NANAIMO, BC  – Vancouver Whitecaps FC Boys MLS Academy recorded a 2-2 draw at Q’unq’inuqwstuxw Stadium in their first match against League1 BC expansion side Harbourside FC this Wednesday evening.
The young ‘Caps opened the score in the 23rd minute of the match. Following a corner delivered by Michael Hennessy, the ball found its way to Nikolas White’s head to make it 1-0.
Harbourside FC equalized in the 38th minute of the match when Charlie Purcell curled a free kick into the top right corner.
Into the second half, the home side took the lead on a counterattack. Substitute Noah Bilodeau quickly passed a ball to Billy Bagiopoulos, and the forward gave his squad a 2-1 advantage in the 64th minute.
As the match neared its end, the 'Caps sent in another corner delivery. After the ball bounced inside the box, Chris Album tied the game with a strong bicycle finish in the 88th minute.
The home side looked to find a winner in the dying moments, but Bilodeau’s strike was strongly parried away by goalkeeper Ben Alexander in added time, as the final whistle blew at Q’unq’inuqwstuxw Stadium.
The Blue & White are back home next Saturday, May 27 as they are set to host TSS Rovers at Ken Woods Field for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff. The fixture will be the League1 BC feature match on TELUS Optik TV channel 1993, and on the League1 BC YouTube channel.
MATCH DETAILS
Scoring Summary23’ – VAN – Nikolas White (Michael Hennessy)
38’ – HAR – Charlie Purcell
64’ – HAR – Billy Bagiopoulos (Noah Bilodeau)
88’ – VAN – Chris Album
Cautions71’ – VAN – Brennen Fuerst
85’ – VAN – Michael Hennessy
Harbourside FC30.Callum Weir; 14.Fergus Hall (8.Tysen Chatani HT); 2.Jordan McKinty, 21.Matthew Coburn, 9.Matt Mehrassa ©, 11.Jonathan McKenzie; 6.Rhys Faragher (15.Noah Bilodeau HT), 16.Charlie Purcell (13.Declan Brown 78’); 22.Ambrose Tinmouth (19.Alex Dedame 87’), 7.Suka Behery (20.Taylor Arbour 80’); 12.Mowbray Beghin (10.Billy Bagiopoulos HT)
Substitutes not used
1.Marko Ilich
Whitecaps FC Boys MLS Academy80.Ben Alexander; 93.Deylen Vellios, 68.Nikolas White, 81.Nikos Clarke-Tosczak; 94.Yayo Mutombo, 82.Brennen Fuerst © (75.Ben Schouten 90’+3’), 77.Joven Mann (23.Amir Ghasemi 65’), 73.Jaden Manetta; 96.Luke Norman, 69.Koji Poon (64.Chris Album 32’), 89.Michael Hennessy (98.David Ajagbe 68’)
Substitutes not used
99.Matheus De Souza, 72.Max Comsia, 79.Benedict Florent
