1 point from 2 road matches see Victory drop to 3rd in table

Defending Evergreen Premier League Champions Vancouver Victory knew that their 2-match away swing to Seattle and Oly Town would play a big role in their effort to repeat as title holders in the Evergreen Premier League. The club played well in stretches in both matches but are coming back to Ridgefield with just a single point added in the standings. Vancouver is now third in the table with 18 points on 11 matches played. Seattle has played 10 matches and has 23 points. Bellingham also has a match in hand and has 20 points.

The Victory now close out their 4th season with three big home matches the next three Saturday’s at Ridgefield: July 15, 22 and 29. (See schedule below)

Seattle 3-1 Vancouver

Jesse Garcia converted a penalty kick in the second half to bring the Victory level with the Stars in Seattle. But league leading scorer Tyler Bjork was too much for the Victory. He scored twice to lead the Stars to their 7th win of the season.

Oly Town 1-1 Vancouver

Vancouver took the lead in the 45th minute on a goal from Moises Diaz. It was a boost for V2FC as they headed into the locker room up 1-0. Oly Town, who beat the Victory in Ridgefield earlier, got even in the 66th minute on a goal from Kyle Witzel. The Vicgory bench erupted with shouts of “offside!” but no flag was raised and the goal stood.

“We have just not been good enough,” said a frustrated Vancouver General Manager Barrett Goddard after the match. “We have committed way too many unforced errors and made poor decisions and that comes down to a lack of focus. The teams in this league are too talented to make mistakes and not make good decisions. Our record reflects both of those things and does not really reflect how much talent we have or how good our coaching has been.”

Head Coach Troy Ready was also feeling the strain of the recent turn in form for Vancouver.

“Today was disappointing,” Ready said after the 1-1 draw at Oly Town. “We had a lead and an opportunity to control things and we didn’t put them away. That’s when a questionable call can hurt you and we allowed that to happen. I’m proud of the guys and the way they played. We were just hoping for a better result.”

2017 Victory EPLWA Schedule