It's <a href="http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/tags.php?tag=residency+week" target="_blank"><i>"Residency Week"</i> once again here on AFTN.
Last year's <a href="http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/tags.php?tag=residency+week" target="_blank"><i><u>Residency Week</u></i></a> proved to be very popular and it's one of the features we most enjoy putting together, showcasing the success of the Vancouver Whitecaps Residency program. So much so that we're going to all Beatles on you and have <i>eights days a week</i>.
The Caps U18s are going to be our main focus on AFTN these next eight days and we have a lot planned for you once again, but don't worry, we'll still be bringing you any breaking news about the MLS Caps as well.
So what do we have in store?
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Coming up this week are interviews with Residency players, and Canadian U17 heroes, <b>Marco Bustos</b> and <b>Jordan Haynes</b>. We'll be running interviews with them on the site about the Caps' season, the playoffs and their World Cup qualifying exploits back in April.
We'll have a special Residency themed podcast on Wednesday where we'll hear from two of the key players for the U18s in their quest to land a national championship before they head off to further their development in NCAA, <b>Brody Huitema</b> and <b>Spencer DeBoice</b>.
Back to the written pieces and with the Residency program moving their base to be out of UBC from the fall, we chat with <b>Bobby Lenarduzzi</b> about the importance of that move to the Caps and what it will mean for the young players to be using the same facilities as the first team.
One of the Residency products come good of course is Russell Teibert and we'll have a look back on his rise from the program to the first team.
We're also going to run our in-depth, two part 2013 "Ones To Watch" top ten countdown of the best young Caps talent at the moment, and possibly a couple of other surprises too, as we aim to bring you unparalleled coverage of the Whitecaps Residency program.
But let's kick things off with the first of two articles today as we look back at the 2012/13 United States Soccer Development Academy (USSDA) season and how the Caps U18s reached the playoffs once again.
Check back later tonight for our look at the challenges that they will face now that they're there, in our preview of the group games. And coming up tomorrow we get the playoff thoughts of Head Coach <b>Gordon Forrest</b>.
The 2011/12 season was a tremendous debut in the USSDA for the Vancouver Whitecaps Residency teams.
As the first Canadian sides to enter the system, they set a high standard for others to follow and for the current crop to continue the legacy.
Both the Caps U18s and the U16s won their 'West Conference - Northwest Division' Championships, and they did so in some style. In the playoffs, the U18s made 'Finals Week' after a tough battle in the Texas heat and losing their first group game, before eventually losing out 3-2 in the Championship game against Dallas in July. The U16s nearly joined them in 'Final Week', agonisingly losing their playoff group by a goal difference of two.
Last season was the end of an era in many ways. A lot of the U18s we'd watched grow moved on to college and other pastures new. Two of them, Caleb Clarke and Bryce Alderson were added to the MLS squad as homegrown players. Many U16s made the step up to the next level and a new crop of talent came through the ranks.
The 2012/13 season has been a rebuilding one for the U16s. Craig Dalrymple dropped down an age group to coach the team and after losing so much talent at the end of the previous season and the promotion of some of the top current talent to the U18s for this one, the decision was made to blood a lot of the 97s and 98s. The result has been a challenging season, which saw the guys miss out on the playoffs, finishing sixth in their Division with a record of 8 wins, 3 draws and 17 losses from their 28 games.
The most goals they scored in a game was six, when they beat Sporting Kansas City 6-3 in the Florida showcase on December 2nd. The most goals they conceded in a game was four. They did that on four occasions, going down 4-1 to Strikers FC and in their biggest losses of the season, losing 4-0 away to Seattle and Portland and at home to Crossfire Premier in the last game of the season. Their biggest win of the season came on May 5th when they beat Santa Cruz Breakers Academy 5-0 at home.
It may have been a tough season but it has also been a great learning one for the team. They have shown improvements and finished the season strongly with two wins from their last four games. The group will be better for it all and more competitive next season and will also head to Dallas for 'playoff week' to take part in the USSDA showcase.
