The good times keep rolling for Alan Koch and the Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2. With first place at stake the first place in the Western Conference on the line the Caps pulled out a 4-3 win over Los Angeles Galaxy II in front 2,778 fans at Thunderbird Stadium.
The Whitecaps got two goals from Kyle Grieg in the first half in the opening 16 minutes to give them a 2-0 lead over the first place Galaxy. They added to it in the 21st minute as Alfonso Davies a 15 year striker in the Whitecaps Academy scored his first professional goal in his career to extend the lead to 3-0 for the home side.
Los Angeles got on the scoreboard late in the in the opening half in the 35th minute on a goal by Jose Villarreal with a well placed shot from the top of the penalty area,
Coming into the game Galaxy II held a two point lead over the Whitecaps who still maintained an undefeated record.
In the second half, Vancouver appeared to take their foot off the gas pedal. They allowed the Galaxy II squad to get back into the game as they controlled a good 80 percent of the ball possession against the Whitecaps.
Creating several good scoring opportunities that caused the back four of Vancouver fits at times and the play of goalkeeper Sean Melvin to come up with at least a half dozen solid stops off the Galaxy shooters as the score remained a two goal game with the Whitecaps up 3-1 over the visitors.
Vancouver extended the lead on a play that caught the Galaxy up field with their goalkeeper Diop moving up to support the attack as Brett Levis got a break in an out manned situation. Levis beat the goalkeeper Clement Diop from the top of the box in the 81st minute to give Vancouver a 4-1 lead.
But the Galaxy, who have had several come from behind wins this season, were not done. Denzel Slager converted a great cross from the left flank and hammered it home past Melvin to narrow the Caps lead to 4-2. Los Dos would get another in the 90th minute when Villareal would convert on a penalty kick attempt.
In extra time Whitecaps goalkeeper Sean Melvin made a stellar save off forward Denzel Slager to help keep the match at 4-3.
With the victory, the Whitecaps improved their undefeated record to 5-0-2 taking over first place with 17 points in the West and just a point ahead of Los Dos (4-2-4, 16 points). Given both sides form during this USL season it is not beyond the realm of possibility that they may meet up again in the playoffs.
Vancouver’s next home game is Friday the 20th of May when they host their arch rivals the Portland Timbers FC 2 at 7:30 pm. The two teams met earlier in the year down in Portland with the Caps coming out on top by a 3-1 count.
Stats in the game saw the Galaxy out-shoot Caps 16-12 with the LA squad accuracy at 50% with 8 shots on target and the Caps with 7 and a 58% rate in the match.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2
September, 2020
