St Louis CITY2 (9-8-8, 40 points) wraps up their two-match road trip with a battle against Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 (8-11-6, 33 points) on Saturday, September 9, at National Soccer Development Center. Kickoff is slated for 4:00 p.m. CT, and the match will be streamed on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app.
Earlier this season, CITY2 got the better of Whitecaps 2 when the latter made the trek to CITYPARK. Vancouver opened the scoring with a goal in the 9th minute, but CITY2 surged back with goals from midfielder Faysal Bettache and defender Sergio Rivas to claim the come-from-behind, 2-1 victory. The victory was CITY2’s first of the season.
This time around, St. Louis is entering the match on a roll. The team is unbeaten over their last seven matches (five wins, two draws) and has won their last three times out, besting Houston Dynamo 2 last weekend thanks to a hat-trick from Bettache. Bettache’s performance earned him the MLS NEXT Pro Player of Matchday 25 honor. With a result against Vancouver, CITY2 would set the record for the longest unbeaten streak in team history, surpassing the seven-game run (five wins, two draws) set by the team during the 2022 season.
With his three goals against Houston, Bettache now has seven goals this season, good for second most on the team. He has scored in three of CITY2’s last four games. The performance continued a streak of CITY2 players taking over games, as it was the third consecutive match in which a player recorded multiple goals (midfielder John Klein versus Portland Timbers2, forward Caden Glover against San Jose Earthquakes II). Bettache’s hat-trick was also the first in club history.
In the match against Houston, midfielder Célio Pompeu linked up with Bettache on each of his first two goals. Pompeu now has three assists in three matches with CITY2, giving the midfielder the fourth-most assists on the team. On Bettache’s final goal of the game, it was Klein who registered the assist, extending his streak of recording a goal contribution to six consecutive matches (with six goals and three assists over the entire stretch).
Since CITY2’s unbeaten streak began on July 23, the team has scored 21 goals, tying New York Red Bulls II for the most in that span. Only Red Bulls II and Crown Legacy FC have earned as many points (17) as CITY2 has since July 23.
CITY2 continued its run of picking up points on the road with the win against Houston, making the team unbeaten over their last three away matches (1 win, 2 draws). Away from home this season, CITY2 is 4-4-4 (18 points). On the other hand, Whitecaps 2 are 6-3-3 (23 points) at home this season with a plus-five goal difference. Vancouver has not scored multiple goals in a single home game since April 23, although the team has notched four clean-sheet home victories since then.
Vancouver comes into the match on a nine-match winless streak (six losses, three draws), falling 1-0 on the road against Real Monarchs in their last match. Offensively, the team is led by forward Levonte Johnson, who has a team-leading seven goals this season. Midfielder Antonie Coupland has haunted opposing players on the defensive side of the ball, as he has the most tackles won (52) and fourth-most duels won (301) in MLS NEXT Pro.
