Last Saturday, there were two major USSDA games between the Montreal Impact Academy teams and the New England Revolution.
The U18s had a big challenge in front of them, as the Revolution was just in front in the standings, unbeaten this season, just like the Bleu-blanc-noir.
Gabriel Balbinotti quickly put the Impact in front when he scored in the fourth minute from a Mathieu Choinière pass. The Revs took the lead in the second half with two quick goals, but Tristano Fasulo found Giovanni Pulitano in front of the box in the last minutes of the game. Pulitano scored the tying goal to make it 2-2.
“It’s always interesting to play against MLS academies and compare ourselves,” said Impact U18 head coach Yoann Damet. “These matches are special for the players. We showed a lot of quality in the first half in our control of the game, but also with our capacity to create opportunities. We would have deserved to lead by a bigger margin at the break. We were slower to start the second half and gave two goals that put us behind. The group showed character and equalized in the end of the game.”
The Impact U16 also gets a draw
The U16s wanted to forget about the first loss of the season, suffered the previous week against Empire United.
Despite controlling the game well, the Impact wasn’t able to take the lead in the first half. A few minutes before the end of the game, Daniel Pacella scored the first goal of the game, but New England immediately replied to make it 1-1 and salvage a point.
“It’s a frustrating result because, despite controlling the game well in the first half, we missed too many opportunities and took bad decisions when crossing the ball,” said Impact U16 head coach Nicolas Gagnon. “We had a tougher second half in the timing of our runs and the accuracy of our passes, which made the game more difficult. We want to remember these lessons for the weeks to come.”
With these results, the U18s remain unbeaten this season with a 3-0-3 record, while the U16s now have a 4-1-2 record. Neither team will play league games next weekend, but will play two games in two days, starting November 12, first against Beachside SC, then against Oakwood SC.
