boys in white. Campbell was taken down in the box on 53 minutes, and Bustos did the honours to make it 2-0.
After the visitors cut the deficit to 2-1, Bustos put it away on 80 minutes with a low drive after receiving a pass from Froese. The Sounders would pull one back in stoppage time, but when the final whistle blew it was the 'Caps celebrating a big win.
"It was an excellent performance," said Whitecaps FC U-18 Residency head coach Niall Thompson. "The players who stepped up from the U-16 team did very well and understood the philosophy. Their effort and performance was highlighted in the result."
Scoring summary:
8' - VAN - Marco Bustos
53' - VAN - Marco Bustos (penalty kick)
62' - SEA
80' - VAN - Marco Bustos (Kianz Froese)
90'+2' - SEA
Vancouver Whitecaps FC U-18
18.William Diaz; 17.Jeevin Kang, 5.Vaggeli Boucas, 6.Eric de Graaf, 11. Jordan Haynes; 15.Drake Rendle (24.Vana Markarian 67'), 10.Marco Bustos, 19.Kianz Froese; 14.Terran Campbell (39.Joshua Cuthbert 67'), 9.Dario Zanatta (12.William Grayson 84'), 7.Hayden Simmonds-O'Grady (23.Francesco Saporito 58')
U-16
With a new group including a number of players moving up from the Pre-Residency squad, Whitecaps FC U-16 showed resiliency in battling back from an early deficit to earn a 1-1 draw against Sounders Academy U-16.
The boys in white went down early when an unfortunate bounce off of a corner kick led to an own goal and a 1-0 lead for the visitors.
After going down, it was the home side who controlled the play for the remainder of the first half with several chances created from both the left and right flank. But a goal would not come before halftime.
It was not long in the second half until the match was equalized. Centre back Matthew Baldisimo got on the scoreboard on 49 minutes to make it 1-1.
A second goal for either team would not come as the two sides finished level at SFU.
"The boys showed character and perserverance to get a goal back," said Whitecaps FC U-16 Residency coach Rich Fagan. "Everyone is looking forward to getting back on the field against San Juan tomorrow."
Scoring summary:
15' - VAN - Own goal
49' - VAN - Matthew Baldisimo
Vancouver Whitecaps FC U-16
42.Luciano Trasolini; 27.Daniel Sagno, 4.Matthew Baldisimo, 13.David Norman, 32.Kadin Chung; 37.Nicolas Apostol, 38.Noah Verhoeven (34.Georges Mukumbilwa 50'), 45.Saleh Munir; 36.Cole Morokhovich (33.Michael Baldisimo 45'); 49.Gloire Amanda (44.Nathan Graziano 63'), 41.Duwayne Ewart
U-14
Whitecaps FC Pre-Residency squad continued their season on Saturday with a match against their counterparts from the Sounders Pre-Academy.
It was a day for defenders on the 'Caps as right back Nikolas White opened the scoring on 27 minutes when he put in a rebound off of a corner kick.
A pair of midfielders combined for the second goal as Gabriel Escobar found Davin O'Hea to make it 2-0 before halftime.
Early in the second half it was Escobar again who played a part, this time finding left back Nikolas Papakyriakopoulos for the third and final goal of the day.
Despite a late push from the visiting Sounders, the boys in white held on for a comfortable 3-0 win.
"I don't think it was our best game, we were a litte bit sleepy at times" said Whitecaps FC Pre-Residency head coach Bart Choufour. "But there were also some really good performances. We haven't been scored on yet in our matches so far this season, and there's a real pride overall in the team and again we got another shutout."
Scoring summary:
27' - VAN - Nikolas White
40' - VAN - Davin O'Hea (Gabriel Escobar)
43' - VAN - Nikolas Papakyriakopoulos (Gabriel Escobar)
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Pre-Residency
Trevor Schneider (Evan Ince 46'); Nikolas White, Brandon Bassi, Ali Zohar, Nikolas Papakyriakopoulos; Alessandro Hojabrpour, Gabriel Escobar (Nicolas Budisa 70'), Sahil Dhindsa (Jude Barrow 60'); Jared Carlin (Eryk Kobza 56'), Davin O'Hea (Travis Selje 46'), Tudor Mihaila (Tristan Torresan 46')
