2023-05-01 07:00:00
MONTREAL – CF Montreal’s reserve team will play its second season in Ligue 1 Quebec (formerly PLSQ) in 2023. The 22-game regular season will run from this weekend until September 30.
The 11 local games will be played at Center Nutrilait and open to the public free of charge. After its opening game in Saint-Hubert this Sunday, the team will play its first game of the season in Montreal on Saturday May 13 at 2:30 p.m. against Celtix du Haut-Richelieu.
With a group made up of 26 players, aged between 17 and 20, head coach Patrick Viollat and his assistant Sylvain Hascoët will be able to rely on executives such as defender Loïc Cloutier and midfielder Abdel-Malick Daouda, all the two called up during the last first-team training camp.
The workforce has been reinforced with 12 new recruits, while 14 players will play their second season in the Quebec championship. Note also that 15 Quebecers, including nine Montrealers, make up the workforce which mixes 13 different nationalities. There are also Costa Iliadis and Jaylen Vilsaint, whose brothers Ilias Iliadis and Jules-Anthony Vilsaint play in the first team.
“The primary objective of the Academy is to promote its players with the first team,” said head coach Patrick Viollat. We have a good relationship with the pros and more and more of our youngsters are exposed to the top level by regularly attending first team training. The group faced some very good teams during our long pre-season. The progress is notable so this bodes well for the start of the championship. Ligue 1 Québec is a league conducive to the development of our young players and I can’t wait to start playing against the best confirmed players in the province. »
For its preparation, which began in January, the reserve team faced off against university teams, teams from the MLS NEXT PRO (New England Revolution 2, New York Red Bulls 2 and Toronto FC 2), but also the Canadian Premier League (Atlético Ottawa and York United).
“We are very excited to begin this second season among the elite of Quebec soccer,” said Académie director Marinos Papageorgopoulos. We have a group of young players with a lot of potential and we can’t wait to see them develop during this competition, which is the best in the province. This acquired experience will be essential for them on their way to a professional career and to eventually join the first team. »
Ligue 1 Québec is the province’s semi-professional championship which is equivalent to the third division at the federal level. In 2022, CF Montreal finished the season sixth in the standings and just outside the playoffs with a 12-8-2 record.
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