In their second straight match at home, Ventura County FC defeated first place and unbeaten Houston Dynamo 2 by a scoreline of 3-1 on Saturday.

The first half was relatively quiet from both sides. VCFC’s biggest chance came in the 24th minute. Issak Luna charged ahead and passed it to Dylan Vanney just outside the box. Vanney let the ball run through for Eric Preston, who saw his low driven shot saved.

Sebastian Conlon came up huge in the 26th minute to keep it 0-0. Houston forward Mattheo Dimareli dribbled through on the left flank. His close range effort forced a diving save from Conlon.

HALFTIME: VCFC 0 – HOU 0

Just three minutes into the second half, VCFC broke through Houston’s defense to take the lead. Dylan Vanney whipped in a cross to the back left post, finding Julian Placias who headed it home for his 4th of the season.

The floodgates were officially open for VCFC. In the 53rd minute, the 805 side struck again. Dylan Vanney went coast to coast before laying it off to Gabriel Arnold. Arnold’s feint lost his defender, giving him time and space to strike it home. This was Arnold’s first goal of the season.

The Dylan Vanney and Julian Placias connection continued in the 63rd minute. Placias pressed the Houston backline and deflected a pass towards the endline. Placias collected in the corner before crossing it to Vanney to head it home. This was Placias’ 4th assist of the season and Vanney’s 7th goal.

Houston couldn’t be kept quiet the whole game, netting their first in the 72nd minute. A Houston shot hit the post, bouncing back out to center back, Vincius Silva. Silva tucked home the rebound to cut the deficit to two. VCFC held their own for the remaining 20 minutes to secure the victory.

FINAL SCORE: VCFC 3 – HOU 1

MATCH DETAILS

Scoring Summary
48’ – VCFC – Julian Placias (Dylan Vanney)
53’ – VCFC – Gabriel Arnold (Dylan Vanney)
63′ – VCFC – Dylan Vanney (Julian Placias)
72’ – HOU – Vinicius Silva

Disciplinary
27’ – HOU – Noah Betancourt (Yellow)
57’ – VCFC – Dylan Vanney (Yellow)
57’ – HOU – Matthew Arana (Yellow)
77’ – VCFC – Julian Placias (Yellow)
90+4’ – VCFC – Riley Dalgado (Yellow)

Statistics
Possession: VCFC 50% – HOU 50%
Shots: VCFC 14 – HOU 23
Shots on Goal: VCFC 9 – HOU 8
Saves: VCFC 7 – HOU 6
Fouls: VCFC 11 – HOU 10
Offsides: VCFC 0 – HOU 1
Corners: VCFC 4 – HOU 6

Ventura County FC
41.Sebastian Conlon; 88.Mason Vanney, 60. Sebastian Hernandez, 64. Jose Magaña Jr., 50. Riley Dalgado, 76. Troy Elgersma (90. Brett Phan, 66’), 87. Gabriel Arnold, 49.Dylan Vanney, 95. Eric Preston, 57.Julian Placias (61. Chase Gozdieski, 90’), 92. Issak Luna (83. Angel Villatoro, 74’)

Houston Dynamo 2
1. Pedro Cruz, 14. Noah Bentancourt (20. Gavin Wolff, 64’), 30. Isaac Mwakutuya, 12. Vinicius Silva, 3. Eiji Hata (44. Myles Gardner, 84’), 8. Gustavo Dohmann (24. Mamadi Jiana, 85’), 22. Matthew Arana, 33. Mattheo Dimareli (17. D’Allesandro Herrera, 64’), 7. Austin Brummett, 39. Samir Mohammad, 9. Arthur Sousa (16. Alan Aparecido, 77’)