ST. LOUIS – Following a weather delay that set kickoff back by over two hours, The Town FC and St. Louis CITY2 were set to commence an important Western Conference battle with important standings implications.
CITY2 (6-2-2) entered the match seeking revenge, as last season, The Town FC (3-3-4), then known as Earthquakes II, narrowly knocked out St. Louis in the quarterfinal round of the MLS NEXT Pro Playoffs. However, on Sunday, CITY2 halted The Town FC’s three-game point streak, taking a close 1-0 victory at CITYPARK.
The Town FC saw defender Oscar Verhoeven and forward Riley Lynch return to action after recent absences, but the team’s offensive attack could never quite generate dangerous momentum. The shutout extended the Bay Area side’s goalless game streak to two, reinforcing scoring woes and on-target shot struggles.
St. Louis applied pressure straight from the jump, and The Town FC found itself in an early offensive dry spell. Head coach Daniel DeGeer’s club noticeably had trouble clearing CITY2’s chances, but relied on goalkeeper Emmanuel Ochoa — who made his second straight start in net — to hold down the fort. At halftime, the bout was scoreless.
The Town FC also faced a familiar face in the game — St. Louis midfielder Cameron Cilley. The 23-year-old started his professional career within the Earthquakes organization, including making his MLS debut with the first team in 2023.
Poor discipline led to The Town FC’s eventual defeat. In the 72nd minute, CITY2 was awarded a penalty kick after midfielder Akil Watts was fouled inside the 18-yard box. From there, second-half substitute forward MyKhi Joyner notched the game’s only goal from the mark, sending a rocket past the outstretched reach of Ochoa, who made a convincing effort to stop the shot to no avail.
The score was Joyner’s fourth of the season, which leads St. Louis. His penalty-kick goal would be enough for CITY2 to reach the win column for the third time in May, following a shutout loss to Houston Dynamo 2 on Wednesday.
Ochoa finished with three saves and was often busy with St. Louis’ offensive attacks. Unfortunately, the highly touted netminder wasn’t provided any help from The Town FC’s offense, as the team didn’t record any shots on target for the entirety of the match and only registered two shots total. CITY2, on the other hand, posted 16 shots, often weaving through The Town FC’s third of the pitch.
Tallying five yellow cards, The Town FC will seek more refined tackles and polished discipline in its upcoming games, as late-game foul trouble prevented the team from having a winning chance down the stretch.
Even with the disappointing result, The Town FC still sits in playoff position at seventh place in the Western standings with 15 points. St. Louis — now even with Los Angeles FC 2 at 21 points — only trails North Texas SC by one point for the conference lead.
The Town FC’s next test will be Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2, another team fighting for a playoff spot among the gauntlet of strong Western squads. Against the Canadian side, The Town FC will look to get back to its winning ways facing a group that has seen mixed results lately.
The matchup will kick off on June 2 at 4 p.m. at Swangard Stadium and will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
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MATCH INFORMATION
2024 MLS NEXT Pro Season
St. Louis CITY2 1 – 0 The Town FC
CITYPARK
Sunday, May 26, 2024
Scoring Summary:
STL (1-0) – M. Joyner 72’
Misconduct Summary:
TTFC – R. Lynch (Caution) 58’
TTFC – C. Walls (Caution) 65’
TTFC – R. Ibarra (Caution) 68’
STL – W. Kuzain (Caution) 78’
TTFC – J. Garcia (Caution) 79’
TTFC – E. Blancas (Caution) 90’
St. Louis CITY2: N. Bishop (GK), J. Nerwinski, M. Wentzel (C), G. Mikina, J. Reid, W. Kuzain, A. Watts (O. Benitez Cobo – 87’), C. Cilley (S. Antwi – 84’), J. Klein III, H. Kijima (M. Joyner – 66’), B. McSorley (R. Becher – 87’)
Substitutes not used: E. Kinzner, D. Armstrong, J. Hackworth, T. Pearce, S. Gomez
SHOTS: 16; SHOTS ON GOAL: 4; FOULS: 13; CORNER KICKS: 6; SAVES: 0
The Town FC: E. Ochoa (GK), O. Verhoeven, S. Bilter, C. Walls, R. Ibarra (J. Garcia – 73’), B. Leroux (A. Chow – 18’), E. Mendoza (A. Cano – 84’), C. Medina (C), A. Edwards (J. Spivey – 84’), E. Blancas, R. Lynch (J. Donnery – 73’)
Substitutes not used: J. Nicolson, D. Fregoso Bautista
SHOTS: 2; SHOTS ON GOAL: 0; FOULS: 10; CORNER KICKS: 3; SAVES: 3