PORTLAND, OR– It was yet another dominant victory for Whitecaps FC 2 on Saturday night, as they eased past Timbers2 with a 2-0 scoreline to secure their seventh victory in a row.
The match began with both sides taking their time to settle into the match. In fact, it would take until the 18th minute before the game would see a shot on target, and it resulted in a goal for WFC2. Eliot Goldthorp whipped in a good cross for Myles Morgan to head it down into the box. Jay Herdman was quick to pounce on the loose ball and hammered it home to give his side the lead.
Jeevan Badwal almost got the young ‘Caps’ second of the night just shy of the half-hour mark, as he got on the end of a deep cross with a flying kick, but his acrobatic effort went straight into the hands of Carver Miller. Herdman was denied his second of the match in the 36th minute, after some superb play from Mihail Gherasimencov. The Moldovan danced his way into the box and chipped a cross into the box for Herdman to snap at it. While the shot was goal-bound, it was blocked before it could reach the goal-line.
Portland would put on some pressure to get the equalizer for the rest of the half, forcing some big blocks and clearances from the Whitecaps FC 2 defence, but the young ‘Caps held on to their 1-0 lead going into the break.
The second half began with WFC2 flying out of the gates. Herdman had a quick look on goal before Goldthorp missed a glorious opportunity after being found in the centre of the box through a back-heel pass by Morgan. Goldthorp then fizzed a cross for Morgan to try to tap in, but slid in just a fraction behind the ball.
Kyle Linhares almost got Portland back into the game in the 50th minute, as he rose the highest off a corner and headed an effort towards goal, forcing Max Anchor to tip it over the bar for a corner.
Herdman was denied in spectacular fashion in the 56th minute, after Badwal squared a pass for Herdman to tap-in, but Miller flashed across his goal to block the goal. Portland then came right up the other side of the pitch and forced an equally outrageous save out of Anchor to keep the scoreline the same.
Goldthorp tested Miller’s resolve not long later, drilling a shot towards goal after finding some space in behind, making Miller palm it wide.
WFC2 finally got their second goal after some sublime passing play. In a sequence that had almost everyone touching the ball, Goldthorp was found on the right and drilled a cross into the box for Badwal to tap in to make it 2-0.
Despite going down to 10-men, Portland almost halved the deficit with less than 15 minutes to play, after Harvey Neville stepped up for a free kick. Neville thumped an effort against the post, which was then rebounded by Tega Ikoba into the goalpost once again.
With the man advantage and the two-goal cushion, Whitecaps FC 2 would see the rest of the match out to claim all three points and their seventh victory in a row.
WFC2 are back in action against Tacoma Defiance at Swangard Stadium next Sunday, July 14 at 4 p.m. PT. For tickets, visit whitecapsfc.com/tickets.
MATCH DETAILS
Referee: Joshua Madison
Scoring Summary
18’ – VAN – Jay Herdman (Myles Morgan, Eliot Goldthorp)
63’ – VAN – Jeevan Badwal (Eliot Goldthorp)
Statistics
Possession: POR 50% - VAN 50%
Shots: POR 10 - VAN 19
Shots on Goal: POR 3 - VAN 9
Saves: POR 7 - VAN 3
Fouls: POR 13 - VAN 9
Offsides: POR 1 - VAN 3
Corners: POR 4 - VAN 2
Cautions
40’ – POR – Keesean Ferdinand
45’ – POR – Tyler Clegg
50’ – VAN – Buster Sjöberg
66’ – POR – Tyler Clegg
75’ – POR – Alexis Moreno
77’ – VAN – Cyprian Kachwele
Ejection
66’ – POR – Tyler CleggTimbers2
96.Carver Miller; 80.Jaden Jones-Riley, 40.Keesean Ferdinand (48.Kaveh Rad HT), 39.Tyler Clegg, 51.Sawyer Jura (45.Blake Pope 58’); 87.Christian Mendoza, 38.Braxton Taghvai-Najib (68.Harvey Neville 58’), 42.Alexis Moreno; 70.Josh Penn, 17.Tega Ikoba, 47.Mataeo Bunbury (77.Kyle Linhares HT (57.Callum Lugton 80’))
Substitutes not used
97.Maximilian Deisenhofer, 73.Eric Izoita, 78.Maxime Nystrom
Whitecaps FC 2
50.Max Anchor; 83.Finn Linder, 53.Buster Sjöberg, 51.Dembo Saidykhan, 54.Mihail Gherasimencov; 59.Jeevan Badwal (49.Malek Mehri 79’), 48.Malcolm Simmons; 41.Eliot Goldthorp, 96.Mateo Clark (97.Liam Mackenzie 61’); 44.Myles Morgan (55.Cyprian Kachwele 73’), 92.Jay Herdman ©
Substitutes not used
99.Matheus De Souza, 56.Immanuel Mathe, 62.Luca Chen
