Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency claimed the first draw of their six-match tour of Mexico following a 2-2 result versus the U-19/U-20 side of Estudiantes Tecos on Tuesday morning.
After earning two wins and a defeat in their first three matches in Guadalajara, Mexico, Richard Grootscholten's young side did well to overcome an early two-goal deficit, as goals by Carlos Marquez and substitute Doudou Toure meant the friendly contest ended in stalemate.
"The boys have shown great attitude down here," said Whitecaps FC Residency assistant coach Steve Meadley. "It's a young group of players that are learning to play together and they've done really well so far."
It was an impressive turnaround by the Residency squad, who found themselves 2-0 down inside the first 12 minutes of Tuesday's contest. Tecos opened the scoring with an opportunistic free-kick strike on three minutes before the Mexican side doubled their lead from the edge of the box nine minutes later.
Undeterred, the young 'Caps made a positive reply, with Marquez creating some good chances before finding the scoresheet on 40 minutes. Bryce Alderson forced the Tecos goalkeeper into spilling a rebound when he stopped his initial shot. Marquez was quickest to react and convert the chance to make it 2-1 to the Mexican club at halftime.
The Residency squad then earned a draw with a fortuitous second goal on 75 minutes after Tecos made up to 10 changes to their line-up at the break. Shortly after replacing Marquez, Toure's close-range cross took a favourable deflection off a Tecos defender and bounced into the net to make it 2-2.
Whitecaps FC then had a chance to win the match in the late stages, but Alex Semenets was unable to convert substitute Wesley Cain's dangerous cross from the right flank.
The Residency team conclude their two-week trip to Mexico with two more friendly games. On Thursday, they meet the U-18 side of Mexican giants Club Deportivo Guadalajara (better known as 'Chivas') before completing their schedule versus the U-18 side of Club Universidad de Guadalajara (UDG) on Saturday, November 20. UDG's first team play in Mexico's second-tier Liga de Ascenso.
Scoring Summary:
3' - TECOS
12' - TECOS
40' – VAN - Carlos Marquez
75' – VAN - Doudou Toure
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency
Callum Irving (Sean Melvin 45'); Kalem Scott, Ben McKendry, Daniel Stanese (Tim Hickson 55'), La'Vere Corbin-Ong (Adam Polakiewicz 55'); Ben Fisk (Wesley Cain 70'), Kevin Cobby (Nelson Castillo 75'), Bryce Alderson, Alex Semenets; Dalen Babic (Coulton Jackson 62'), Carlos Marquez (Doudou Toure 72')
