Central STL News

St Louis CITY2 secured a place in the MLS NEXT Pro Western Conference Semifinal after defeating Ventura County FC 3-0 at Energizer Park on Sunday night. The match began with an early own goal by Ventura County’s Max Middlebury in the third minute, giving CITY2 an immediate lead.

CITY2 maintained pressure throughout the game, recording seven shots on goal compared to none from Ventura County in the first half. In the second half, CITY2 increased their offensive efforts with 10 shot attempts and held 52% possession.

Brendan McSorley extended CITY2’s advantage in the 81st minute with a right-footed shot from the right side of the box, assisted by Tyson Pearce. Six minutes later, McSorley scored again—his second goal of the night—after receiving assists from Emil Jääskeläinen and Wan Kuzain. This performance marked McSorley’s first career playoff brace and brought his total to four career MLS NEXT Pro playoff goals and six goal contributions (four goals, two assists) over four appearances. Both Jääskeläinen and Kuzain recorded their first assists of this postseason.

Following this victory, CITY2 will host the Western Conference Semifinal at Energizer Park next weekend. Details regarding date, time, and opponent will be announced later.

The match also saw cautions issued to Riley Dalgado of Ventura County FC in the 56th minute and Jaziel Orozco of CITY2 in the 60th minute.

Starting lineups for CITY2 included goalkeeper Christian Olivares; defenders Tyson Pearce, Gabriel Mikina, Jaziel Orozco, Cam Cilley; midfielders Miguel Perez, Seth Antwi, Brendan McSorley, Wan Kuzain, Matteo Kidd; and forward Emil Jääskeläinen. Notable substitutes used were Caden Glover (82’), Emiliano Chavez (83’), Mykhi Joyner (64’), and Dida Armstrong (90’).

Ventura County FC started with Brady Scott as goalkeeper; defenders Riley Dalgado, Chris Rindov, Max Middleby (substituted by Jose Luis Magana Jr.), Harbor Miller; midfielders Dylan Vanney, Tommy Musto, Sean Karani; forwards Jason Bucknor, Gino Vivi, Ruben Ramos Jr.

CITY2 registered a total of 25 shots with 17 on target while Ventura County managed 13 shots with only two on target. The referee for the match was Muhammad Hassan.

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