U-14 Boys: Local North Mississauga Panthers atop group A
North Mississauga Panthers head coach Rick Titus wasn’t satisfied with his team’s performance in its opening game of the U-14 Cup at the 2012 National Club Championships, despite a 2:0 win.
He knew his club was capable of playing far better and on Friday, it did just that, defeating New Brunswick 4:0 at the Soccer Centre to finish the round robin section of the tournament with a 2-0 record.
“It’s great because now we know we’re going to the quarterfinals and we got a chance at nationals,” said North Mississauga forward Nicholas Pasutto, who scored twice in the contest.
The Panthers will face Surrey United (BC) Saturday at 10.00 local time at the Soccer Centre and Titus is confident in his club’s chances of advancing further.
“Traditionally, (BC) has had good teams and it’s going to be tough for us,” he said. “We’ve go to stick to our guns. When we pressure up high, we do a good job of winning the ball up high. We’ve got to keep getting chances on net and make sure we finish them.”
North Mississauga finished its opportunities early against New Brunswick, as a Matthew Morris pass lead to a breakaway for Pasutto, who buried the ball past the goalkeeper just seven minutes in.
Cyrus Rollocks made it 2-0 in the 33rd minute and Liam Chong Tai and Pasutto scored a minute apart in the latter stages of the second half to ice the victory.
“In the second half, I put in some kids that can play the ball a little bit,” Titus said. “They’re not as physical, but they’re a bit more technically sound and it worked out in our favor.”
New Brunswick head coach Mark Dobson said his team never recovered after Pasutto’s early goal.
“We didn’t concede early in the first game and this one we did,” he said. “We’re not likely to score many goals and we knew it was going to be an uphill battle for us. The first game we were in it until the end. This game was over very early.”
Despite New Brunswick not a recording a victory through its first two games, Dobson says his club is fully capable of getting one on Saturday when it plays Mount Pearl (NL) at 14.00 local time at the Soccer Centre.
“We showed in the first game we can compete,” he said. “We have no fear of any of the teams, we respect them but we’ll go out there and try and play some good soccer and create more opportunities.”
Other results:
Inter 98 (AB) defeated Sherwood-Parkdale Rangers (PE) 5:0
Winnipeg South End United (MB) beat Halifax City (NS) 5:0
Lanaudiere –Centre (QC) won against Surrey United (BC) 4:1