The Montreal Impact U23 team recently completed its first season in PDL, ending with three straight victories to close out the campaign, finishing with a 7-5-2 record.
“We had an average season in terms of results,” explained U23 head coach Philippe Eullaffroy. “I felt we could have done a little better. With this group of players who hadn’t played a competitive game in almost two years, we needed some time to get used to the level, but once we got there, the season was almost over. It’s a feeling of unfinished business due to the short duration of the league, but we ended on a good note.”
Next year, eight U18 players will graduate to the U23 squad.
“They will join their five teammates who have already been with our team for a few months. We will have astrengthened side with more competition at every position. This healthy competition will be a source of growth for the whole group. Now in a few months, the same competition will force us to make choices.”
However, despite an end to the PDL season, the U23s continue to work, starting with a trip to New Brunswick from August 18 to 23 to play three friendlies against the University of New Brunswick, as well as two all-star teams from the region.
With the U23s recent success, along with the playoff appearances for both the U18 and U16 teams in USSDA play, including the U18s third place finish in all of North America (80 teams) in just its second season in the league, the future looks bright for the Academy.
“This result in California in USSDA showed the quality of the work done by the entire Academy staff and of course the players. It also helps to consolidate the work choices we made in the Academy for nearly three years now. The history of both the Academy and the Impact in MLS is still very young. It’s important to create those solid foundations for the future.”
Two U16 players with All-Stars
In addition to a playoff berth, Impact U16 midfielder Luca Ricci and forward Gabriel Wiethaeuper-Balbinotti were named to the MLS Youth East All- Star team as part of Generation adidas ESP, an MLS Youth academy All-Star event, which brought together three MLS academy all-star teams made up of the best MLS academy players from the West, Central, and East Generation Adidas Cup Conferences.
These three teams trained and competed against each other, as well as Bayern Munich’s U16 academy team, throughout All-Star week in Portland, with games played from August 1 to 5.
