Trois-Rivières Attak was a Canadian soccer team that played three seasons in the Canadian Soccer League. They formally served as a reserve and academy team for the

USL First Division The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system ...

side Montreal Impact. The club was an instant success within the league, winning titles in all three seasons when it competed in the CSL. In 2010, when the Montreal Impact founded their own

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

the team ceased operating as a farm team, because of the ended cooperation with the Impact; they announced that they would take a one-year absence from the Canadian Soccer League in 2010 and return for the 2011 season. The team did not return for the 2011 season.

History

On November 15, 2006, the Montreal Impact, along with

Laval Dynamites Laval Dynamites (french: Dynamites de Laval) were a Canadian soccer team, founded in 1997. The men's team (founded in 2001) was a member of the Canadian Professional Soccer League/Canadian Soccer League, the highest professional soccer league i ...

owner Tony Ianitto announced the creation of a feeder team in

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River across from the city of ...

, and that the name would be chosen from the result of a contest. The club's home matches were played at the Stade de l'UQTR located at the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivieres campus. The name Trois-Rivières Attak FC and the logo were presented to the public on January 17, 2007, together with the first signings of CSL veterans Nicolas Lesage and Jean-Louis Bessé. In the same press conference the new expansion club unveiled their first head coach

Marc Dos Santos Marc Dos Santos (born May 26, 1977) is a Canadian soccer coach who is an assistant coach for Los Angeles FC in Major League Soccer. He was previously the head coach of Montreal Impact in D2 Pro League and the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, was North ...

, who coached previously in the Ligue de Soccer Elite Quebec. For their inaugural season Trois-Riveres received sponsorship from Carlsburg and Puma. While Le Nouvelliste, and

Énergie Énergie is a Canadian radio network of French-language mainstream rock outlets broadcasting throughout the province of Quebec and portions of eastern Ontario, in Eastern Canada. They offer a personality-driven mix of francophone and anglophone c ...

provided media coverage for the team. Dos Santos mobilized a roster with players of CSL and USL experience acquiring the likes of Darko Kolić,

Andrew Olivieri Andrew Olivieri (born March 27, 1981) is a Canadian professional football manager and former soccer player who is currently the head coach of the Canadian men's under-20 team. He played as a goalkeeper for several clubs in the United States and ...

, Paul Moran,

Sita-Taty Matondo Sita-Taty Matondo (born December 28, 1984, in Kinshasa, Zaire) is a Congolese-born Canadian former soccer player who played the majority of his career in Quebec with clubs in the Ligue de Soccer Elite Quebec, USL A-League/First Division, and ...

, and Rachid Madkour. The Attak kicked off their season with a 0–0 draw against the

Toronto Croatia Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor ...

on May 13, 2007. A week after

Elkana Mayard Elkana Mayard (born May 17, 1982) is a Canadian former soccer player who played as a defender. Career Born in Montreal, Quebec, Mayard started his career in 2002 with Racing de Montréal-Nord, and SC Panellinios Montréal in the Ligue de Soccer ...

scored the club's first goal in history in a 2–1 defeat to the

Serbian White Eagles Serbian White Eagles Football Club ( sr, Фудбалски клуб Српски бели орлови / ''Fudbalski klub Srpski beli orlovi'') is a Canadian soccer team. The team is a member of the Canadian Soccer League, an unsanctioned soc ...

Centennial Park Stadium Centennial Park Stadium is a 2,200 seat capacity stadium in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is primarily used for soccer, track and field, football and occasionally for kabaddi. The park is also used for the ROPSSAA football finals and the PSAA (Pri ...

. The club were a surprise in their inaugural season by being competitive in the CSL right from the beginning. In their first season they contributed significantly to the overall increase in attendance of league matches with Trois-Rivieres and Serbian White Eagles leading. The Attak performed outstandingly in the

2007 Open Canada Cup The 2007 Open Canada Cup was the 10th edition of the Canadian Soccer League's open league cup tournament running from July through early September. Trois-Rivières Attak defeated Columbus Clan F.C. 3-0 in the final played at Cove Road Stadium, ...

tournament claiming their first trophy in the club's history – defeating Columbus Clan F.C. in a 3–0 victory. The team concluded the season by finishing second in the National Division enabling them to secure a playoff berth. In the postseason the Attak faced the defending 2006 champions the

Italia Shooters York Region Shooters is a Canadian association football, soccer team, that plays in the Canadian Soccer League. The Shooters played their home games at the St. Joan of Arc Turf Field in the City of Vaughan, Ontario. The team's colours were blue ...

in the quarterfinals and advanced to the next round by defeating Italia by a score of 3–0. Their playoff run came to an end in the semi-finals losing to a score of 2–1 to the Serbian White Eagles. At the CSL Awards Banquet, Attak forward Nicolas Lesage was awarded the

Canadian Soccer League MVP Award The Canadian Soccer League Awards is an annual awards ceremony for several individual performances at the end of the season. The event was established in 1998, when the Canadian National Soccer League merged with the stillborn Ontario Professional S ...

, and the

CSL Golden Boot The Canadian Soccer League Golden Boot is an annual Canadian soccer award given to the top goalscorer for each season in the Canadian Soccer League. The Golden Boot has been awarded since 1998 when the league debuted as the Canadian Professional ...

becoming the first person in CSL history to win two individual awards in a season. Karl Ouimette2

In 2008, Dos Santos resumed his coaching duties and maintained the majority of his 2007 team roster, but signed young prospects like

Pierre-Rudolph Mayard Pierre-Rudolph Mayard (born February 21, 1988), commonly known as Papouche, is a Canadian soccer player who plays as a forward for AS Blainville in the Première Ligue de soccer du Québec. Club career Early career Mayard began his career in ...

