The Tacoma Defiance suffered their most lopsided loss since moving to MLS Next Pro in 2022, falling 5-0 to St. Louis City2 in the final game of the regular season. The last time the Defiance lost by such a large margin was Sept. 10, 2019 when they were in the USL Championship and was one goal away from tying their franchise-worse loss, which last happened in 2017.
Despite the scoreline, the Defiance still managed to finish fourth in the Western Conference which means they will play at least one home game in the playoffs for a third straight year. For much of the afternoon, it looked like they were going to drop to fifth but LAFCII blew a 3-1 lead and lost 4-3.
The Defiance will find out their playoff opponent during Tuesday’s “Conference Selection Show.” The top three teams in each conference will be allowed to pick their opponent. The Defiance will be matched up with whoever does not get picked. Their possible opponents are LAFCII, Ventura County, Vancouver Whitecaps 2 and Houston Dynamo 2.
The Defiance actually started the match strong and were arguably the better team until City2 opened the score in the 33rd minute, but the wheels quickly came off. City2 scored three goals between the 33rd and 44th minutes to go into halftime leading 3-0 and never looked back.
This result aside, the Defiance have been playing reasonably well over their last 15 games in which they went 8-3-4. They also finish the season as the top scoring team in MLS Next Pro, tying Philadelphia Union II with 59 goals.
Stats
MATCH SUMMARY
Tacoma Defiance 0 – St. Louis CITY2 5
Sunday, October 6, 2024
Venue: CITYPARK
Referee: Nabil Bensalah
Assistants: Jay Norris, Eric Wood
Fourth official: Tim Wagner
Weather: 82 degrees and sunny
SCORING SUMMARY
STL – Dida Armstrong 33’
STL – Dida Armstrong (Hosei Kijima) 37’
STL – John Klein III (penalty) 44’
STL – Caden Glover (John Klein III) 58’
STL – MyKhi Joyner (Hosei Kijima) 86’
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
STL – Dida Armstong (caution) 34’
TAC – Stuart Hawkins (caution) 44’
STL – Matteo Kidd (caution) 48’
TAC – Braudilio Rodrigues (caution) 56’
STL – Hosei Kijima (caution) 72’
TAC – Chris Aquino (caution) 76’
LINEUPS & STATS
Tacoma Defiance – Jacob Castro; Cody Baker, Stuart Hawkins, Elias Katsaros, Blake Bowen; Snyder Brunell – captain (Burke Fahling 85’), Sota Kitahara; Dylan Teves (Chris Aquino 75’), Sebastian Gomez (Kalani Kossa-Rienzi 64’), Braudilio Rodrigues (Yu Tsukanome 75’); Gio Miglietti (Osaze De Rosario 75’)
Substitutes not used: Lars Helleren, Antino Lopez, Owen O’Malley
Total shots: 13
Shots on goal: 6
Fouls: 10
Offside: 2
Corner-kicks: 4
Saves: 3
St. Louis CITY2 – Christian Olivares; Tyson Charles Pearce, Gabriel Mikina – captain, Michael Wentzel, Selmir Pidro (Eric Kinzner 87’); Seth Antwi, Matteo Kidd (Ryan Dugan 76’); Dida Armstrong (Ryan Becher 61’), Hosei Kijima (Edin Clark 87’), John David Klein III; Caden Glover (MyKhi Joyner 61’)
Substitutes not used: Nicholas Ryan Bishop, Cameron Cilley, Oscar Benitez Cobo, Braden Benyr
Total shots: 20
Shots on goal: 8
Fouls: 20
Offside: 3
Corner-kicks: 4
Saves: 4
