BURNABY, BC – It was a high-octane afternoon at Swangard Stadium, as Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 gave everything they had in a 1-0 defeat to North Texas SC but came up just short.
The match began in fast fashion for Whitecaps FC 2, as Liam Mackenzie nearly opened the scoring inside two minutes. A cross came into the box and it fell perfectly for Mackenzie to put away, but the young forward got his footing mixed up and couldn’t direct it into the net.
North Texas’ Enes Sali went up the other way and dragged a shot wide of the post after jinking his way into the box.
Sali then set-up Tarik Scott for the opener in the 11th minute as North Texas took the lead. Sali intercepted a ball high up the field and laid it off for Scott to line up a shot past WFC2 goalkeeper Alexander Milošević.
Jay Herdman almost got an instant reply, but was unable to slot it past Michael Collodi in goal.
Myles Morgan came close to finding the leveller for Whitecaps FC 2 in the 25th minute, latching onto a loose ball on the edge of the North Texas box. Morgan then laced a shot towards goal, beating Collodi but smashing against the crossbar and out.
Immanuel Mathe had a glorious chance for the equalizer 10 minutes later, getting on the end of a whipped cross from a short corner inside the six yard box, but his effort fell right into the hands of Collodi.
Antoine Coupland almost forced North Texas to score in their own net right at the end of the half, after drilling a low cross into the box. Collodi missed the ball and it hit off Turner Humphrey before smacking against the upright and bouncing away.
The young 'Caps pushed and pushed all the way to added time in the first half, as Herdman thundered a shot just inside the box that Collodi just about managed to tip away from goal. That would be the last action of the half as the referee blew for half-time.
The second half saw both sides take their time before getting into it.
Herdman had another great opportunity in the 56th minute to get Whitecaps FC back on level terms. Eliot Goldthorp, fresh off the bench, cut inside and threaded Herdman into the box but the Kiwi midfielder poked it the wrong side of the post.
Goldthorp then tried to take matters into his own hands 15 minutes later, getting the ball on the right, cutting inside and curling an effort that went agonizingly close to nestling into the top corner.
Whitecaps FC 2 would continue to fight all the way until the last whistle, but ended up finishing the game on the wrong side of the scoreline, with North Texas SC taking all the points.
Whitecaps FC 2 continue their push to the playoffs next Sunday, September 15th against The Town FC at Swangard Stadium at 7 p.m. PT. For tickets, visit whitecapsfc.com/tickets.
MATCH DETAILS
Referee: Niko Jecanski
Scoring Summary
11’ – NTX – Tarik Scott (Enes Sali)
Statistics
Possession: VAN 42% - NTX 58%
Shots: VAN 18 - NTX 7
Shots on Goal: VAN 8 - NTX 3
Saves: VAN 2 - NTX 8
Fouls: VAN 4 - NTX 15
Offsides: VAN 4 - NTX 2
Corners: VAN 4 - NTX 2
Cautions
18’ – VAN – Malcom Simmons
53’ – NTX – Anthony Ramirez
55’ – NTX – Tarik Scott
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2
90.Alexander Milošević; 56.Immanuel Mathe, 53.Buster Sjöberg, 83.Finn Linder, 54.Mihail Gherasimencov; 49.Malek Mehri (59.Jeevan Badwal 62’), 48.Malcolm Simmons; 43.Antoine Coupland (41.Eliot Goldthorp HT), 97.Liam Mackenzie (46.Darko Ilić 85’); 44.Myles Morgan (52.Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau 61’), 92.Jay Herdman ©
Substitutes
70.Isaac Francoeur, 63.Rayan Elloumi, 94.Valter Sedin, 95.Joshué Ndakala, 96.Mateo Clark
North Texas SC
30.Michael Collodi; 24.Amet Korça, 4.Turner Humphrey (6.Mads Westergren 89’), 32.Nolan Norris; 27.Herbert Endeley, 50.Diego Garcia (34.Alejandro Urzua 88’), 51.Anthony Ramirez (8.Nicholas Mendonca 70’), 7.Abdul Zanne; 41.Tarik Scott (10.Pedro Fonseca 70’), 36.Malik Henry-Scott, 99.Enes Sali (14.Daniel Baran 78’)
Substitutes not used
22.Victor Daub, 2.Malachi Molina, 2.Tyshawn Rose
