Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada (Sunday, June 5, 2022) – Playing a man down for the majority of the match, Real Monarchs (0-8-2, 2 points) were held scoreless at Whitecaps FC 2 (5-2-4, 21 points), falling 4-0 at Swangard Stadium.
In the second meeting between the two sides, the squads traded possession with most of the play around the midfield. In the 19th minute, the Monarchs found themselves on the backfoot when defender Golden Mafwenta was shown a red card after a hard foul during a Whitecaps FC 2 breakaway.
Despite playing with 10 men, Real Monarchs nearly opened the scoring in the 22nd minute when defender Chris Kablan found midfielder Leo Torres who fired a low shot on goal that was saved by Whitecaps goalkeeper Isaac Boehmer. WFC2 broke through in the 29th minute when forward Simone Becher won the ball at the top of the box and squeezed his shot between Monarchs’ goalkeeper Blake Kelly and the left post for the first goal of the match. The Canadian side scored again in the 35th minute when WFC2 midfielder Elage Bah curled his shot into the top-right corner after receiving the ball off a rebound from Caio Alexandre’s shot.
Coming out of the halftime break, both sides saw opportunities early, but neither side was able to find the net. The best look on goal for the Monarchs came in the 65th minute when midfielder Christian Nydegger found forward* Jack Imperato* at the center of the box. Imperato fired a left footed shot that was just barely saved by a diving Boehmer.
The Canadian side found the net for a third time in the 83rd minute when second-half substitute Jay Herdman was able to fire a shot into the bottom-left corner after a defensive breakdown by Real Monarchs. Whitecaps FC 2 sealed the win with a fourth goal in the 92nd minute by Joe Hanson. The Monarchs were unable to find a breakthrough, ending the match in 4-0 defeat.
UP NEXT: Real Monarchs will finish its two-match road swing on Sunday, June 12 at 7:00 p.m. MT as the Club takes on Rocky Mountain rivals Colorado Rapids 2. The Monarchs will then return to Zions Bank Stadium to face San Jose Earthquakes II on Friday, June 17 at 7:00 p.m. MT for Star Wars night. Tickets can be purchased at rsl.com/monarchs/tickets/.
GOAL SCORING RUNDOWN:
WFC2: Simone Becher 29th minute: After bouncing around the box, Becher won the ball at the top of the box and quickly fired a shot into the bottom-left corner to open the scoring for Whitecaps FC 2.
WFC2: Elage Bah 35th minute: After Alexandre’s shot was initially blocked by Kelly, the ball landed to Bah who was sitting at the left side of the box. Bah curled a shot into the top-right corner for the second goal of the match.
WFC2: Jay Herdman 83rd minute: On a defensive breakdown by the Monarchs, the Canadian club found Herdman with the ball around the penalty spot. Herdman curled the right-footed shot into the bottom-left for the third of the match.
WFC2: Joe Hanson (Eric White) 92nd minute: As the match came to a close, White found Hanson on a cross who was able to head the ball into the top-left corner for the final goal of the match.
NOTES:
- Real Salt Lake Homegrown Erik Holt is appearing in his first match since suffering a leg injury in Real Salt Lake’s match against Sporting Kansas City on March 26. Holt wore the captain’s armband in place of the injured Pedro Fonseca.
-Midfielder Diego Luna and defender Chris Kablan were featured in RSL’s squad in yesterday's matchup with Vancouver Whitecaps. Luna made his MLS debut, coming on as a late-game substitute in the match.
-Holt and Luna also made their MLS NEXT Pro debuts and first starts for the Monarchs.
- 8 of the 15 players available for Real Monarchs are current or former RSL Academy products.
-The Monarchs fielded one of its oldest starting XIs this season with an average age of 20.09. Kablan is the oldest in the squad at 27 years old while goalkeeper Blake Kelly is the youngest at 16 years of age.
-Defender Aziz Kayondo was unavailable due to being called-up to the Ugandan Men’s National Team
Match: Real Monarchs vs Whitecaps FC 2
Date: June 5, 2022
Venue: Swangard Stadium
Weather: 64 and Rainy
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
Real Monarchs 0 0 0
Whitecaps FC 2 2 2 4
WFC2: Simone Becher 29’
WFC2: Elage Bah 35’
WFC2: Jay Herdman 83’
WFC2: Joe Hanson 90+2’
Lineups:
Real Monarchs (4-3-3): Blake Kelly, Chris Kablan, Erik Holt, Golden Mafwenta, Pierre Reedy, Jaziel Orozco, Christian Nydegger, Diego Luna (Izzy Amparo, 84’), Benjamin Rodriguez (Terron Williams, 63’), Jack Imperato, Leo Torres (Julio Benitez, 39’)
Subs not used: Will Mackay
Whitecaps FC 2 (3-5-2): Isaac Boehmer, Finn Linder, Cristian Campagna, Matteo Campagna, Elage Bah, Caio Alexandre (Jay Herdman 46’), Vasco Fry, Giovanni Aguilar, Filip Rakic (Eric White, 60’), Simon Becher (Theo Collomb, 85’), Emiliano Brienza (Joe Hanson, 78’)
Subs not used: Ben Alexander, Pipe Fernandez-Salvador, Simone Masi, Owen Antoniuk, Joshue Ndakala
Stats Summary: WFC2 / RM
Shots: 24 / 4
Shots on Goal: 9 / 3
Saves: 3 / 5
Corner Kicks: 5 / 0
Fouls: 15 / 16
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
RM: Jaziel Orozco (caution) 11’
RM: Golden Mafwenta (ejection) 19’
WFC2: Filip Rakic (caution) 48’
RM: Julio Benitez (caution) 60’
WFC2: Giovanni Aguilar (caution) 87’
OFFICIALS:
Referee: Michael Mond
Assistant Referees: Prem Gundarah, Michael Hood
4th Official: Alain Ruch
