MONTREAL – Following its last games of the season at Centre Nutrilait last Saturday, the Impact saw its U16 and U18 teams qualify for the first playoff round of the Development Academy, which will be played from June 22 to June 26, in Westfield, Indiana.
The Impact U18 finished its season with 14 wins, four losses and six draws, scoring a total of 63 goals in the process. They finished second in their group. The Impact U16 ended the season with 13 wins, six losses and seven draws, with a total of 55 goals scored. They finished third in their group.
“It’s a real satisfaction to see that both our teams have qualified for the playoffs,” said the Academy director and U18 interim head coach Philippe Eullaffroy. “It validates the work that was done through the year. The next step is hard because we need to finish first of our groups of four to go through to the quarterfinals. The kids and the staff are determined and excited for this challenge.”
The 32 qualified teams will be split in eight groups. Each team will play three games in five days and the winner of each group will reach the quarterfinals.
Following the draw on Wednesday night, the Impact U18 will face Sockers FC, Sacramento Republic and Texans SC Houston, while the U16 team will be playing against Atlanta United FC, Players Development Academy and the Chicago Fire.
Two wins, two clean sheets to finish the season
This past Saturday, these two Impact Academy teams won with a clean sheet against Continental FC Delco. The Impact U18 won 4-0, while the U16 team won 2-0.
Santiago Gonzalez, Don-Junior Bobe, Raphaël Garcia (2) were the scorers for the elders, while Woobens Pacius scored a brace for the U16s.
“We had to finish strong, in order to send a message to the other teams that the Impact is here to win in the playoffs,” said Impact U18 left-back Daniel Kinumbe.
“It was a good game and we started strong,” said Impact U16 forward Woobens Pacius. “We had trouble finding the back of the net in the beginning, but in the second half it was better and we managed the game. It gives us confidence for the playoffs to finish with a 2-0 win.”
