BELLINGHAM, WA
– Whitecaps FC Residency completed a busy weekend in Bellingham, Washington with the U-18 and U-16 squads each winning both of their matches against Chivas USA and LA Galaxy academy teams.
U-18
The ‘Caps kickstarted Saturday with a terrific performance and 1-0 win over Chivas USA. After going into halftime knotted at 0-0, Kyle Jones curled in a corner kick straight into goal for the rare “Olympico”. The tally withstood until the end for victory.
Whitecaps FC U-18 vs. Chivas USA
1.Marco Carducci; 2.Andre Baires, 6.Eric de Graaf, 16.Quinn Bredin, 17.Jeevin Kang; Marcelo Polisi, 15.Drake Rendle (8.Ali Musse 65’), 21.Dario Conte, 23.Francesco Saporito (45.Munir Saleh 46’); 20.Kyle Jones, 14.Terran Campbell
On Sunday, the Blue and White again battled valiantly but fell just short, 2-1 to LA Galaxy. Down 2-0 at the break, the ‘Caps came out much hungrier in the second half. Some great combination play on the left side of the field between Josh Cuthbert and Terran Campbell led to a cross from Campbell that was finished by Ali Musse. Pressing for an equalizer, the Galaxy goalkeeper stood on his head as the U-18s fell 2-1.
"It was a complete performance," said U-18 head coach Rich Fagan. "Good defending, quality attacking, and an overall good team performance."
Whitecaps FC U-18 vs. La Galaxy
18.William Diaz; 2.Andre Baires, 16.Quinn Bredin, 5.Vaggeli Boucas, 3.Nike Azuma (13.David Norman 45’); 39.Josh Cuthbert, Marcelo Polisi (15.Drake Rendle 75’), 21.Dario Conte (12.William Grayson 65’), 23.Francesco Saporito (8.Ali Musse 65’); 20.Kyle Jones, 14.Terran Campbell
"It was a slow start and the Galaxy came out hungirer," said Fagan. "The second half was a different story. We were unfortunate not to get a better result as their goalkeeper put in a good performance."
U-16
The ‘Caps U-16s recorded an impressive victory over Chivas USA on Saturday after a good showing at Whatcom Community College. The young 'Caps started off impressively and controlled the first 20 minutes of the game, creating some good goal scoring opportunities, but were unfortunate not be in front at halftime
An even start to the restart shifted Vancouver's way when Nicolas Apostol drove past the Chivas back line and hit and unstoppable power effort that hit the underside of the bar, bouncing back up into the roof of the net to give the ‘Caps a well-deserved lead. Chances fell to Camacho and Apostol again in the half but some good goalkeeping prevented the lead from being extended.
"It was an excellent performance against a solid opponent,” said U-16 head coach Adam Day. “I felt the group was very strong today, defensively, offensively and the collective spirit amongst the players was evident, it was a really pleasing team display. And what a way to win the game, a fantastic strike by Nick, no keeper would have saved it.”
Whitecaps FC U-16 vs. Chivas USA
30.Aidan Aylward; 32.Kadin Chung, 31.Frazer Poulter (40.Brendan Skinner 46’), 4.Matthew Baldisimo, 48.Terrell Smith (52.Gabriel Escobar 60’); 28.Thomas Gardner (33.Michael Baldisimo 46’), 13.David Norman, 37.Nicolas Apostol; 36.Cole Morokhovich (43.Chris Guerreiro 75’), 41.Alan Camacho, 38.Noah Verhoeven (44.Nathan Graziano 70’)
The U16s rounded off a good weekend with a win over LA Galaxy on Sunday. After an impressive display against Chivas on Saturday , the young 'Caps were keen to continue on from that performance against their playoff rivals.
The game had an even start with the Galaxy having a lot of possession in their defensive third but with the 'Caps creating most of the better goal scoring opportunities through Daniel Sagno and Cole Morokhovich. The 'Caps were denied what appeared to be two good claims for a penalty and both teams headed into the halftime break at 0-0.
In the second half the 'Caps looked to press early and were rewarded when Sagno's excellent work down the left hand side resulted in his goal bound cross being deflected into the Galaxy net for a 1-0 lead. Lots of chances came as the game fatigued, and the 'Caps continued to press and push and after several goal scoring opportunities, the game was sealed in the dying minutes for a 2-0 win after excellent work from Apostol freed Noah Verhoeven for a tidy finish one-on-one with the keeper.
"Two difficult opponents, two good performances and two great results," said Day after the weekend concluded. "We kept clean sheets in both games and we looked difficult to break down. Over the two matches we created lots of goal scoring opportunities, certainly more than each score line suggests. Overall it was a very encouraging weekend. We will now look forward to hosting Portland next weekend."
Whitecaps FC U-16 vs. LA Galaxy
42.Luciano Trasolini; 32.Kadin Chung, 40.Brendan Skinner, 31.Frazer Poulter, 48.Terrell Smith; 28.Thomas Gardner (52.Gabriel Escobar 50’), 4.Matthew Baldisimo, 33.Michael Baldisimo (44.Nathan Graziano 65’); 36.Cole Morokhovich (37.Nicolas Apostol 50’), 41.Alan Camacho (38.Noah Verhoeven 50’), 27.Daniel Sagno (45.Munir Saleh 46’)
