This past weekend was a good one for the Impact Academy as the Impact U16 registered its first ever wins over one of the best teams in the USSDA, the New York Red Bulls. Meanwhile, the Pre-Academy made its historic debut with its first exhibition matches.
Impact vs Red Bulls
Despite hitting the crossbar in extra time, a 90th minute goal by the Red Bulls was the difference in a highly skilled and intense contest between the two U18 sides on Sunday as the Impact played host at the Stade Saputo synthetic field.
"I am very proud for the team and for the club"
- Wilfried Nancy
“As a coach, it’s hard to be satisfied with a loss, but in this case, we were able to play with quality, intensity and showed a lot of progress against a very good team,” said Impact U18 head coach Jason DiTullio.
Following this 1-0 loss, the U18 team currently sits 4th in the Northeast Division with 29 points, and is holding down a playoff wild card spot, with a number of games in hand.
The Impact U16 side managed to come back from a 1-0 half-time deficit to defeat New York 2-1 in what was the first ever victory against the Red Bulls in USSDA play. It was only the second loss for the Red Bulls this season (15-2-0). Gabriele Balbinotti (70th minute) and David Choinière, on a penalty kick (77th minute), scored for the bleu-blanc-noir, while the game ended 10 vs 10 following an ejection for each team.
“I am very proud for the team and for the club,” said Impact U16 head coach Wilfried Nancy. “It’s just our second year in USSDA and I remember where we started and the games versus the Red Bulls early on. We saw how the team has progressed, but I am not surprised by our development.”
The U16s are now on solid footing in second place in the division, holding down a playoff spot with 35 points.
Impact U23 kicks off PDL soon
Following a 2-1 loss to the pros in an intra-club match last Friday, the Impact U23 continues preparation for its debut in PDL on May 17 at Westchester.
As such, the U23s will take on the Outremont Griffons (PLSQ) this Thursday, in Outremont at 8pm.
Pre-Academy plays its first games
Four of the five Pre-Academy teams (U8 to U12) were victorious in their historic debuts versus the Celtix du Haut-Richelieu youth soccer club.
“This was a historic week with the first ever games for the Pre-Academy,” said Yoann Damet, coordinator of the Pre-Academy and head coach of the U12 team. “All the players, parents and coaches were very pleased and enthusiastic about participating in their first games. The content of the games were very interesting, but also showed us that we have a lot of work to do. A big thank you goes out to the Celtix who was a great host.”
