Preview
Barça Academy vs. Portland Timbers
Saturday, Nov. 18 – 9:00 am, 11:30 am, 2 pm (MT)
Casa Grande, AZ | Grande Sports World
Barça Academy is set to host the Portland Timbers in U.S. Development Academy action on Saturday, November 18th at Grande Sports World in Casa Grande, AZ. All three of the academy sides face their first matchup of the year against the Major League Soccer academy from Oregon.
The U-15s will play the first match of the day, kicking off at 9 a.m. Barça Academy will look to bounce back after a tough loss to Albion SC in San Diego, CA the previous weekend. The 3-0 loss to the Southern California club ended the U-15s’ three-match winning streak. The three goals they conceded were the first goals they’ve conceded since September 24th.
Barça Academy will face quite the challenge if they want to restart a winning streak. The Timbers U-15s looked strong in a 2-0 win over Nomads last weekend and will surely enter the match full of confidence. The danger man for Portland is Lance Friedrich, who is the Timbers leading scorer this season with four goals in six starts. He is in good form as well, having scored the opening goal of the match in the win over Nomads.
Following the U-15s, the U-17s will kick off their 11:30 a.m. matchup against the Portland Timbers full of confidence after one of their best performances of the season. Despite dominating possession and creating multiple chances, Barça Academy was unable to break the deadlock. Despite this, coach Sean McCafferty was pleased with the performance.
“I was extremely proud of the performance and the goals/results will come if we continue to play with the quality we showed in this game,” said McCafferty. “We will take the point away from home and look forward to hosting Portland Timbers in what will be another good test for the players”.
The test that Barça Academy’s U-17s will face comes in the form of a Portland Timbers side currently in a Wildcard position in the Northwest Division. Their attack is in scintillating form, having scored five goals in each of the last two matches. Barça Academy’s defense will need to be on point to stem Portland’s potent attack.
The final match of the day will see Barça Academy’s U-19s and Portland Timbers matchup that kicks off at 2 p.m. The U-19s didn’t play against Albion last weekend, so they should be well rested ahead of their contest against a Portland side currently sitting fourth in the Northwest Division. Barça Academy’s U-19s are just six points out of a playoff place, with a game in hand over the team currently occupying the last playoff spot in the Southwest division.
The U-19s will face a tough test in their push towards the playoffs. Despite their position in the table, Portland is the second-highest scoring team in the Northwest division. The Barça Academy U-19s will look to keep the high-powered Portland Timbers offense at bay in their quest for a statement victory at Grande Sports World.
Want to be apart of Barça Academy? Register for camps at:
https://grandesportsacademy.regfox.com/new-gsa-soccer-tryouts-summer-camps
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