Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency had to settle for another draw on their six-match tour of Mexico following an eventful 4-4 result with Club Universidad de Guadalajara (Cachorros UDG) on Thursday morning.
In what was a change of opponent for Thursday's match, the Blue and White took on the team they were due to face on Saturday in Cachorros UDG after the U-18 squad of Mexican giants Club Deportivo Guadalajara (better known as 'Chivas') were not available, as originally scheduled. UDG's first team play in Mexico's second-tier Liga de Ascenso.
Though the Cachorros UDG side were a more experienced group, Richard Grootscholten's young team stormed out to a 3-0 lead, with striker Doudou Toure scoring a hat-trick for the 'Caps inside the first 20 minutes of play. Cachorros UDG then found their way past Residency goalkeeper Sean Melvin to make it 3-1 at halftime.
Grootscholten then made seven changes to his side at halftime, and it was one of those substitutes that joined Toure on the scoresheet on 56 minutes. Having replaced Alex Semenets in midfield, Coulton Jackson gave the Residency squad a seemingly commanding 4-1 advantage.
Unfortunately for the travelling Canadian squad, Cachorros UDG turned the friendly around with three unanswered goals in a span of 20 second-half minutes to earn an unlikely stalemate.
Disappointed by the outcome, Grootscholten admitted his young squad need to learn from Thursday's events. "This is a young group, and sometimes, things can happen when you do not remain completely focused on the task at hand," Grootscholten said. "We'll learn a lot from this game and understand that we should have won it from the position we were in. We've gone through what took place on Thursday, and the players know they must improve for our next game on Saturday."
Whitecaps FC Residency conclude their two-week trip to Mexico with a friendly versus a local university side on Saturday morning.
Scoring Summary:
2' - Doudou Toure
6' - Doudou Toure
19' - Doudou Toure
16' - UDG
51' - Coulton Jackson
53' - UDG
70' - UDG
73' – UDG
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency
Sean Melvin; Declan Rodriguez, Ben McKendry, Daniel Stanese (Adam Polakiewicz 45'), La'Vere Corbin-Ong; Tim Hickson (Matteo Pasquotti 45'), Kevin Cobby (Dalen Babic 45'), Alex Semenets (Coulton Jackson 45'), Wesley Cain (Hector Garcia 45'); Doudou Toure (Carlos Marquez 45'), Ben Fisk (Spencer DeBoice 45')
