Photo: Sergio Camargo struck the winning goal for Under-19s against Crew Soccer Academy.
Toronto FC Academy Under-15, 17 & 19 teams are each on a three-game tour of Columbus this week. Their first night started smoothly on Thursday with two straight 2-1 wins over Crew Soccer Academy for the older groups. The U15s were held to a draw.
Hamilton & Camargo Star In U19 Victory
The U19s were up first with 16-year old Jordan Hamilton scoring inside three minutes against U18 Crew. Columbus evened things up at the 10th, but 17-year old Sergio Camargo put the Reds up for good at the 72nd minute for the 2-1 victory.
Both Hamilton and Camargo were invited to train with the TFC first team this preseason.
Head coach Danny Dichio said the match contested “on a roasting hot Columbus night was a good workout for the team against a Crew side who are halfway through their season.”
“The boys acquitted themselves well and the majority showed a good attitude. There is stiil some major work to do on the technical & tactical side with this newly assembled team, but we are moving in the right direction.”
U17 Team Close Out First Outdoor Match
The U17 team followed up with a 2-1 victory of their own over U16 Crew.
Jimmy Brennan’s boys received strikes from Mark Wadid at the 24th minute and then Braden Culver at the 65th gave Toronto the 2-0 lead. About 10 minutes later the Crew struck to make things interesting at 2-1 but the Reds were able to hold the lead.
“We attacked with purpose and were rewarded with a great goal from Mark Wadid after some good build up play,” Brennan told TorontoFC.ca after the match.
“In the second half we started well but faded toward the end,” the coach admitted, though he expected as much in preseason mode. “This was our first time playing on grass this year and our first outdoor match.”
U15s Held To A Draw Against Older Side
Academy U15s managed a 1-1 draw against a ’96 Crew Pre-Academy team, who came out strong after seeing older Columbus sides drop two straight decisions to the Reds.
Crew took the lead at the 16th minute, but Toronto responded nine minutes later through forward Diego Belanger.
Assistant coach Michael Stefano felt “the opponent wanted to make the game a physical battle, but our young boys continued to look for footballing solutions.”
Toronto reacted to falling behind by “sending wave after wave of attack putting the opponent's back line under immense pressure,” Stefano said, “until finally we had a breakthrough with a wonderful individual effort by Belanger against an older and more physical side.”
Friday Matches
Toronto’s U17 squad will be up first Friday afternoon against Crew U16 MRL (Midwest Regional League). Then the U19 boys face 93/94 Crew Pre-Academy. The U15s once again have the evening match against Crew Challenger U15.
