PORTLAND, OR – It was another hard-fought battle from Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2, but the young ‘Caps were unable to breakdown a Portland Timbers 2 side and succumbed to a narrow 1-0 defeat at Providence Park in Portland, Oregon on Friday afternoon.
The match began with both sides seeing some good chances in the opening minutes. First team goalkeeper Isaac Boehmer made a smart save to deny Portland inside 60 seconds, while Antoine Coupland found Mark O’Neill alone at the back post, but the defender’s header was miraculously saved by Timbers 2 goalkeeper Lukas Burns.
Rayan Elloumi nearly scored a stunning goal at the 15th minute mark, dribbling between Portland’s two centre-backs in the box, but his ensuing shot was dragged wide.
Alexis Moreno nearly got the opener for Timbers 2 after dribbling through into the box, but it was once again well saved by the diving Boehmer.
Elloumi was inches away from getting his first goal of the season after half an hour, getting away from his defender and trying to curl his shot into the side netting.
The young ‘Caps kept finding that space to attack Portland in the closing stages of the first half, with Nelson Pierre threatening on a couple occasions but his efforts going too high to trouble Burns.
The second half began with plenty of physicality from either side, but it was Portland who drew first blood by scoring in the 55th minute. A Portland free-kick towards the back post saw Charles Ondo head it back across goal for Nicklas Lund to tap in for 1-0.
Mateo Clark nearly got Whitecaps FC 2 back on level terms after Daniel Russo laid it off for the midfielder at the edge of the box, but his shot was expertly met by Burns to deny the goal.
Mirroring that chance, Nikola Djordjevic laid it off for the onrushing Jackson Castro on the opposite side of the box, but his shot was drilled right into the hands of the Timbers 2 keeper.
WFC2 kept fighting throughout the match, throwing everything forward but were ultimately unable to get that tying goal to send them to penalties.
Whitecaps FC 2 are back in action on Wednesday, May 14th as they face another Cascadia rival in Tacoma Defiance at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby, BC. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. PT. For tickets, visit whitecapsfc.com/tickets.
MATCH DETAILS
Referee: Adorae Monroy
Scoring Summary
55’ – POR – Nicklas Lund (Charles Ondo)
Statistics
Possession: POR 58% - VAN 42%
Shots: POR 19 - VAN 17
Shots on Goal: POR 9 - VAN 5
Saves: POR 5 - VAN 8
Fouls: POR 12 - VAN 14
Offsides: POR 0 - VAN 2
Corners: POR 4 - VAN 5
Cautions
30’ – POR – Malcom Johnston
52’ – VAN – Jackson Castro
54’ – VAN – Mateo Clark
72’ – VAN – Antoine Coupland
84’ – POR – Charles Ondo
Portland Timbers 2
91.Lukas Burns; 51.Sawyer Jura (44.Alex Bamford 65’), 94.Charles Ondo (90.Reo Griffiths 89’), 61.Nicklas Lund, 45.Blake Pope; 63.Daniel Núñez (37.Noah Santons 80’), 42.Alexis Moreno, 55.Malcolm Johnston; 47.Mataeo Bunbury (69.Marquinhos da Silva Carvalho 80’), 88.Gage Guerra, 77.Kyle Linhares
Substitutes not used
68.Grayson Lamb, 39.Santino Gallardo
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2
32.Isaac Boehmer ©; 46.Deylen Vellios, 48.Adrián Pelayo (51.Dembo Saidykhan HT), 53.Mark O’Neill, 54.Daniel Russo; 44.Jackson Castro, 68.Yuma Tsuji; 43.Antoine Coupland (41.Nikola Djordjevic 75’), 64.Mateo Clark (66.Sahil Deo 75’); 42.Nelson Pierre, 75.Rayan Elloumi (63.Johnny Selemani 75’)
Substitute not used
60.Alexander Milošević
