Shameful result against the worst team in the Western Conference, who is still winless : VCFC scored an early goal on an opportunistic play by Julian Placias, had tons of chances, Colorado had two players sent off but scored the game-tying goal in stoppage time at 9 vs. 11, and won the shootout. A true nightmare to watch. Julian Placias scored but also missed two golden chances on the same play, overall this was not a convicing performance. Dylan Vanney still lacks consistency but this time it was the opposite of his usual play : I thought he was excellent as a playmaker but could have been better in the final third. Troy Elgersma had a very good game as a CM, his versatility seems valuable. Sebastian Conlon had again some amazing saves. Maybe you think I'm overhyping him but he's constantly one of our best players and has won us a lot of points this season.
Mason Vanney now signs a contract with VCFC too. He has been playing well at RB Mason Vanney signs pro contract with Ventura County FC #LAGalaxy— Damian Calhoun (@DamianCalhoun) June 19, 2026
🆕 James Rhodes zadba o przyszłość naszej bramki!🔗 https://t.co/e7xXLVIlWa pic.twitter.com/NLYtDd525K— ŁKS Łódź (@LKS_Lodz) June 20, 2026 VCFC backup keeper James Rhodes signs for a Polish second division club.
James is a great kid who has kind of been unlucky at the club level since he left Strikers MLS Next for LA Galaxy Academy. He was behind USYNT starter Owen Pratt at the U17 level in MLS Next and then, like Pratt, who had to leave for Chicago Fire 2 to get MLSNP minutes because of the Galaxy's tendency to start keepers for VCFC who are either the 3rd string keeper on the Galaxy or a former 4-year college keeper, Rhodes was on the bench and didn't get a single minute for VCFC in MLSNP. He played for Canada's U20 YNT in CONCACAF qualifying in late February/early March, which probably helped. Canada may even have told him to move to get minutes. He had committed to University of Pittsburgh, but bets on himself by going to the Polish second division.
Down 1-0 on a very late goal at the Half on a long ball over the top that the center backs failed to deal with. I wondered if any Galaxy players would be involved in this game because of the break, but it's all the usual suspects except for Elgersma, who was signed to the senior squad, but hasn't played many minutes yet Your starting line up for tonight's match against @RealMonarchs 🥅 #mlsnextpro pic.twitter.com/wla9sJs0TI— Ventura County FC (@vcfcpro) June 28, 2026
Vicente Garcia goal in the 51st minute! Fantastic pass from Delgado to Placias and from Placias to Garcia who had a great run and finish. 1-1 Garcia cuts in and fires it home for @vcfcpro! 🎯 pic.twitter.com/VYZUlZ5BoG— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) June 28, 2026
Placias goal in the 71st! VCFC up 2-1 🚨 GOAL VCFC! 2-1! 💙⚽️⚽️ Julian Placias puts Ventura County FC back in front! pic.twitter.com/1ih7tuRUtQ— Ventura County FC (@vcfcpro) June 28, 2026
VCFC are busting it open now. Enrique Martinez scores in the 83rd 3-1 Martinez makes it 3️⃣! pic.twitter.com/W8ked3zFZN— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) June 28, 2026
Shaky first half, but VCFC dominate in the second half to take all 3 points Final score! 😍 Siempre Adelante Ventura County! pic.twitter.com/6vBNIfN0Aq— Ventura County FC (@vcfcpro) June 28, 2026
Excellent game both in the first and in the second half, but nearly wasted by a miscommunication between Pepe Magana and Sebastian Conlon which lead to the opnening goal, just before haltime. Too bad for Magana who had a superb game overall, his improvement over last year is truly remarkable. I can't count how many great defensive plays he had. Julian Placias was excellent too, a beautiful assist to Vicente Garcia and a great volley to score the GWG. 3 goals and 3 assists in the last 4 games, his slump seems to be over. Placias is a real target striker who's solid at catching long balls and a great presence inside the box. He's a player to watch for the second part of the season, he could be a good candidate to a first-team contract at the end of 2026. Speaking of Vicente Garcia, we need to talk (again) about this little magician who is amazing in tight spaces and his ability to always keep the ball even in difficult situations is incredible. On this aspect of the game he seems so much older than he is (he just turned 16 this week). Here were my three best players but overall everybody had a good game, and that was without Dylan Vanney.
By the way, William Walker appeared on the bench for the first time as far as I can recall. He's a U19 goalkeeper and appears to be the replacement for James Rhodes (who @LEMLAG posted about signing with a Polish 2nd division team) as the VCFC backup.
2-3 loss at Vancouver 2 yesterday. You could feel VCFC were the better team, but a golazo from nowhere followed by 15 minutes of bad defending (with two more goals conceded) cost our reserves the win. Chris Rindov got the start and had a very good game overall till that third goal where he was beaten by a simple long ball on a restart. Gabriel Arnold and Brett Phan were solid in the midfield. I've never been super high on Arnold but he has raised his game lately. I'm still amazed I've never heard about Phan before this season, he's really a wizard with his feet in tight spaces, and he's just 17. Speaking of wizards, Vicente Garcia had a hand on the first goal after an excellent give-and-go with Isak Luna. Striker Kai Aina scored his first professional goal late in the game after an excellent layoff from Julian Placias. Unfortunately for Placias, it was another game where his finishing was lacking. He had too many of those this season. Next game for VCFC is against LAFC 2, the day after El Trafico.