BURNABY, BC – Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 showed tremendous resilience on Saturday afternoon as they defeated North Texas SC in a wild 4-3 victory at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby, BC.
After an eight-day break, the Blue and White picked up three points under a cloudy sky thanks to a Nelson Pierre gamewinner and a Rayan Elloumi brace.
North Texas SC struck first with a little luck. Midfielder Anthony Ramírez’s attempt from the top of the box deflected off the near post, with onrushing left back Joshua Torquato pouncing on the loose ball to clinically finish past WFC2 goalkeeper Alexander Milošević in the eighth minute.
After the restart, the Blue and White streaked forward with newfound confidence. Fullback Nikola Djordjevic put a short cross into the box, where forward Rayan Elloumi smartly laid off the ball to Antoine Coupland, who smashed in his effort past goalkeeper Nicolás Montoya. The speedy Chelsea, Quebec native’s first goal of the season led to a 1-1 tie, only 10 minutes in.
Past the half-hour mark, Milošević stood tall to deny midfielder Sam Sarver’s point-blank header, but the 18-year-old ’keeper was whistled for a foul. Sarver put away the ensuing penalty kick for a 2-1 lead.
Five minutes into a frantic second half, Jackson Castro did some nice work to hold onto the ball in the left quadrant of the final third. He then put in a brilliant cross into the box that was met by a powerful Rayan Elloumi header to tie the match at 2-2.
Castro played set-up man again as he won the ball back in midfield and played a perfect through ball for Elloumi, who calmly chipped in his third goal of the season to put WFC2 ahead.
Only two minutes later, North Texas tied the match at 3-3 via an Ian Charles screamer from the top of the box.
The young 'Caps kept pushing for the winner in front of a strong Swangard crowd and were rewarded for their efforts in the 76th minute. After a miscue at the back from the away side, Pierre curalled the loose ball and finished with ease to give his team the 4-3 victory and their third consecutive win.
Next up, the young ’Caps continue their Swangard homestand as they host Real Monarchs SLC on Sunday, June 29. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. PT. Tickets are available at www.whitecapsfc.com/tickets.
MATCH DETAILS
Referee: Nicolas Melita
Scoring Summary
8’ – NTX – Joshua Torquato
10’ – VAN – Antoine Coupland (Rayan Elloumi, Nikola Djordjevic)
32’ – NTX – Sam Sarver (penalty kick)
50’ – VAN – Rayan Elloumi (Jackson Castro)
68’ – VAN – Rayan Elloumi (Jackson Castro)
70’ – NTX – Ian Charles
76’ – VAN – Nelson Pierre
Cautions
6’ – VAN – Daniel Russo
35’ – NTX – Joshua Torquato
41’ – VAN – Nelson Pierre
45’ + 3 – NTX – Sam Sarver
52’ – VAN – Yuma Tsuji
81’ – VAN – Mateo Clark
Statistics
Possession: VAN 37% – NTX 63%
Shots: VAN 16 – NTX 16
Shots on Goal: VAN 6 – NTX 7
Saves: VAN 4 – NTX 2
Fouls: VAN 10 – NTX 15
Offsides: VAN 0 – NTX 1
Corners: VAN 3 – NTX 8
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2
60.Alexander Milošević; 41.Nikola Djordjevic, 53.Mark O’Neill ©, 48.Adrián Pelayo, 54.Daniel Russo (46.Deylen Vellios 67’); 68.Yuma Tsuji, 44.Jackson Castro; 43.Antoine Coupland (66.Sahil Deo 88’) 63.Johnny Selemani (64.Mateo Clark 56’); 42.Nelson Pierre, 75.Rayan Elloumi
Substitutes not used
80.Isaac Francoeur, 62.Luca Chen, 71.Carson Rassak
North Texas SC
57.Nicolás Montoya; 42. Michael Cortellessa (59.Christopher Salazar 86’), 5.James Bulkeley, 4. Mohamed Cisset, 24.Joshua Torquato (79.Leonardo Orejarena 87’); 45.Ian Charles, 6.Aaron Essel; 11.Sam Sarver, 51.Anthony Ramírez (23.Caleb Swan 77’), 17. Jaidyn Contreras (36.Daniel Baran 67’); 41.Tarik Scott
Substitutes not used
1.J.T. Harms, 34.Alejandro Urzua, 46.Isaiah Kaakoush, 49.Landon Hickman
