Toronto FC Academy (2-1-0) return to action in the Canadian Soccer League Friday when they take on Italia Shooters (1-0-1) at Lamport Stadium. Kick off is 8:00 p.m. It's the first of two games this weekend for the Academy who also face Brampton Lions at Victoria Park on Sunday, kick off 2:30 p.m.
TFC Academy coach Jason Bent has been impressed with the way his team has played so far this season, taking six points from the first three games. "I definitely would have taken that," he said. "From the start, we didn't really know how we would match up at the level we were going to be competing at but they've done really well so far."
It is the second weekend in a row that the team has played two games in the space of three days. "It's a tough workload for the boys but I'm trying to use the whole squad to make sure everyone is having a chance to play and share the load," explained Bent. "As kids they're used to playing three or four games over a weekend but that's something we need to move away from because of the level we are playing at."
The Academy's strong start is even more impressive having had less than a month to prepare for the season. "Half the squad was from the open trials and the other half was from the National Training Centre, so I'm quite surprised at how quickly the two sides have got together as a team. The spirit has been good and i'm very pleased with that. We only had two or three weeks to prepare for the season but we have worked very hard on the training ground and done o.k." said Bent.
"When the other teams are playing against us they really don't want to lose. Everyone is gunning to beat TFC Academy, especially as they don't want to lose to kids. We started with a win and then lost the second game, but the players bounced back very well to win last Sunday."
