Toronto FC Academy’s Senior team were held to a goalless draw by St. Catharines Wolves on Sunday night but the poinmt was enough to keep the young Reds at the top of the standings.

It was the Academy’s second match in the space of three days and the match was only a minute old when TFC created a good chance for Tristan Jackman who found himself in on goal, but his left footed shot from 12 yards out went wide.

The remainder of the half saw very few chances for either side as the majority of play was contested in midfield. TFC goal keeper Justin Silveira was making his first appearance of the season and he was forced into a diving save in the 38th minute when Simon Murphy crossed a ball to the back post for Stefan Kamendy to direct a header towards goal.

Ashtone Morgan made several runs in the first half as he proved a constant threat down the left flank. In the 41st minute he hit a shot from 35 yards that forced Perri into a diving save as the big keeper managed to get a fingertip on the ball and push it around the post to keep the score leveled at half time.

The second half saw an increase in tempo from TFC Academy and they began to push their opponents back and created several chances. Kevan Aleman in the 74th minute created space for himself at the top of the box and hit a low hard strike that Perri did well to get a hand too.

A few minutes later Jonathan Lao sent in a corner that was cleared to the top of the box for Nicholas Lindsay to take a quick touch and volley but once again Perri was positioned well to tip the ball over the crossbar.

For all the pressure St. Catharine’s endured in the second half, they nearly got the winner when a quick counter attack saw Kamendy race toward TFC’s goal and strike a hard shot that was destined for the far post, but Silveira reacted with a quick diving save to push the ball around the post and out for a corner.

The match ended 0-0 with Claudio Perri and Justin Silveira stealing the show as both goalkeepers made some good saves for their respective teams.

TFC’s next opponent is Hamilton Croatia on Friday night at Brian Timmis Stadium in Hamilton. Kick off is 9:00 p.m.

“Tonight we failed to reach the level of Friday night,” said Academy Senior Team Head Coach Jason Bent. “St. Catharines despite their lowly league position played some decent football in the first half.”

“After the interval we played with a much higher tempo and put the visitors on the back foot. In the end, the effort from the boys was good but we could not break down a team who was content on defending deep and then look for the those quick counter attacking opportunities to expose us.”

“The players and staff were certainly disappointed not to have taken the full points as we feel we dropped two points as opposed to gaining one. We remain top of the league with three games remaining but the chasing pack have a game in hand which will make the run in very interesting as teams vie for playoff positions.”