Have we reached the point where we’re allowed to be surprised by a TFC II loss yet?

So drastic has the turnaround in the Young Reds’ fortunes been this year, they were riding a record-breaking five-game unbeaten run going into this game in Lansing. They were also just three wins away from topping the Jason Bent-era high of seven. After the final whistle last Wednesday, they were still three wins away from that record.

When the kids had the pleasure of whomping Ignite 3-0 at the BTG a couple weeks back, the visitors were without their two most dynamic forwards: Kaizer Chiefs youth product Tumi Moshobane and Haitian U-20 prospect Selso Saint-Duc.

The one-time Glamour Boy didn’t contribute anything concrete on this occasion, though he did threaten to go full Kepa Arrizabalaga when his coach dared to sub him off in the 85th minute. It was one-man counter-attack by Selso from midway inside his own half that ultimately ended the streak.

Hopefully TFC II’s recent troubles with Haitians don’t bode ill for Canada’s Gold Cup quarter final – the kid who put three past Silva for North Texas was a U-20 teammate of Selso’s – but at least Forward Madison don’t have any Petit Grenadiers on their books.



O Hai, Bosko!

As if the first team struggling for players wasn’t enough, Rabasca got a taste of Vanney’s Gold Cup-induced headache, courtesy of the US Soccer Development Academy play-offs. Perruzza, Mohammed and Petrasso were all called up to the U-18/19 squad, and the depth chart was pretty well gutted.

Depth issues were compounded by presumed injuries to Trev Swartz and Jelani Peters, as Robert Boskovic had to be parachuted in from Ottawa to help make up numbers.



The Brampton Tiger Goes Hungry

Short-handed as they were, the kids didn’t just lay down and die for the Spark Plugs. Not initially, at any rate. For what it’s worth, they were actually the stronger team for first half-hour or so. The main issue seemed to be a lack of ideas of how turn possession into goals without Jordan Perruzza.

The attacking strategy seemed to boil down to punting the ball up to Jacob Shaffelburg, and to a lesser extent Griff Dorsey, in the hopes they might conjure something up for Shaan Hundal. Of the few long-balls that did reach Shaff (mostly from stand-in left-back Dante Campbell), almost nothing came of them.

When the best chance the Nova Scotian had to Hundal feed arose, the newly-minted homegrown player opted to dribble to the far corner of the penalty area instead, allowing Lansing to double their numbers in the box.

Not to suggest the Brampton Tiger was guaranteed to score that chance-that-wasn’t. Channelling Tosaint Ricketts’s old ‘shaky starter’ routine, his only recorded shot all game came off a 21st-minute corner from Griff, which he headed off the crossbar.



Waja On Notice?

One of the few positive takeaways from this game for TFC II – and something I’d been waiting to see almost as much as the player himself – was the professional debut of Mehdi Essoussi. As a central midfielder, he’s unlikely to be used as an impact sub once integrated into the rotation, but he tried his damnedest to play that role.

Having replaced Gideon Waja in the 68th minute, he quickly became the biggest threat to Lansing’s lead, which might tell you something about the second half Hundal had. For instance, within five minutes of coming on, he came an aerial duel away from volleying home a Shaffelburg cross.

Assuming the lad isn’t sent back down to the U-19s upon Okello’s return, it’ll be interesting to see what impact Mehdi’s arrival has on Gideon Waja’s minutes. Not that the Ghanaian was fully fit until a month into the season, he’s yet to show out despite the ostensibly lower level of competition.