BURNABY, BC – Whitecaps FC 2 brought beaming smiles back to the Swangard Stadium faithful in a dramatic 3-2 victory over San Jose Earthquakes II on Wednesday.
The young were down once, and up twice – with the final strike very late in added time. Yuma Tsuji calmly slotted home the game-winner from a Carson Rassak through ball to snatch all three points at the death in the 94th minute.
It was WFC2’s first regulation win since April.
In the second minute, Quakes II struck first. A Kaedren Spivey looping cross was met by oncoming Jacob Heisner for his first goal of the season past goalkeeper Isaac Boehmer.
Completely unfazed, WFC2 equalized within 90 seconds. After a Tsuji corner, San Jose goalkeeper Connor Lambe leapt to punch the ball out of the danger area – but WFC2’s Carson Rassak met the dipper. The young man from Langley flexed his muscles to launch a half-volley that streaked into the top corner for the 1-1 equalizer.
The remarkable rocket was Rassak’s first career goal in MLS NEXT Pro.
The young ’Caps gained confidence through long stretches of possession. Near the half-hour, forward Daniel Ittycheria went wide – an energetic give-and-go with Micaah Garnette stung Lambe’s palms – he parried aside at point-blank range.  Â
On his next rush, Ittycheria put his Ivy League education to good use. The former Princeton man wily juked inside two ’Quakes defenders to screen his 18-yard drive that beat Lambe – but not the left post.
In the second half, Ittycheria was a man possessed. After getting the ball outside of the Whitecaps FC 2 box, he chipped a through ball ahead that he caught up to.
From the centre line onwards, he sprinted past three defenders for a cheeky chip past Lambe for a 2-1 lead.
Quakes II returned to level the match in the 55th minute.
It appeared that would be enough to send the match to a shootout, but Tsuji’s heroics sent the 'Caps and their fans home happy.
Up next, WFC2 heads to Colorado to lace up against Rapids 2 on Saturday, June 27 at 5 p.m. PT. The match is available on OneFootball, or at MLSNEXTPro.com.
Then, the young ’Caps return home to Swangard Stadium to take on Ventura County FC on Tuesday, July 7 at 6 p.m. PT.
Tickets for every WFC2 home match are only $10 for adults and can be purchased online at whitecapsfc.com/wfc2. Whitecaps FC season ticket members can access complimentary tickets by using their account number as their access key, while youth (18 years and younger) can watch WFC2 matches for free.
MATCH DETAILS
Referee: Fabrizio Stasolla
Scoring Summary
2’ – SJ – Jacob Heisner (Kaedren Spivey)
4’ – VAN – Carson Rassak
48’ – VAN – Daniel Ittycheria
55’ – SJ – Trevor Wright (own goal)
90+4’ – VAN – Yuma Tsuji (Carson Rassak)
Cautions
25’ – SJ – Jacob Heisner
76’ – VAN – Sahil Deo
83’ – SJ – Tomo Allen
90+2’ – VAN – Micaah Garnette
Statistics
Possession: VAN 46% – SJ 54%
Shots: VAN 14 – SJ 12
Shots on goal: VAN 4 – SJ 4
Saves: VAN 3 – SJ 1
Fouls: VAN 10 – SJ 7
Offsides: VAN 0 – SJ 3
Corners: VAN 3 – SJ 6
Whitecaps FC 2
32.Isaac Boehmer ©; 57.Jayden Kim (51.Kevin Podgorni 74’), 53.Immanuel Mathe (65.Anyole Peter 73’), 43.Trevor Wright, 48.Micaah Garnette; 61.Carson Rassak, 46.Cristiano Bruletti; 66.Sahil Deo, 68.Yuma Tsuji, 44.Daniel Ittycheria; 47.Marko Popović (64.Tyler Brown 62’)
Substitutes not used
70.Timothy Lodder, 51.Kevin Podgorni, 54.Prince Amponsah, 58.Jesse Peace, 71.Manav Badwal, 72.Aiden Bejaoui
San Jose Earthquakes II
91.Connor Lambe; 73.Jacob Heisner (90.Zachary Bohane 67’), 66.Alejandro Cano, 71.Niklas Dossman (98.Alex Ling 80’), 88.Diogo Baptista (74.Martin Kwende Jr. 67’); 38.Edwyn Mendoza, 35.Rohan Rajagopal, 29.Kaedren Spivey (58.Gabriel Bracken Serra 80’); 99.Shane de Flores (60.Yujin Kikuchi 89’), 70.Tomo Allen, 52.Julian Donnery
Substitutes not used
86.Andy Castro Sanchez, 55.Jayden Boes
