- Whitecaps FC 2 recorded five consecutive wins for the first time in their MLS NEXT Pro era, marking their longest winning/unbeaten run since joining the league in 2022
- Whitecaps FC 2 have now scored three or more goals in five of their last seven matches
- Eliot Goldthorp scored his fourth goal of the season and tallied his fifth and sixth assists of the season, setting a record for the most assists by a WFC2 player in an MLS NEXT Pro season - Ali Ahmed held the previous record with five assists in 2022. It's the third time this season Goldthorp has recorded multiple goal contributions in the same match. All three of those occasions have come in the last four matches
- Dembo Saidykhan scored his first professional goal and the eventual gamewinner
- Jay Herdman scored his fourth goal of the season
- Cyprian Kachwele made his return from injury, starting the match and playing 62 minutes
THOUSAND OAKS, CA – Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 made it five consecutive victories for the first time in their MLS NEXT Pro era on Sunday night, as they claimed a 3-2, come-from-behind road victory over Ventura County FC at William Rolland Stadium in Thousand Oaks, California. The win marked the fifth time the young 'Caps have scored three or more goals in their last seven matches.
Ventura County FC opened the scoring early, with Javier Garcia heading home a corner from Nicolas Schelotto to give the home side the 1-0 lead.
WFC2 would look to respond quickly, as Cyprian Kachwele and Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau both had opportunities to net the equalizer but saw their efforts saved by VCFC goalkeeper Brady Scott.
The young 'Caps continued to push and were rewarded in the 35th minute. After a clearance from Belal Halbouni in his own half, Eliot Goldthorp headed the ball towards Fleuriau Chateau. Despite taking contact from a Ventura County defender, the Canadian was able to lay the ball off to Jay Herdman, who fired home his fourth goal of the season to tie the match at 1-1.
Ventura regained the lead four minutes later through Sean Karani's solo effort inside the box, firing home a shot at the near post past Anchor.
The goals continued to fly in at William Rolland Stadium. In the 41st minute, WFC2 made it 2-2 through Goldthorp's fourth goal of the season. After a through ball from Liam Mackenzie, the wingback made his way into the Ventura box and fired home a right-footed half-volley into the top corner to tie the match.
After an eventful first half, the two sides found themselves level going into the halftime interval.
Ventura would have the first big chance of the second half, as Schelotto's shot from the top of the box in the 59th minute was parried away by Anchor with a diving save to his right.
The two teams would continue exchanging possession as they entered the mid-way point of the half.
However, it would be the 'Caps who would complete their comeback in the 67th minute. Goldthorp whipped a corner into the box that was headed into the net by Dembo Saidykhan, scoring his first MLS NEXT Pro goal to give WFC2 the lead.
Vancouver came close to doubling their advantage shortly after, as Liam Mackenzie sent a driven cross into the box for Fleuriau Chateau, who saw his deflected header sneak just wide of the far post.
The young 'Caps were made to work to keep their lead, with Anchor denying Ventura forward Aaron Bibout twice to keep the score at 3-2.
Fleuriau Chateau once again came close to finding the insurrance marker in the latter stages of the match, as he dribbled from the middle of the pitch to the top of the box and unleashed a right-footed shot to force a save out of Scott.
In the end, WFC2 played out the rest of the match in calm fashion to prevent Ventura from finding the equalizer and secured their fifth straight victory. Following the win, the young 'Caps sit fourth in the West with 25 points, one point away from third-placed Ventura and five points away from second-placed North Texas SC.
Next up, WFC2 will look to make it six consecutive wins in a top of the conference clash against first-placed St. Louis CITY 2 next Sunday, June 30 at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby, BC. Tickets are available at www.whitecapsfc.com/tickets.
MATCH DETAILS
Referee: Brad Jensen
Scoring Summary
3’ – VCFC – Javier Garcia (Nicolas Schelotto)
35’ – VAN – Jay Herdman (Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau, Eliot Goldthorp)
39’ – VCFC – Sean Karani (Isaiah Parente)
41’ – VAN – Eliot Goldthorp (Liam Mackenzie)
67’ – VAN – Dembo Saidykhan (Eliot Goldthorp)
Statistics
Possession: VCFC 61% - VAN 39%
Shots: VCFC 19 - VAN 12
Shots on Goal: VCFC 7 - VAN 10
Saves: VCFC 7 - VAN 5
Fouls: VCFC 6 - VAN 9
Offsides: VCFC 5 - VAN 2
Corners: VCFC 16 - VAN 5
Cautions
36’ – VCFC – Christian Tchouante
85’ – VAN – Belal Halbouni
Ventura County FC
31.Brady Scott; 47.Carson Klein, 51.Ascel Essengue, 67.Christian Tchouante, 50.Riley Dalgado; 52.Isaiah Parente © (48.Diego López 64'), 72.Nicolas Schelotto; 53.David Díaz (74.Sergio Villalpando 80'), 95.Javier Garcia (90.Emiliano Garcia 87'), 61.Sean Karani; 29.Aaron Bibout
Substitutes not used
81.Lucca Adams, 68.Max Middleby, 71.Erik Hernandez, 83.Allan Legaspi, 94.Garcia Omar, 97.Victor Martin
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2
50.Max Anchor; 83.Finn Linder, 12.Belal Halbouni, 51.Dembo Saidykhan; 41.Eliot Goldthorp (46.Darko Ilić 87'), 49.Malek Mehri, 97.Liam Mackenzie, 54.Mihail Gherasimencov; 92.Jay Herdman ©; 55.Cyprian Kachwele (48.Malcolm Simmons 62'), 52.Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau
Substitutes not used
99.Matheus De Souza, 72.Aidan Fong, 81.Cristiano Da Silva, 84.Amoni Thomas
