The Impact Development Academy teams resumed their season (at last) after inclement weather forced the cancellation of their away games in the last two weeks. On this occasion, both teams were playing two games in two days.
FC Bolts v Montreal Impact
On Saturday, the U18 Impact team played FC Bolts to a 0-0 tie. This was the first league game in two years for goalkeeper Christopher Hansen-Barkun after he recovered from an injury. He made many important saves to get the clean sheet.
The Impact U16 got a similar result, tying 1-1. Woobens Pacius scored first for the Bleu-blanc-noir in the first half, but the home team came from behind in the second half to tie the game.
New England Revolution v Montreal Impact
The next day, the Impact teams were taking on the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium.
Despite conceding the first two goals, the U18s didn’t give up and Gabriel Balbinotti scored before the end of the first half on a Junior Camara pass. Moulay Hamza Kanzi-Belghiti brought both teams level in the second half when he scored on a volley after a feed from Mathieu Choinière. The Revs took the lead again, but the group kept going and Balbinotti scored his second of the game to clinch a 3-3 draw for his team.
The Impact U16 had the challenge of finishing the weekend on a high note, and Nicolas Gagnon’s group delivered. Nassim Fadi scored three minutes in, followed by Woobens Pacius with his second of the weekend minutes later. The team held on to its lead to win 2-0 against the Revolution.
“We had two strong starts, and although we lacked maturity in the second halves, the competitiveness and solidarity shown by the group helped us get a win and a draw,” said Impact U16 head coach Nicolas Gagnon. “When we play two games in two days, we have to exceed our limits and the group showed it could get out of its comfort zone to get good performances, which brings good results. I’m proud of the group even if I know the players can show even more quality.”
Next games
The Impact will play its next Development Academy games on Saturday, March 25, against BW Gottschee Academy’s teams in Brooklyn, New York, at 10:30am.
