MONTREAL, Quebec – While the first team is in Houston to face the Dynamo, the Impact U21 team (5-1-4) will host Brampton City United (4-3-3), Saturday at 2pm, at the College St-Jean-Vianney Sports Complex. The game is open to the public and admission is free.
The U21s have lost only once in 10 games this season and are currently sitting in 6th place in the Canadian Soccer League standings, but are only four points out of first.
The Impact is coming off of a 2-2 draw with Mississauga Eagles FC on July 9 in a game where the U21s led 2-0 until the Eagles scored a deuce in the game’s final three minutes.
“We’re coming back from a disappointing performance and loss in our last game,” said Impact U21 head coach Philippe Eullaffroy. “It’s a very tight league and we can’t drop too many points if we want to stay close to the top. It’s up to us to do whatever it takes to stay in top tier of the table on Saturday.”
Midfielder Wandrille Lefevre leads the team in scoring with five goals in only eight games played.
Player signing
The Impact U21s have signed midfielder Michael Bilak to a six month contract. The 19 year old former TFC striker had originally contacted the Impact himself in hopes of securing a tryout with the club in early July.
U21 heading to France
Following the game, the Impact U21 will embark on a tour of France on Sunday to play games against the reserve sides of clubs from Ligue 1 and Ligue 2; returning on August 3.
The tour will consist of matchups versus Auxerre, Reims and Troyes, with lodging set up in proximity to the Troyes training centre.
All details of the trip will be available on impactmontreal.com
“It’s very important in the player’s development process to face different types of opposition,” said Eullaffroy. “It helps them in their progress. We will play against players from well-renowned development academies. We will all learn from this experience.”
Schedule
July 27, 2012 vs Troyes
July 29, 2012 vs Auxerre
August 1, 2012 vs Reims
19-player travelling roster
Goakeepers - Jason Beaulieu, Hicham Kettani
Defenders - Tarik Agday, Francesco Augustin, Hugo Lapointe-Sénécal, Amine Meftouh, Maxime Tissot
Midfielders - Yacine Ait-Slimane, Michael Bilak, Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé, Wandrille Lefevre, Philippe Lincourt-Joseph, Zakaria Messoudi, Dominique Morin, Kevin Luarca, Victor Ndiaye
Forwards - Anthony Jackson-Hamel, Charles Joly, Alexander King