Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency made a bright start to the New Year with an encouraging 2-0 friendly win over Seattle Sounders FC U-18's in Washington State on Saturday afternoon.
In what was the first meeting between both clubs - at any level - since Whitecaps FC formally became a Major League Soccer club, second-half goals by substitute Kalem Scott and Ben Fisk gave Richard Grootscholten's side the weekend victory at Whatcom Community College in Bellingham, Washington.
Saturday's match was the Residency team's first contest since returning from the holiday break. Unsurprisingly, the extended time off had an impact on the performances of both sides during the opening 45 minutes.
It was after halftime that the young 'Caps started to come into their own and get a firm grip on this Pacific Northwest showdown.
The match winner came on 67 minutes, as Scott converted a Doudou Toure return pass from close range after making an incisive run from his right fullback position.
Three minutes later, Vancouver secured the win with a fine second goal from Fisk. The Vancouver, BC, native cut in from the left flank before slotting home a curling strike from the edge of the Sounders box.
Grootscholten was pleased with the way his team went about Saturday's game, with the Residency squad looking ahead to a busy year of action in 2011.
"It was good to play a team that is also part of an MLS club like ourselves," the Dutchman told whitecapsfc.com. "It's important that our players face this kind of competition because we are able to see what level they are at in comparison to other MLS academy teams. We've been working on a plan, in terms of the way we want to play, and we saw the next step of that on Saturday. I thought we did some things very well and that the players responded well to what we wanted them to do."
Scoring Summary:
67' - VAN - Kalem Scott (Doudou Toure)
70' - VAN - Ben Fisk
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency
Callum Irving (Sean Melvin 45'); La'Vere Corbin-Ong, Ben McKendry, Derrick Bassi, Paris Gee (Kalem Scott 50'); Spencer DeBoice (Hector Garcia 15'), Kevin Cobby, Tim Hickson (Declan Rodriguez 65'), Ben Fisk (Carlos Marquez 75'); Coulton Jackson, Doudou Toure
