VANCOUVER, BC – It was a tough result for Whitecaps FC 2 at BC Place on Friday, as they would fall to a narrow 1-0 defeat to North Texas SC, despite having the majority of the chances throughout the game.
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The young 'Caps took the game to North Texas right off the opening whistle, pressing the defence high and threatening down the wing in the opening 10 minutes.
Gio Aguilar would have a great chance to score after a corner, getting slipped in one-on-one with Antonio Carrera, but the North Texas keeper did well to save his effort.
Levonte Johnson would set-up another fantastic opportunity for Whitecaps FC 2, drilling a cross from left to right, where Antoine Coupland would hit it hard and low, forcing another great save out of Carrera. However, North Texas would fight back, turning the pressure back on the young 'Caps, and in the 29th minute, the referee would call a handball on Elage Bah in the box, and grant North Texas a penalty.
André Luque would step up, but would be denied by Max Anchor who went low and to his left to smother the shot and keep the scoreline level.
Bah would roar back as well, hitting a thunderous shot that was blocked not a few minutes later.
Johnson would threaten North Texas once again just a few minutes before halftime, performing a couple stepovers to get past his marker and rifle a shot towards net. Carrera would come up big once again and parry Johnson’s venomous shot wide and away from danger. That would be the last chance before the break as both teams would go into it scoreless.
North Texas would have the first real chance of the second half through Carl Sainté, as his free kick from just outside the box would be held by Anchor. Lowell Wright came close more moments later as his curling effort from the 18-yard line would curl just over the crossbar.
Wright would have another chance right after, sliding in to try to tap-in a drilled Coupland cross, but missing it by mere inches. North Texas would force Anchor into another good save, with Hope Avavevu trying to curl one past the 'Caps keeper with 15 minutes to go.
North Texas would come agonizingly close once more 10 minutes from time, with Sainté’s free kick from the 'Caps’ semi-circle striking the crossbar. Ultimately, North Texas would break the deadlock in the 82nd minute, as Avavevu’s shot would be snuffed by the onrushing Anchor but fall perfectly for José Mulato to slot it home.
Whitecaps FC 2 would try to equalize quickly after going behind, with some great chances falling for Johnson, Wright, and a cross from Jeevan Badwal, but they were unable to beat a seemingly unstoppable Carrera.
Despite a resilient effort, Whitecaps FC 2 would fall to a defeat at home.
Whitecaps FC 2 are back in action against Real Monarchs SLC in Utah on Friday, September 1 at 7 p.m. PT. The young 'Caps come back home against St Louis CITY2 on Saturday, September 9.
MATCH DETAILS
Referee: Amer Ramic
Scoring Summary
82’ – NTX – José Mulato
Statistics
Possession: VAN 35.5% - NTX 64.5%
Shots: VAN 21 - NTX 11
Shots on Goal: VAN 10 - NTX 4
Saves: VAN 3 - NTX 10
Fouls: VAN 11 - NTX 8
Offsides: VAN 2 - NTX 1
Corners: VAN 11 - NTX 2
Cautions
80’ – VAN – Giovanni Aguilar
90+1’ – VAN – Mihail Gherasimencov
90+1’ – NTX – Pablo Torre
90+5’ – NTX – André Luque
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2
50.Max Anchor; 57.Elage Bah (46.Darko Ilić 83’), 12.Karifa Yao, 83.Finn Linder, 54.Mihail Gherasimencov; 59.Jeevan Badwal, 48.Malcolm Simmons (44.Gloire Amanda 76’), 66.Giovanni Aguilar ©; 43.Antoine Coupland, 42.Lowell Wright, 28.Levonte Johnson
Substitutes not used
90.Cohen Park, 47.Amir Ghasemi, 56.Lucas Dasovic, 58.Amoni Thomas, 76.Joe Hanson, 84.Christian Greco-Taylor, 95.Joshué Ndakala
North Texas SC
13.Antonio Carrera; 28.Herbert Endeley, 24.Amet Corça, 32.Nolan Norris, 11.André Luque; 27.Tomas Pondeca (20.Alejandro Araneda 90+4’), 18.Carl Sainté, 50.Diego García (16.Diego Pepi 88’); 51.Anthony Ramírez (17.Dylan Lacy 78’), 21.José Mulato (9.Pablo Torre 89’), 10.Hope Avavevu
Substitutes not used
29.Michael Webber, 31.Malachi Molina
