Toronto FC II aims to take strong start into home opener

Woodbridge’s Luca Uccello looking forward to playing for Vaughan squad

Yorkregion.com
April 15, 2016
By Tim Kelly

When Vaughan’s professional soccer team take the field Sunday for their second season, they’ll do so on the strength of a hot road start.

Toronto FC II are coming off a draw and a win in visits to New York and Montreal and will be looking to make it three in a row undefeated when they take on the Pittsburgh Riverhounds at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Ontario Soccer Centre on Martin Grove Road.

Things are looking up for the junior team of Toronto FC of Major League Soccer. TFC II play in the United Soccer League and had a bumpy inaugural season finishing with just 23 points in 28 games and 11th out of 12 teams in the Eastern Conference.

But head coach Jason Bent, back behind the bench again this season, is understandably pleased by what he’s seen so far from his players and promises the fans who come out Sunday good soccer.
“You’ll (fans) see a team spirit and team togetherness that should come out on the pitch, a work ethic and a desire to score goals, but also and a team that works hard to get the ball back.

“I think you’ll see some decent football,” Bent said.

TFC II actually haven’t lost a game for nearly two months going back to preseason play, Bent said. They were last beaten Feb. 25 by the Ottawa Fury who play in the North American Soccer League, a league above the USL.

So, TFC II are on a roll.

One of the players expected to play a key part for the squad once he’s back to full strength is 18-year-old Woodbridge native Luca Uccello.

Uccello, an attacking central midfielder, is nursing a nagging injury that has kept him out of the first two league games for the team. He played 20 games for TFC II in his first pro season last year and Bent said he expects Uccello to be “integral to what we’ll do this year,” once he gets back.

The 5-6, 152-pound player says his game has been likened to that of former Spanish legend Xavi, the midfield maestro who pulled the string for Barcelona for many years and the Spanish national team.
“I have to keep the ball mostly, create chances, know what’s going on around me ... that’s key for a midfielder,” Uccello said.

A member of the TFC organization since he was 15, Uccello played semi-pro for TFC in League 1 Ontario in 2014 before joining TFC II last year. Before coming to TFC he played minor soccer in Kleinburg helping his team win a national championship.

He said his dad Frank and brother Julian have been major influences in his development over the years but said the training he has received at TFC has been key to his improvement as a player.

As for playing pro in Vaughan, his hometown, Uccello said it’s a great experience.

“There are soccer fans everywhere here. It’s one of the best feelings to play in front of your family and friends,” he said.

And he said his goal is just to become “more consistent. That’s the biggest thing for young players, to improve all the time, to listen to what your coaches say, to try not to have bad games.”

For Bent, Uccello’s most important characteristic as a player is, “his soccer brain. He’s quite comfortable and he has a good engine where he can get up and down the pitch.”

Bent, who played 32 times for Canada in his own soccer career as a pro, is looking forward to a successful season for TFC II. But he said the team isn’t overconfident either.

“We’ve started the season quite well ... but we’re trying to stay humble and just go about our business,” he said.