In their first trip to the United States, the U15 and U17 groups visited New England Revolution and FC Westchester. After two losses on Saturday, the players reacted with heart the next day to bring back two wins and 6 points in the Flex ranking.
A tough time on Saturday
After a seven-hour bus ride and an overnight stay in a hotel in Massachusetts, both teams discovered the New England Revolution's training facility and its natural grass fields on a cool but sunny morning. It was perfect weather to play soccer and an ideal context for the U17s to build on the positives from last week’s game, also against New England.
Unfortunately the game quickly turned to the advantage of the host team who led 3-0 at halftime. The Montrealers tried to come back stronger in the second half, and brought a red card from the hosts before reducing the score by Antoine N'Diaye. They finally conceded two goals on the counter-attack for a 5-1 loss.
Ambitious after their first win six days earlier at Centre Nutrilait, the U15s dominated their game. But the chances to score were rare against the defense of New England, who were reduced to ten men after a red card for their goalkeeper. The Revs managed to score against the run of play on counter-attack. A 1-0 defeat was difficult to take considering the circumstances.
The players then went quickly into recovery where they were able to take advantage of the New England Revolution's first team locker room, inside Gillette Stadium. But the minds were elsewhere with two games against FC Westchester to follow less than 24 hours later.
A good rebound on Sunday
On Sunday, the U15s started first this time and quickly gained confidence with Eliott Germain-Aubrey's free kick opening the scoring after twenty minutes for his second goal of the season. Faced against a low block again, the Montrealers controlled the ball but struggled to be dangerous. Laurent Santana's acceleration and cross to Ashraf Savadogo at the far post doubled the lead. Final score: 2-0.
The essential was done but with mixed feelings. It was a very informative weekend of learning for everyone," summarized U15 head coach Esteban Landazabal. We had to deal with some unusual situations and play against low blocks. We didn't succeed in this challenge in the first game despite our numerical superiority. We adapted to be more creative in the second game after some adjustments and the players were able to bounce back by showing character and applying the game plan better."
The U17s were aiming to erase the disappointment from the previous game. FC Westchester tested the patience of the team with many chances saved by the goalkeeper or the crossbar. Forward Marc-Alexandre Happi, suffering from cramp, was opportunistic and managed to deliver by scoring the winning goal late in the game to the delight of the entire group on the sidelines.
"Our first game was very frustrating because we showed a lot of qualities with the ball, but we didn't manage the transitions well. We need to be more decisive in both areas, show more intensity and aggressiveness," said head coach Maxime Leconte. I liked the team's reaction in the second game. It's never easy to play a private academy as they are always very motivated to play us."
Next games in MLS NEXT on Sunday, October 2 at Centre Nutrilait against the Boston Bolts at 10am.
