Up 1-0 at half on a Muller PK MÜLLER FROM THE SPOT!! ⚡ Ice cold on the PK — 1-0 VCFC! 💥 #VCFC #GoalMachine #siempreadelante pic.twitter.com/HLqiCnkRqZ— Ventura County FC (@vcfcpro) June 16, 2025
Muller with a brace! Up 2-0 GOOOOOOOAL LUIS MÜLLER!! ✌️#MNUFC2vsVCFC | 0-2 | 71’ pic.twitter.com/CPfPlaXA6X— Ventura County FC (@vcfcpro) June 16, 2025
Solid win at Minnesota. For their second game of the week on the road, VCFC played a more defensive game with more route 1 long balls, which is understandable with the qualities of Sean Karani. Luis Müller scored two PKs and is a great corner kick taker, but as usual was sometimes a little bit nonchalant. Good game from everybody in the midfield and on defense, and once again a very positive showing from JT Marcinkowski who gets my MOTM. VCFC stand strong at the top of the Western Conference. It's been a pleasure to follow our second team this year.
Aus Hollywood nach Hoffenheim ✈️ pic.twitter.com/NWbWIU4C5x— TSG Hoffenheim (@tsghoffenheim) June 28, 2025 His VCFC tenure didn't last long : Nader Jindaoui has returned to Germany. He's signing with Hoffenheim second team.
Lepley, Harbor Miller, and Marcinkowski playing with VCFC 🔵 TEAM NEWS ⚪️ Your VCFC line up against @thetown_fc 💫Lepley back on the field 🧤Marcinkowski ready in goal#mlsnextpro #siempreadelante #vcfc pic.twitter.com/9tecPBfqrF— Ventura County FC (@vcfcpro) June 29, 2025
Crazy last few minutes VCFC concede a PK in the 87th minute of a 0-0 game and The Town put it in past Marcinkowski Down 1-0 Galaxy draft pick Jason Bucknor earns a corner in the 6th minute of stoppage time and Chris Rindov heads it in for a VCFC goal 1-1 in the 96th minute on to PKs CHRIS RINDOV EQUALIZES AT THE DEATH!📺 #MLSSeasonPass: https://t.co/tlhSgAacFW pic.twitter.com/HUkYaAY6JW— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) June 30, 2025
Not the best showing in the PK shootout. VCFC loses 4-3 Magana's kick saved. Lepley puts it over the bar. Marcinkowski saved one (actually it hit off the post). VCFC gets one point rather than two.
Our defense had a very good game but Riley Dalgado almost screwed it up with his foul in the penalty box late in the game. Chris Rindov, who was solid, is a threat on set pieces and scored in the dying seconds. JT Marcinkowki was once again great and looks very trustable. Otherwise playing with Sean Karani up top means a lot of route 1 balls and it was not funny to see. Opposite GK was excellent at coming off his line all game long.
Pratt starts in goal with Marcinkowski needed to backup Mićović tomorrow 🔵 TEAM NEWS ⚪️🧤 Pratt gets the start in goal🙌 Bucknor enters the Starting XI💫 Karani leads the line up top#VCFC | #StartingXI | #Matchday pic.twitter.com/I3OIGAd0Bc— Ventura County FC (@vcfcpro) July 4, 2025
1-2 loss at home against Vancouver in a very disappointing result. VCFC tried to play and you could feel they were the better team, but they lacked some killer instinct up front. With Ruben Ramos Jr. and Luis Müller out (I don't know what happened with Müller over the past two games), there was not enough talent in the box. Nick Sullivan scored a solid goal but Jason Bucknor wasn't as good as he's used to be on the right side, while Sean Karani had one of his headscratching game where he badly misses all his chances. As often in MLS Next Pro, Dylan Vanney looks like a real gem but not influential enough, which is completely OK for a 17 years old teenager. Pepe Magana made an horrid mistake on the first Vancouver goal and should have scored on a couple of set pieces. It's always strange to me that Magana, who can look very comfortable with the ball, can make such mistakes with his first touch or with some random passes. He has time to grow but some of his errors are infuriating.
