MNUFC2 is hitting the road once more, this time for a weekend matchup with the Tacoma Defiance. The first team will also be in the Evergreen State, with a showdown with the Sounders set for Sunday, meaning it’s a Black and Blue weekend in Washington. How wonderful!
The Twos are fresh off a tough 3-2 loss to Whitecaps FC 2, a match that saw the Loons recover from an early deficit. Though they were down 2-0 in the 70th minute, a goal from Academy product Aidan Maritinez and a penalty kick from Luke Hille leveled the score, giving the home side everything to play for with just over 10 minutes remaining in the match. An 89th-minute strike from the visitors sealed their fate, though, ending the comeback in heartbreaking fashion.
Head Coach Jeremy Hall was frustrated by the result, but saw moments to build from in the performance.
“I thought we just came out a little bit slow,” he said of Wednesday’s match. “I don’t know why, but we came out slow. We found a rhythm and there were a lot of good moments of football and we played well. Every goal is preventable, man. So that's the part that sucks, is that being engaged and switched on every moment. If you don't, you get punished for it. And the first goal is preventable. The second one is preventable. And the third one is preventable. So we have a tight turnaround. We've got to recover and get ready for Tacoma [Defiance]. But yeah, really good moments. It's just for us, it's about completing a 90-minute game.”
Now, with potential reinforcements from the first-team roster, Hall and the squad will be looking for a bounceback game against a middle-of-the-road Tacoma side that has shown some impressive ups and some confounding downs this season. Most of their matches have turned into goal fests this season, losing 5-0 to Vancouver a few weeks after picking up consecutive 4-1 wins against SKC and STL.
Their record indicates that while Tacoma is better at home, they’re not unbeatable anywhere. As has been the case with most teams the Loons have played thus far, the Defiance have played two more matches, accruing 1.5 points per game. That’s slightly lower than the Twos’ 1.63 mark, and suggests that this could be a well-balanced matchup on Saturday.
Though reinforcements may be available, it’s likely that the Twos will travel with a similar squad to the one that lined up against Whitecaps 2. Expect to see MNUFC2 regulars supplemented by Academy players. Kick off is slated for 9:00 p.m. CT in this west-coast showdown, so drink some coffee and tune in to the free live stream on MLSNEXTPro.com to see if the Twos can get back on track in the PNW.
