Six players return from Brazil, Impact hosted New England last Saturday
The Academy season hasn’t slowed down for a second since the start of the US Soccer Development Academy, and it was no different this weekend. On Saturday at Centre Nutrilait, all three Impact teams playing in the USSDA were in action, hosting the New England Revolution’s academy teams.
Then, on Sunday, the Impact U19 team was back at Centre Nutrilait to host Bethesda SC’s U19s. Of course, head coach Philippe Eullaffroy had to manage without six Academy players, five of whom are on his team, as they were in Brazil, representing Canada at the U17 FIFA World Cup.
New England visits Montreal
The Revolution was in town last Saturday, and the Impact U15 kicked off proceedings. Nicolas Gagnon’s men opened the scoring in the 13th minute, with Christopher Jean Leger scoring in a second consecutive game, off a pass from Matteo Schiavoni.
New England wasted no time, answering 10 minutes later. They were able to add another early into the second half, and despite the Impact’s best efforts, the visitors were able to score a third in the 75th.
Jason Di Tullio’s men followed, and the Impact U17 was also able to get on the board early, when Jordan Therrien slotted past the ‘keeper in the 12th minute. In the 55th minute, Medgy Alexandre was able to give his team some breathing space, scoring his sixth goal of the campaign, while Therrien completed his brace in the game’s dying minutes to give the Impact the win.
With the Impact U19 playing twice in two days and missing a few key players, Philippe Eullaffroy’s men put in a valiant effort against the Boston representatives, but ultimately fell 1-0 in the end.
The following day against Bethesda SC, the Impact U19 was able to bounce back and earn a victory. Zachary Fernandez opened the scoring seconds before half-time with his first goal of the campaign. Junior Kabwe scored a second goal for his side in the 53rd, and Enzo Eullaffroy was able to finish things off in second half stoppage time.
Canada U17 falls short in Brazil
It was always going to be a difficult tournament for Canada in Brazil, the Reds being placed in the same group as the hosts. Impact Academy players Benjamin Collins, Keesean Ferdinand, Tomas Giraldo, Sean Rea, Matthew Catavolo and Mouhamadou Kane were all there representing their national side.
Canada opened the tournament with a 4-1 loss against the hosts, and although they were seconds away from grabbing a point against Angola, a late goal with a few seconds left to play gave Angola a 2-1 lead.
With Canada already eliminated at that point, they took on New Zealand in the final group game, suffering a 1-0 loss to close out the tournament.
