MORAGA, CA – With a playoff spot already sewn up, Whitecaps FC 2’s penultimate regular season match ended in a late 2-1 loss to The Town FC, ensuring that the 'Caps will start the postseason on the road.
Substitute Town FC forward Julian Donnery ensured the home side collected all three points with a finish past WFC2 goalkeeper Max Anchor late in stoppage time.
With this result, the young ’Caps stay in fifth place in the MLS NEXT Pro Western Conference with 42 points. The top eight teams make the postseason, while the top four will host in the first round. The fourth-seeded Real Monarchs – who WFC2 face in their final regular season match – are six points ahead.
The opening minutes looked promising for WFC2 in San Jose. Their speedy forwards consistently pushed around the Town FC’s back line.
In the 11th minute, speedy forward Cyprian Kachwele put Town FC’s ’keeper Luca Ulrich on notice. After Jackson Castro slipped a through ball down the left wing, Kachwele put on the jets for a move past a defender, but the ensuing attempt dribbled into Ulrich’s gloves.
At the other end of the pitch, Anchor alertly turned to the near post and used his cat-like reflexes for an outstretched punch from a powerful attempt by Town FC attacker Diogo Baptista.
But Baptista wasn’t done. He laid off on his side of centre for Missael RodrÃguez, who sent a probing long cross that swerved past three WFC2 defenders to forward Cruz Medina. Medina took two steps inside the box and unleashed a 16-yard drive that curled inside the far post for a 1-0 lead before the half-hour.
WFC2 forward Antoine Coupland came the closest for the Blue and White in the first half. He made space deep in the danger area, but his header glanced wide.
Later, Anchor again rode to the rescue with an impressive skyward denial from a Edwyn Mendoza 12-yard volley.
After play resumed for the second half, Coupland came even closer to wrapping himself in glory. He turned on the jets to collect a high through ball with a defender draped all over him. Instead of a clattering, Coupland wisely spun away from the challenge and switched to his left boot to smash a 10-yard blast that Ulrich pushed into the top of the box, where Kachwele overran the rebound.
At the hour mark, another Carson Rassak corner connected with Adrián Pelayo, but his header streaked over the crossbar.
Anchor kept Town FC’s lead at one with a remarkable series of stops off a Medina corner kick. The 20-year-old ’keeper dove to keep out a RodrÃguez header that bounced off the turf.
Two seconds later, Anchor bravely recovered to stop a high Nick Fernandez crack on target that painfully glanced off the ’keeper’s head.
Finally, the barrage of WFC2 corner kicks led to the equalizer. Off the set play for a short ball, Coupland’s cross dropped to the far post, where Nikola Djordjevic redirected the ball in front for Mateo Clark, who cooly slotted home past Ulrich for 1-1.
However, Town FC broke WFC2 hearts in stoppage time. After a restart, the home side played a tic-tac-toe series of passes that saw midfielder Nick Fernandez pounce on a loose ball and eventually ended with Donnery at the near post putting in the go-ahead strike in the 92nd minute.
It was a cruel blow for Anchor, who collected eight brilliant saves in the tight loss.
Next up, the Blue and White lace up for their regular season finale in Utah versus Real Monarchs on Sunday, October 5 at 1 p.m. PT. Then, the 2025 postseason begins. Keep an eye on whitecapsfc.com and on social media for the latest information.
MATCH DETAILS
Referee: Jamie Padilla
Scoring Summary
25’ – TTFC – Cruz Medina (Missael RodrÃguez)
82’ – VAN – Mateo Clark (Nikola Djordjevic)
90’+2 – TTFC – Julian Donnery (Nick Fernandez)
Cautions
20’ – TTFC – Wilson Eisner
32’ – TTFC – Jamar Ricketts
45’ – VAN – Adrián Pelayo
45’ – VAN – Mateo Clark
53’ – VAN – Carson Rassak
76’ – VAN – Deylen Vellios
Statistics
Possession: TTFC 47% – VAN 53%
Shots: TTFC 17 – VAN 12
Shots on Goal: TTFC 10 – VAN 4
Saves: TTFC 3 – VAN 8
Fouls: TTFC 16 – VAN 11
Offsides: TTFC 6 – VAN 1
Corners: TTFC 3 – VAN 7
The Town FC
97.Luca Ulrich; 72.Ricardo Ibarra (99.Keegan Walwyn-Bent 71’), 66.Alejandro Cano, 27.Wilson Eisner, 74.Ariel Mbumba; 38.Edwyn Mendoza, 20.Nick Fernandez, 15.Cruz Medina (50.Rohan Rajagopal 63’); 88.Diogo Baptista (44.Chance Cowell 63’), 80.Missael RodrÃguez (52.Julian Donnery 73’), 2.Jamar Ricketts (71.Riley Lynch HT)
Substitutes not used
89.David Sweeney, 29.Kaedren Spivey, 60.Yujin Kikuchi, 98.Alex Ling
Whitecaps FC 2
50.Max Anchor; 46.Deylen Vellios, 48.Adrián Pelayo, 54.Daniel Russo; 41.Nikola Djordjevic, 71.Carson Rassak (68.Yuma Tsuji 76’), 44.Jackson Castro ©, 66.Sahil Deo (93.Antoine Nehme 85’); 43.Antoine Coupland, 55.Cyprian Kachwele (63.Johnny Selemani 76’), 64.Mateo Clark (73.Ryder Sewell 86’)
Substitutes not used
80.Isaac Francoeur, 96.Anyole Peter
