The Impact U16 and U18 teams made their United States Soccer Development Academy (USSDA) season debuts on the right foot, last Sunday on the Stade Saputo synthetic field, beating the Empire Revolution.
Samuel Duffek scored this season’s first goal for the Impact U18 in the 18th minute, joined by Thomas Meilleur-Giguère and Pierre Lamothe on their way to a 3-2 victory.
“It was a good game to start the season,” said U18 head coach Jason Di Tullio. “I felt that we were a little nervous at the beginning, which is normal. I liked our creativity and intensity, but there is still a lot of work to be done to improve the chemistry of the group. It was important to win the game, but also that our players improve after every game for the entire season.”
XI Impact U18:
Yann-Alexandre Fillion, Simon Lemire, Abdoulaye Samaké, Thomas Meilleur-Giguère, Aron Mkungilwa, Marco Dominguez (cap), Nevello Yoseke, Heikel Jarras, Jimmy-Shammar Sanon, Samuel Duffek, Alexandar Kulic
The U16s did their older counterparts better by shutting out the Empire Revolution 3-0 on goals by Don Junior Bobe, Alexis Stevens and Mouhamed Touré.
“I am satisfied with the attitude of our group. We made the game easy on ourselves because of how they approached this game and willingness to do the right things,” explained head coach Wilfried Nancy. “It’s interesting for us to start things off with a win, which will help with the group’s confidence. I was anxious to kick off this season with this group and I’m not surprised that this group worked well together. I am pleased with the discipline we showed offensively, which helped us dominate.”
XI Impact U16:
Charles Desrochers, Mouhamed Touré, Antoine Marques, Steven Alberici, Jackson Pickard, Mathieu Choinière, Moulay-Hamza Kanzi-Belghiti, Santiago Gonzalez, Alexis Stevens, Don Junior Bobe, Gabriel Wiethaeuper-Balbinotti (cap)
The teams’ next three games will be on the road, notably with a back-to-back on September 20 and 21 versus NJCSA and the Players Development Academy, the U18 finalists from last season.
In other news, the U14s also played their counterparts from the Revolution Empire. The Impact won 2-1 in a friendly matchup.
