The Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 continued it’s strong showing with a 3-2 come from behind win over the Tulsa Roughnecks FC at Thunderbird Stadium at the University of British Columbia. Daniel Haber scored the game winner in the 89th minute to give the Caps the victory and drop Tulsa to 1-5-0.
The theme last was Star Wars with Darth Vader and Storm Troopers characters dressed up for photo ops for the fans including the Whitecaps mascot even taking part in the fun night for the fans may the force be with you.
Sammy Ochoa opened the scoring in the 11th minute for Tulsa catching the Whitecaps back-line off guard. The former Seattle Sounders forward beat goalkeeper Marco Carducci and stunned the home supporters who are normally accustomed to their own team scoring early.
From there the Whitecaps took over and dominated the visiting squad from Tulsa creating chances playing the ball on the on the ground and in sending in dangerous crosses in the Roughnecks penalty area testing goalkeeper Jake Feener who had to come up huge to keep his team in the lead .
Marco Bustos broke in off the wing and send a bullet from the top of the penalty area which Feener got a finger on the shot deflecting it wide of the near post in the 18th minute. The Caps continued the attack as Brett Levis saw his skip shot from 25 yards out snared by the Tulsa keeper to keep the shutout.
Roughnecks midfielder Sammy Ochao almost had his second of the night catching the the caps after a turnover in midfield . But Carducci made a key save to keep the Vancouver within a goal.
With extra minutes added sub Brady Ballew who came on in the 24th minute for the Roughnecks. He almost added to the Tulsa lead as his shot late in the first half was promising. However it would inevitably to go over the bar.
Vancouver came storming out in the in the second half with more desire after being addressed by coach Alan Koch in the dressing room. The pep talk worked as the young Caps were more aggressive on the attack. Sem De Wit hammered a shot off the post followed another flurry that saw them come close on the is night.
In the 67th minute the Caps got the equalizer as Kyle Grieg scored his first 5th of the season coming in as a sub to tie the game on a rocket from just inside the penalty area set up nicely by Alphonso Davis. Grieg’s shot left Feener with no chance and the game was tied at 1-1.
But in the 78th minute Sammy Ochao scored his second of the night off a corner kick heading home the ball past Carducci of Vancouver to give the visitors a 2-1. The assist went to Brady Ballew who sent in the perfect cross as they led 2-1 in the match.
Six minutes later in the 84th minute Kianz Froese on a great set-up from Daniel Haber got the equalizer for Vancouver sending the fans into a frenzy. With time running out the Caps got the game winner from Daniel Haber in the 89th minute blasting it home past Feener to give Vancouver a 3-2 lead.
There was an extra three minutes added and the victory looked secure for the Caps which survived a last minute attempt by Tulsa as Marco Carducci had to make a key save off of Kyle McLeod of the Roughnecks to preserve the victory. On this night the force stayed with Vancouver as the club remains undefeated in 2016 in their USL campaign. With the victory the club remains solidly in second with 14 points trailing the first place Galaxy FC2 squad in the West standings.
The next game for Whitecaps FC2 squad’s 3 game home stand continues May 15th at home when they face the LA Galaxy 2 game time 2:00pm followed by Friday May 20th when Portland Timbers 2 comes into town for a 7:30pm game at Thunderbird stadium.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2
September, 2020
USL
May, 2024
April, 2024
