In a game where fans were encouraged to bring their dogs to the stadium, it was the Whitecaps FC2 who showed very little bite on the field, dropping a 2-0 decision against the Los Angeles Galaxy II on Sunday afternoon.
Coming off a road trip that saw the team play three games in seven days, the Caps looked sluggish for most of the game, as the visitors controlled much of the play from opening kickoff. The majority of the first half was played as a midfield slog with neither team getting a clear sight of goal. WFC2 caught a much needed break in the 40th minute as referee Alain Ruch awarded the home side a penalty after Ian Christianson was tripped in the LA box. Caleb Clarke confidently put the ball down on the spot and proceeded to send the penalty low and wide even though LA keeper Clement Diop dove the wrong way. Vancouver’s problems were compounded three minutes later as Travis Bowen dispossessed Marco Bustos at midfielder before playing in Kainoa Bailey who returned the ball to the back post to Bowen for a tap in header past a helpless Marco Carducci.
“[The penalty] would have made a huge difference, we would have been a goal up shortly before halftime and hopefully we would have gained some confidence from that and maybe we would have been better in the second half,” said Vancouver head coach Alan Koch following the match.
The second half didn’t begin much better for WFC2 as Ariel Lassiter doubled the Galaxy’s lead from the penalty spot after Craig Nitti had a shot come off his arm ten minutes into the second half. Vancouver showed some life after going down two goals as Ben McKendry and Caleb Clarke both had good chances to ruin the Galaxy’s clean sheet but both were denied by Diop.
WFC2 has now dropped three straight games and has not found the back of the net once during this current slide.
“Good LA side, poor Vancouver side,” Koch told reporters. “I wasn’t happy with our performance at all. It was lacklustre, we could say we were on the road a long time over the last two weeks but there are no excuses, that wasn’t good enough today and we’ll have to address it.”
Despite the underwhelming results over the most recent stretch, the team finds themselves in the thick of the playoff chase despite having the youngest roster in the entire USL.
“If we take a step back, the positive is that as of today we are halfway through the season and we’re only three points out of a playoff spot,” said Koch. “As much as we have to go address the things that weren’t good today, we are in a good place and hopefully we can continue the good work the guys have been putting in in the second half of the season.”
The Whitecaps are back in action next Sunday at 2 p.m. as they welcome the Portland Timbers 2 to Thunderbird Stadium.
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