, Cristian Nuñez, and had at his disposal Montreal Impact reserve players. The Attak had a remarkable start to the season by recording a 13-game undefeated streak. The Attaks persistent performance led to their second piece of silverware the National Division title and finished with the best defense record allowing the fewest goals. The club had an outstanding postseason defeating St. Catharines Wolves in the quarterfinals and thrashing

Portugal FC SC Toronto was a Canadian soccer team, founded in 1994. The team was a member of the Canadian Soccer League, and played its final home games at Lamport Stadium in the city of Toronto, Ontario. The club found success early on since its incep ...

7–0 in the semi-finals. In the finals they met the Serbian White Eagles, the club which ousted the Attak in the previous playoffs. The match was a 2–2 draw which led to a penalty shootout which resulted in a 2–1 victory in penalties for the White Eagles. At the conclusion of the season the Attak were awarded the Fair Play and Respect Award and Andrew Olivieri was awarded the CSL Goalkeeper of the Year. On March 12, 2009, Marc Dos Santos was appointed the assistant coach for the Montreal Impact and was replaced by

Philippe Eullaffroy Philippe Eullaffroy (born January 9, 1964) is a French football manager and former footballer who played as a forward. He is currently the performance manager for Quebec Soccer. Playing career Eullaffroy played professional football with Troye ...

. Eullaffroy made major changes to the Attak roster replacing the majority of veterans with younger players – only four senior players from the previous season were given contracts. The Attak had another tremendous season defending their National Division title and for the second year in a row allowed the fewest goals throughout the season. In the postseason history would repeat itself again as the Attak would face once more the Serbian White Eagles in the finals. The Attak would end up winning their first CSL Championship by defeating the International Division and defending CSL champions the Serbian White Eagles by a score of 3–2 on penalty kicks. Head Coach Philippe Eullaffroy was awarded the CSL Coach of the Year, and

Reda Agourram Reda Agourram (born October 12, 1990 in Rabat), is a Moroccan born-Canadian former soccer player. Career Professional Agourram began playing soccer with Montreal-Concordia in 2008 in the Ligue de Soccer Elite Quebec. In 2009, he signed with Tro ...

was awarded the CSL Rookie of the Year and the CSL Golden Boot. On March 23, 2010, the Trois-Rivières Attak announced a one-year sabbatical from competition, due to the end of cooperation between the Montreal Impact which acquired a new franchise in the CSL by the name of the

Montreal Impact Academy Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

. Team owner Tony Iannitto waived his territorial and players' rights and relinquished the players' rights to the Montreal Impact.

Home stadium

The Attak played their home games at the Stade de l'UQTR on the campus of the

Université du Québec The University of Quebec (French: ''Université du Québec'') is a system of ten provincially run public universities in Quebec, Canada. Its headquarters are in Quebec City. The university coordinates 300 programs for over 87,000 students. The ...

and sometimes indoor at Centre Sportif Alphonse-Desjardins in

Honours

* Canadian Soccer League: 1 ::Winners (1): 2009 ::Runners-up (1): 2008 *

Open Canada Cup The Open Canada Cup was an annual knock-out cup competition in Canadian Soccer. The competition was first held during the 1998 season as the CPSL League Cup. It was organized by the Canadian Soccer League (formerly the Canadian Professional So ...

: 1 ::2007 * Canadian Soccer League National Division Champions ::Winners (2): 2008, 2009

Year-by-year

Former coaches

All-time leaders

Most appearances

Most goals scored

Notable players

Canada *

Félix Brillant Félix Brillant (born September 9, 1980 in Brossard, Quebec) is a Canadian former soccer player. Career Youth and Amateur Brillant began his career in the youth system of French team AS Cannes, but never appeared for the senior side. He returne ...

* Kevin Cossette *

Massimo Di Ioia Massimo Di Ioia (born June 18, 1987 in Saint-Léonard, Quebec) is a Canadian former soccer player. Di Ioia was part of the Canadian National Under 20 team and Olympic Under 23 team. He played the majority of his career in the Canadian province of ...

* David Fronimadis * Charles Gbeke * Nicolas Lesage *

* Cristian Nuñez *

* Karl Ouimette * Jon Paul Piques *

António Ribeiro '' Dom'' António II Ribeiro (21 May 1928 – 24 March 1998) was a Portuguese cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, who was Patriarch of Lisbon from 1971 until his death in 1998. Born at São Clemente de Basto, Celorico de Basto, son of Jos� ...

* Alex Surprenant * Maxim Tissot Antigua and Barbuda * Peter Byers Bolivia * Roland Vargas-Aguilera France * Cédric Joqueviel Ivory Coast * Jean-Louis Bessé Jamaica * Fabian Dawkins Morocco * Hicham Aâboubou * Rachid Madkour Romania * Andrei Bădescu * Mircea Ilcu United States *

Tony Donatelli Anthony "Tony" Donatelli (born June 7, 1984 in Glenside, Pennsylvania) is an American soccer player who plays as a midfielder for the Baltimore Blast of the Major Arena Soccer League. Career Youth and College Donatelli played for Hunter Soccer ...

* Paul Moran *

Andrew Weber Andrew Weber (born August 9, 1983) is an American soccer player who currently plays for Sporting Arizona FC. Career Youth and College Weber played college soccer at the University of New Mexico where he holds UNM's career records for games ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Trois-Rivieres Attak CF Montréal Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) teams Canadian reserve soccer teams Soccer clubs in Quebec Sport in Trois-Rivières 2006 establishments in Quebec Association football clubs established in 2006