3 Toronto FC Academy teams were in action against academy teams from around MLS last weekend in DC.
The first round of games in the 2013-14 Generation Adidas Cup’s Eastern region took place, and Coach Anthony Capotosto guided a roster that combined players from the Junior Academy and the U16 sides. Their first game against New York ended in a 1-1 tie (New York won a shootout). Steven Furlano scored off a pass from Luca Uccello on a quick free kick for TFCA’s goal in what Capotosto described as “the toughest game we played over the weekend, against a talented and physical New York team.” The team’s next game was a 3-1 win over DC. Zoom Langwa scored two first half goals, then Furlano and Uccello scored a carbon copy of the previous game’s goal to secure the full 3 points.
The Generation Adidas team wrapped up the weekend with a friendly, which gave the staff a chance to rest some starters and assess the whole squad. They lost 1-0 to the Philadelphia Union youth side, who they will face again in the next round of games in Montreal in October. That game, along with fixtures against Columbus and Montreal, will conclude the round-robin and determine the qualifier for the international final of the Generation Adidas Cup. Toronto FC sit one point out of the lead in the group, with 4 points from 2 games.
The Academy U14s played three friendlies on the trip, and came away victorious in all 3. They opened with a 3-0 win over DC United. U14 coach Rick Titus was pleased with the performance and what it meant for the team’s development. “Our overlap runs and connective play was very good on the day, as this was an area we tried to improve and focus on,” said Titus. Cyrus Rollocks, Zachary Zitoli and Andron Kagramanyan scored TFCA’s goals.
The U14s followed that up with a 9-0 whitewashing of Columbus. Cyrus Rollocks had a hat trick, Richie Ennin and Zachary Zitoli each scored twice, and Fabio Neves and Joseph Vitulli also found the net. Ennin had two more markers in the team’s final game, a 2-1 defeat of Philadelphia. Alex Mansour saved a penalty with 10 minutes remaining to preserve the win for TFC.
The third team in action were the U13s, who came home with 2 wins and 1 loss. In their first friendly, they dropped a 1-0 decision to DC, despite dominating the match and creating 35 chances to DC’s 2. TFCA rebounded in their next game, a 3-0 win over Chicago. “Our class and technique proved to be way too much for Chicago over 90 minutes,” said coach Gianni Cimini, who got dominant play in midfield from Chris Castillo and Stefan Yeates and goals from Ovonte Mullings, Jordan Faria, Isaac Nichols. The team ended the trip with a 6-0 blanking of Columbus; the Crew youth rarely even crossed midfield. Faria had three more goals; Dumari Ewart, Omar DaNaia and Kunle Dada-Luke chipped in with singles.
“It was a wonderful weekend for TFC. We don’t get a chance to measure ourselves against MLS sides very often,” enthused TFC Academy Director Thomas Rongen. “It’s not always about the results, but the way we went about doing our business on the field was pretty impressive.”