There are a number of exciting players to keep your development eye on from this 96 to 98 group, amongst them Canadian U17 player of the year, goalkeeper Marco Carducci (pictured); fellow Canadian U17 stars Marco Bustos, Matthew Chow, Alex Comsia and Jordan Haynes; eight goal striker Dario Zanetta; and midfielders Thomas Gardner and David Norman Jr.
This season has been another banner one for the U18s. A second consecutive West Conference - Northwest Division Championship was secured by six points in the end, but it wasn't all plain sailing for the guys and they struggled a little in the early stages of the season, as the new look side tried to gel and find their groove.
They only won one and lost three of their first five matches before the appointment of new Head Coach <a href="http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/content.php?3836-Gordon-Forrest-chats-with-AFTN" target="_blank"><u>Gordon Forrest</u></a>. He officially took over for the mid November game against De Anza Force, kicked off with a win and the team hasn't looked back since under his tenure and coaching methods, bringing a number of the top U16s into the mix early on with one eye already on the future, and suffering only three further losses in their remaining 23 matches.
The team are heading in to the playoffs on the back of a 12 match unbeaten streak, winning ten of their last eleven and they have only lost one game in 2013.
They eventually finished with a record of 19 wins, 3 draws and 6 losses from their 28 games, scoring 87 goals and conceding 38, averaging 2.14 points from their games played (PPG). They kept nine clean sheets and only failed to score once all season.
The PPG stat is the key in determining playoff placings and it was good enough to give the Caps a top group seeding in 8th position.
That phenomenal 87 goals for total was the highest of any side in the USSDA, at any age range. From that total 44 of the goals were provided by star strikers Brody Huitema and Yassin Essa.
Brody was only able to play in 22 of the games due to a wrist injury he suffered, but he still managed to bang in 26 goals for a 1.18 goals per game average. Last season, Caleb Clarke set the regular season alive with 24 goals in 23 appearances and a 1.04 average.
Everyone was waiting to see how Brody would do in moving up another age level and he was really on fire, finishing as the highest scorer in the whole of the USSDA and making his MLS Reserves debut for the Caps.
Yassin contributed 18 goals and saw impressive minutes for the Caps in Reserve and PDL action and it will be interesting to see where his next development stage takes him.
The most goals they scored in a game was nine in a huge 9-0 away romp over San Juan SC on January 19th. This was unsurprisingly also their biggest win of the season, although it was closely followed by an 8-0 hammering of Santa Cruz Breakers Academy at UBC on May 5th.
The most goals they conceded in a game was six when they lost a horrible game 6-3 to Portland Timbers at South Surrey Athletic Park on December 16th. It really was the nightmare before Christmas, especially as they had been 2-0 up after 21 minutes. That three goal defeat was also their biggest loss along with a 3-0 defeat at Strikers FC in the second game of the season.
Like last season, a number of Residency stalwarts have reached the end of the youth development line and are moving on to pastures new.
Spencer DeBoice has impressed many, coming in to a rich vein of form since the turn of the year and also impressing at PDL level. He will be moving to NCAA Division 2 action with Simon Fraser University, as the Clan look to go better than their 'Final Four' spot last year and bring home the Championship.
Teammate Brody Huitema is heading east for NCAA Division 1 action with Duke Blue Devils, whilst goalkeeper Sean Melvin is heading to North Carolina Tar Heels. Carlos Marques is staying local with Langara we're led to believe.
Highly rated defender Sam Adekugbe (pictured) has another year with the U18s, but after impressing with the Reserves, I wouldn't be surprised to see him get the chance of a full MLS contract, although we are likely to still see him in USSDA action as well.
As always, we wish all the departees well and we'll be keeping a close eye on their footballing futures.
For now though, all of the attention turns to playoff action and everyone is looking to see if the Whitecaps can go one better than last year's U18 Championship game.
They're in a tough group and the pressure will be on in the heat and humidity of Dallas. We'll bring you all the details of what lies ahead for them tomorrow.
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