Full match report from Saturday's matches to come on Sunday ...
PREVIEW
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency teams will travel to California this weekend as they continue their United States Soccer Development Academy (USSDA) seasons against California’s Real So Cal and Arsenal FC.
On Saturday, the ‘Caps U-18s and U-16s will face Real So Cal at Oak Park High School in Oak Park, California. On Sunday, they will face Arsenal FC at Riverside Community College in Riverside, California.
Gordon Forrest’s U-18s are currently sitting in second place in the West Conference Northwest Division with a 9W-6L-1D record. They kickoff at 11 a.m. PT on Saturday against Real So Cal, who currently sit in second place in the West Conference, Southwest Division with a 11W-2L-3D record. On Sunday, the U-18s kick off at 11 a.m. against Arsenal FC, who currently sit in seventh place in the West Conference Southwest Division.
The U-16s are currently sitting in sixth place in the West Conference Northwest Division with a 6W-8L-2D record. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. PT on Saturday against Real So Cal, who currently hold a 10W-4L-2D record and are in sitting in second position in the West Conference Southwest Division. On Sunday, kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. PT against Arsenal FC, who are currently in fifth position in the West Conference Southwest Division with a 7W-6L-3D record.
U-18
The U-18s are coming off a weekend of mixed results after defeating LA Galaxy Academy 3-0, but suffering a 3-2 defeat to Chivas USA Academy.
U-18 head coach Gordon Forrest expects a challenge from the California clubs.
“It’s going to be another good weekend for the guys,” said Forrest. “It gives us some more time to spend with them too, which is great. Overall, it will be a challenging weekend for them, which is great for development.”
U-16
The U-16s are coming off a disappointing weekend after suffering a 3-0 defeat to LA Galaxy Academy on Saturday, while falling to Chivas USA Academy 3-1 on Sunday.
The team will feature several players born in 1998 and although the team travelling to California is on the younger side, head of high performance Stuart Neely feels that the trip will provide an opportunity to test out some training methodologies.
“They have had a decent training week. We want to certainly apply the methodologies we used this week in training to the match”, said Neely. “Going forward, we want them to be more creative in the attack and we worked on that this week. It’s a very young group travelling. We want them in an environment where they are well versed in the game and this is an opportunity to work on playing against players who are older than them.”
