If you needed proof that VCFC was an independent entity with it's own marketing deals, VCFC just signed with a local jersey sponsor and it's not Herbalife - Ventura County Credit Union https://www.instagram.com/p/DAm00q4Jamx/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Paul's red card reminded me of Kevin's red card when he jumped over the keeper to avoid crashing into him, but got sent off for his foot barely grazing the keeper's head.
1843014311096295559 is not a valid tweet id Probably the best lineup available with the suspended players.
After Scott put on a clinic most of the half, the Monarchs beat him on a counter to score 1 right before halftime and go into the locker room up 1-0. Utah needs this game for playoff qualification and have been pressing hard. 1843032552044404760 is not a valid tweet id
VCFC equalizes on a counter of its own! Avayevu takes a great through ball by Lepley and passes it to Karani who shoots it in. Tied 1-1 1843041865743864185 is not a valid tweet id
For one of the few times this season, VCFC loses the PK shootout and only takes 1 point. Utah is out of the playoffs, though, so they leave disappointed. Their 16 year-old GK was impressive in saving two of the PKs though.
The two teams looked to be on par all game long. Brady Scott was the MVP of the match (at least on VCFC side) but couldn't save the RSL 2 goal who happened after a Magana turnover. Once again a good performance by the defender, minus the brainfart. Hope Avayevu had a nice game. He's good at being found between the lines, then playing another short ball behind the defense to a running teammate. He did it multiple times and this is how VCFC scored thanks to a Sean Karani finish. Avayevu was the most interesting of our summer signings, as he ended the year leading the team in assists, after just 334 minutes played (4 assists). VCFC end the season at the 6th position in the West (out of 14 teams) with a 8-9-11 record and are qualified for the playoffs. MLS Next Pro have a weird playoffs format : 8 teams are qualified in each Conference, and the top 4 teams will choose their next opponent between the 5-8 seeds, in a one elimination game with home advantage. Once again, I don't expect a deep playoff run from VCFC.
Game is set for Sunday, 10/20 at 7 pm at Tacoma VCFC beat Tacoma at home in March (5-2) and May (3-2) (when we were a pretty different team with Vivi, Perez, Bibout) and tied them away in August (2-2). MLS Next Pro is using a "pick your opponent" format for the playoff matchups. The top four seeds got to pick their opponents, with top seed getting first pick. It allowed for some variation from straight seeding. So, 1st WC seed North Texas SC picked 7th seed Whitcaps SC, 2nd seed St. LouisFC2 picked 5th seed LAFC2, 3rd seed The Town FC picked 8th seed Houston Dynamo 2 and 4th seed Tacoma FC picked 6th seed VCFC. It's not surprising that top seeds didn't exactly pick according to the way the normal seeding would work, since player promotions, loans, and college departures make roster composition change wildly over the MLSNP season, but I'm surprised ST. Louis FC2 wanted LAFC2 over us.
GK Brady Scott recognized as honorable mention on the Best 11 team 1846647525861949859 is not a valid tweet id
1848180880499409269 is not a valid tweet id No Brady Scott in goal is huge. VCFC are playing basically without their best player.
I haven't heard why either. It's not like Micovic was hurt and Scott had to be on the bench for the senior team yesterday. Pratt is a 16 year-old kid. Talented and loads of potential, to be sure, but this is his MLS Next Pro debut although he has been on the bench most games. Anderson is on the bench instead and he is an 18 year-old kid who has all but been forgotten by the team considering he actually is under contract to VCFC (i.e., has given up his college eligibility by signing a pro contract) and is not just an Academy player. Not unrelatedly, VCFC is down 3-0 to Tacoma and it's still the first half. I'm not laying it all on the GK, but Scott might have helped keep the team in it a bit longer
Down 4-0. There was a bit of a deflection, but that goal was just symbolic of this whole game. Surrounded by 3-4 defenders, Tacoma's Miglietti was allowed to turn and get off a very soft shot that Pratt couldn't reverse course and get over to fast enough to get to it as it bounced slowly over the line. Not his fault that the defenders let the guy get in position to shoot, but Pratt looked awful slow and unathletic reacting to it. His technique looked like a textbook example of why a really tall GK is not necessarily a better GK for all kinds of balls. 1848205988031049916 is not a valid tweet id
Ramos definitely just scored a goal, but the ref/AR somehow didn't call it a goal. It's pretty rare that you can actually see that the entire ball is over the line in a stream, but this was completely obvious. No VAR unfortunately. Wouldn't make a difference to the outcome, but it adds insult to injury for the boys.
I expected a quick exit from the playoffs, there it is : a 4-0 defeat at Seattle 2. @Benny Dargle said it all : we missed Brady Scott a lot, even though he couldn't have saved us all by himself, as our defense looked a little bit soft (especially Jose Magana on a couple of goals). On the offense, the disappointing performance came from Ruben Ramos Jr. who was invisible for 60+ minutes, then looked a little bit better including a goal who looked correct but who was denied. Very few positives but I thought Tucker Lepley looked OK with a couple of good shots in the second half. Hope Avayevu was the only one driving VCFC attack in the first half, while Axel Essengue had some great recoveries in the second half. Both Avayevu and Essengue look a little bit old (they'll turn 22 in 2025), but they showed some promise this year and I wouldn't mind giving them another opportunity next season. As I do every year, I'll do a review of all the VCFC players in the next few weeks. It was an OK year for our reserves, but going from last team in the West to a playoff spot should bring some optimism here.
So I begin my end of the year reviews, and I start with the goalkeeper position : - Brady Scott (1999) : it's easy here. Scott, who is first team third keeper, has played every minute of every regular season game and looked solid overall. The former Columbus 2 player has great reflexes and I didn't see many flaws in his game. He kept the team alive multiple times but mostly was impressive on PKs. He had a pretty nice record here, winning 8 out of the 11 shootouts he was into. So, I won't make it long : Scott had a very good season and was one of our two best players. I hesitated a lot on who I should give my MVP vote to (and I chose but I keep my Awards for later), but all I can say is that Scott looked a competent third keeper to me. - Owen Pratt (2008) : for no reason given, Scott was not available for the playoff game we had and Pratt got his lone start of the season. He looked terrible and conceded 4 goals, and you just have to look up a few posts to find @Benny Dargle opinion on Pratt's performance in this game. Hard to blame him at 16 though.
I don't follow youth soccer well enough to know, but was Pratt's performance, what you might expect for a 16 year old playing in MLS Next Pro?