Playing in a steady rain, the Tacoma Defiance came back from an early deficit and were powered to victory by a second-half brace from forward Yu Tsukanome as the MLS NEXT Pro side rallied past amateur side Washington Athletic Club (WAC), 3-1, at Starfire Stadium in Tukwila, Wash.
Tacoma started off the first half with more possession and seemed to have early control of the game, but a ball over the top by the visitors in the seventh minute forced a foul by the Defiance’s Kaito Yamada just outside Tacoma’s 18-yard box. The challenge earned Yamada a yellow card and led to a group of players from both teams briefly surrounding the referee as some WAC fans called for DOGSO (Denial of an Obvious Goal-Scoring Opportunity), but no further disciplinary action was taken by the referee. Nicholas O’Brien stepped up to take the ensuing free kick and shot it through the wall, where the ball took a deflection and left Tacoma’s keeper Lars Helleren wrong-footed as it went down the middle for a 1-0 lead.
Following the goal, WAC seemed to find their footing and had more control of the game for a time. Tacoma had one or two half chances but WAC had more possession. Each team was awarded another yellow card for challenges, though quality looks at goal were hard to find.
The tides turned in the 37th minute as Tacoma worked the ball to Charlie Gaffney on the right side of the attacking half. Gaffney sent in a cross that bounced off a WAC defender to the Defiance’s Edson Carli on the left side of the box. Carli hit a left-footed chip that floated over WAC’s keeper Saif Kerawala and just tucked in the upper right corner of the goal to tie the match at 1-1.
“We knew that this game was going to be an emotional one just because they (WAC) have some ex-Seattle players, they know us very well,” Defiance head coach Hervé Diese said. “ are still young, they’re still maturing, developing into strong men in the game, so I just needed to calm the nerves down and say ‘Hey, you’re doing well, we are the better team, stick to the principles and then we’ll get the first goal; once we get the second goal it’ll be done.’”
Before stoppage time, WAC won a free kick just past the midfield line. The free kick was lofted into the box, where Eric Lagos skied over Helleren to get his head on it, but his attempt went just left of the goal.
Both teams made changes at halftime. Just two minutes into the second half, Tsukanome received a pass from midfielder Sebastian Gomez that split the centerbacks and put him in on goal, where he slotted a left foot shot into the net to give Tacoma a 2-1 lead.
The second goal quieted the action a bit as WAC started finding more possession and Tacoma were unable to get out of their own half. Players continued to occasionally lose their footing in the wet conditions. Right after both teams made additional substitutions in the 71st minute, Tsukanome scored his second goal of the night after receiving a pass from Jackon Khoury at the top of the six-yard box and slotting a right-footed shot past the keeper.
A few minutes later, Tacoma had two quick shots in succession cleared off the line, one by the keeper and one by a defender. From there, WAC was unable to put much pressure on Tacoma, too often settling for long-distance shots from outside the box that didn’t threaten the Defiance.
Diese didn’t seem surprised that his side was able to come back to win.
“We knew that our training regimen was going to pass their ability to play against us,” he said. “Stick to the standards, stick to the principles and I guarantee you that the quality that we already have is going to score goals and that’s exactly what happened.”
The Defiance now move on to the Second Round of the Open Cup, which is scheduled to take place April 1 and 2.