SANDY, Utah (Wednesday, June 3, 2015) – Real Monarchs got some last-minute heroics on Wednesday night to earn a 2-2 draw with Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 in front of a crowd of 3,012 at Rio Tinto Stadium.
FW Max Rauhofer scored his fifth goal of the season and GK Lalo Fernandez finished with six saves, but it took a stoppage-time goal from MF Lucas Baldin to earn the point at home as the Monarchs moved to 1-6-5 on the season.
The Monarchs controlled possession throughout the match, but the Whitecaps struck first.
In the 13th minute, Vancouver took the lead off the boot of Caleb Clarke. Victor Blasco played the ball to Clarke in the box and he juked around DF Lennon Celestino before putting his shot past Fernandez for the goal and a 1-0 Whitecaps lead.
The Monarchs nearly equalized in the 16th minute on a ball from the right side that just missed both Rauhofer and MF Sebastian Saucedo sliding in at the far post, skipping past both for a goal kick.
Vancouver put all three of its shots on goal in the first half, while the Monarchs also had three first-half shots but didn’t put any on frame.
Real finally broke through just after halftime. Saucedo broke down his marker on the left side of the box and got to the endline to whip a cross across the box for FW Maikon Orellana. His header went back across the box where Rauhofer hammered it into the net to make it 1-1 in the 46th minute.
The Monarchs stayed on the attack and Rauhofer nearly snared the lead in the 60th minute with a snap-down header that Vancouver goalkeeper Marco Carducci parried away for a corner.
Against the run of play, Vancouver had two more chances in the 74th minute.
Billy Schuler got out on the run and took a hard shot just inside the box, but Fernandez made the save. The rebound fell back to Schuler and his putback attempt drew another save from Fernandez and the match stayed level.
Vancouver went back on top in the 85th minute on an intricate passing sequence that ended with Schuler finding Andre Lewis in the right corner of the box. Lewis wriggled into space then fired a low shot through Fernandez for the goal and a 2-1 Whitecaps lead.
The Monarchs continued to fight for the equalizer, though, and it came in stoppage time.
The ball went out wide to Saucedo and he sent it across the face of the goal to Baldin at the far post and the captain pounced on it for the equalizer.
The match concluded a string of six matches in 20 days, including two bouts in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Now they have a break until the next match on June 13 on the road against Colorado Spring Switchbacks FC.
REAL MONARCHS 2-2 VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC 2
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015
RIO TINTO STADIUM
Goals by Period 1 2 F
Real Monarchs 0 2 2
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 1 1 2
Scoring Summary:
WFC2: Caleb Clarke 13’
RM: Max Rauhofer (Maikon Orellana, Sebastian Saucedo) 46’
WFC2: Andre Lewis (Billy Schuler, Marco Bustos) 85’
RM: Lucas Baldin (Sebastian Saucedo) 93+
Misconduct Summary:
WFC2: Andre Lewis (Yellow; Foul) 67’
RM: Eti Taveres (Yellow; Foul) 89’
Lineups:
Real Monarchs (4-3-3): Lalo Fernandez; Riley McGovern, Lennon Celestino, Phanuel Kavita, Tyler Arnone; Lucas Baldin (C), Fito Ovalle (Alec Sundly, 75’), Ricardo Velazco (Eti Tavares, 63’); Maikon Orellana (Garrett Losee, 82’), Max Rauhofer, Sebastian Saucedo.
Substitutes not used: Victor Rodriguez, Darion Copeland, Jordan Murrell, Coco Navarro.
VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC 2 (4-4-2): Marco Carducci; Jackson Farmer, Jordan Haynes, Craig Nitti, Chris Serban; Ben McKendry, Tyler Roselund, Victor Blasco (Marco Bustos, 62’), Sahil Sandhu (Andre Lewis, 65’), Brett Levis (Jovan Blagojevic, 75’), Caleb Clarke (Billy Schuler, 70’).
Substitutes not used: Spencer Richey, Jovan Blagojevic, Mackenzie Pridham.
Referee: Leland Grant
Assistant Referees: Jay Hutchinson, Alex Crelo
4th Official: Marcelo Chaparro
Attendance: 3,012
Weather: Mostly Cloudy and 72
