THOUSAND OAKS, CA – Whitecaps FC 2 kicked off their 2026 MLS NEXT Pro campaign on Sunday, falling 4-2 to Western Conference foes Ventura County FC at William Rolland Stadium in Thousand Oaks, California.
Ventura County opened the scoring early on through Julian Placias, who sent a low driven shot into the bottom left corner after getting in behind the WFC2 backline.
However, it wouldn't take long for the young 'Caps to get back in the match, as new signing Prince Amponsah hammered home a left footed shot for his first professional goal thanks to a low cross into the box from Marko Popović.
It would be Ventura who struck next, as Placias made it a brace with a similar finish to his first to give the home side a 2-1 lead.
10 minutes later, Ruben Ramos Jr. made it 3-1 for Ventura.
Just before the halftime interval, Popović had a chance to give the young 'Caps some life, as he got on the end of a low cross and sent a right-footed shot towards the far post. Unfortunately, the shot was blocked and parried out for a corner kick.
Ventura added a fourth after the break, as Dylan Vanney put home a tap-in from close range.
WFC2 would not back down. Nine minutes later, Popović picked up the ball in space in the middle of the park and played a perfectly-timed pass in behind the Ventura defence to Daniel Ittycheria. The forward, who was making his WFC2 and MLS NEXT Pro debut, rounded the onrushing Ventura goalkeeper Sebastian Conlon and expertly found the back of the net for his first professional goal.
The away side kept pushing in the latter stages of the match, but in the end, Ventura would take all three points.
The young 'Caps will now move forward to a Cascadia rivalry clash against Portland Timbers2 next Sunday, March 8, with kickoff from Providence Park in Portland, Oregon set for 1 p.m. PT.
MATCH DETAILS
Referee: Brandon Stevis
Scoring Summary
8’ – VCFC – Julian Placias (Vicente Garcia)
17' – VAN – Prince Amponsah (Marko Popović)
25’ – VCFC – Julian Placias (Troy Elgersma)
35’ – VCFC – Ruben Ramos Jr. (Arnau Vilamitjana)
47' – VCFC – Dylan Vanney (Harbor Miller)
56' – VAN – Daniel Ittycheria (Marko Popović)
Cautions
66’ – VCFC – Arnau Vilamitjana
90’+3 – VAN – Immanuel Mathe
Statistics
Possession: VCFC 59% – VAN 41%
Shots: VCFC 31 – VAN 5
Shots on Goal: VCFC 10 – VAN 2
Saves: VCFC 0 – VAN 6
Fouls: VCFC 11 – VAN 9
Offsides: VCFC 2 – VAN 2
Corners: VCFC 10 – VAN 2
Ventura County FC
41.Sebastian Conlon; 88.Mason Vanney, 60.Hernandez, 64.Jose Magaña, 26.Harbor Miller (50.Riley Dalgado 69'); 47.Arnau Vilamitjana (90.Brett Phan 90'+2), 49.Dylan Vanney, 45.Vicente Garcia; 24.Ruben Ramos Jr. (95.Eric Preston 69'), 57.Julian Placias (75.Aaron Medina 90'+2), 76.Troy Elgersma
Substitutes not used
91.Will Walker, 61.Chase Gozdieski, 73.Enrique Martinez, 92.Issak Luna
Whitecaps FC 2
50.Isaac Francoeur; 46.Micaah Garnette, 53.Immanuel Mathe, 43.Trevor Wright ©, 54.Prince Amponsah; 61.Carson Rassak, 46.Cristiano Bruletti; 44.Daniel Ittycheria (58.Jesse Peace 80'), 62.Ryder Sewell, 45.Yeider Zuluaga (64.Tyler Brown 61'); 47.Marko Popović
Substitutes not used
60.Sam Rogers, 56.Liam Campagna, 57.Jayden Kim