I was able to go to this game in person. Nice atmosphere, good crowd, and, as an added bonus, the Vanney family came to watch their son Dylan. I like that no one bothered them even though they were sitting right in middle of the stands, which was appropriate for them and the rest of the parents in attendance (of which there were many). It was interesting watching Greg Vanney turn to his wife and speak right after some failed offensive maneuver and wildly gesticulate with his hand as if he were drawing up plays on a whiteboard. She just nodded while probably zoning out. I think this is how my wife responds too when I try to tell her about something related to my work. As for the game, they probably win if Ramos Jr. or Muller were available. It's hard to convey just how bad Karani was in front of goal. He not only missed three clear chances (one of which wouldn't have counted because he was offside), but he missed most of them the same way, putting them 20 feet over the crossbar while standing sometimes as close as the six yard box. To be fair, he gets in decent positions and he often makes good runs, but you would think he would do 300 reps a day with a defender running at him to break the habit of leaning back. Magana made some fantastic defensive plays and generally was pretty calm on the ball. He can overcommit or take the wrong angle on plays, though, as he did in this game, which leads to big errors. I tend to think that's the reality of being a 17 year-old center back. In theory, pairing him with the veteran Rindov (who played at Maryland and came from SKC2 where he even got one game in MLS), is designed to help provide a good influence, but I think they are just growing pains. He's clearly loaded with potential. Harbor Miller's defensive play at right back was more concerning to me. He was routinely beaten by the Vancouver wing cutting inside and only had a couple of plays were you could really see his quality and they were all going forward and crossing the ball. For a kid who has already gotten a decent amount of MLS action early this year, it feels like he has taken a step backward. He has got to be one of the very few players, if any, who has played in MLS Next Academy, MLS Next Pro, and MLS this year. The problem is that he has done those in reverse, playing MLS to start the season, then MLS Next Pro, and then playing with the Academy for a game or two in the MLS Cup playoffs before rejoining MLS Next Pro. I also didn't see much to be excited about from Riley Delgado, who will be on an MLS homegrown contract next season, at left back. He was replaced at halftime, although that was likely to generate more offense with the team down 2-0. Vicente Garcia made a late cameo in midfield. He's probably the youngest player on the team (I think he's still 14) and is on a MLSNP contract through 2026 and then starts on an MLS HG contract in 2027. He stood out for his quality, but gets knocked around pretty good because of his size. By contrast, Bucknor looked every bit of the ex-DI college player. He just ran into and over players, but didn't show much ability to generate space for himself on the wings and his crosses were far below Miller's in precision. Bucknor just seems to hope for the best, while Miller picks up his head and tries to locate a player. Pratt, who is still only 16, did OK in his first MLS Next Pro game this season. Had a few very strong saves on breakaways and long shots. He was maybe a little slow off his line and perhaps slid the wrong way on the error from Magana, which left him challenging the ball with his trailing foot rather than his hand, but that's excessive nit-picking. He was a typical young GK. Relied mostly on his center backs for positioning and organization as the ball got closer to him rather than directing traffic himself, but had decent communication while the ball was farther away from him. Overall, this game was very much like a senior team game. They pressed high, the Galaxy stuck religiously to trying to play it out of the back, but at times lacked the midfield play to get out of it. Nevertheless, they did generate some good attacks and should have put more of their chances away.
To be fair, I thought it was Miller's worst MLS Next Pro game of the season, especially on the defensive side. Same for Bucknor who's coming back from an injury but I agree, Miller is more precise where Bucknor likes to run everywhere and go at opposite players. I like them both and the club seems loaded at the RB position. Dalgado, after a massive jump in 2024, hasn't improved yet, but remember he started the year injured and is slowly back into form.
Crucial and tough game coming for VCFC tonight : they visit first place St. Louis 2 at 5 PM. VCFC are 8 points behind their opponent with one game in hand. They probably need to get a result to stay hopeful in the race for number 1 seed in the Western Conference.
1945632093356396794 is not a valid tweet id No Müller and no Ramos Jr. is a big blow. VCFC with a new starting CM tandem too.
Tied 1-1 in regulation, but lost the chance for 2 points by losing the PK shootout. We haven’t been as good at those this year.
Hard fought game, VCFC played an excellent first half and scored a great goal through Tommy Musto, who was geat in his deep-lying role (lineup was wrong, Elijah Wynder played on the right wing and Musto in the center). Unfortunately, Musto missed his PK but was everywhere and recovered many second balls. JT Marcinkowski was a wall in second half and deserves my MOTM honor. He's been rock solid this year and given his pedigree I think he could be a solid backup in MLS. Pepe Magana had a couple of excellent plays but was not agressive enough on St. Louis goal, and this consistency remains the biggest issue for him at the moment. VCFC could have had a goal on a counter in the second half but Nick Sullivan missed a golden chance after a good play by Sean Karani. Game at LAFC 2 on Sunday.