Ventura County FC had to settle for 1 point at William Rolland Stadium, falling to Portland Timbers 2 in a penalty shootout on Sunday night.

VCFC were eager to keep their winning streak alive, coming out strong early in the match. Just 6 minutes in, Julian Placias nearly opened the scoring for his side. Riley Dalgado crossed a low driven ball from the left flank, connecting with a sliding Placias in the box. Placias unfortunately couldn’t get his shot on target.

In the 40th minute, Portland received a penalty after Sebastian Conlon brought down Eric Izoita in the box. Daniel Cervantes stepped up to take the penalty for Portland and slotted it into the bottom left corner.

VCFC remained undeterred and tied the game just moments later in the 45th minute. Julian Placias collected the ball in the midfield before sending it through for Eric Preston on the left flank. Preston drove into the box and curled it past the goalkeeper to the far right side to level the score. This was Preston’s 7th goal on the season and the 8th assist on the season for Placias.

HALFTIME: VCFC 1 – POR 1

In the 60th minute, Eric Preston struck again to give VCFC the lead. Gabriel Arnold won the ball in Portland’s half for Luis Müller to collect. Müller connected with Vinny Garcia who drove into the Portland box. Garcia found Arnold at the top of the 18 who then laid it off to Preston just inside the box. Preston’s left footed strike went off the far right post and in for his 8th goal of the season and 2nd goal on the night. This was Arnold’s 3rd assist on the season.

VCFC’s celebrations were short lived and conceded another penalty in the 67th minute. Portland forward Charles Ondo attempted a cross from inside the VCFC box and was deflected by the arm of Mason Vanney. Daniel Cervantes again stepped up to take the penalty and again slotted into the bottom left corner. 

VCFC maintained possession of the ball for the majority of the half, but couldn’t break through Portland for a game winner.

In penalties, Julian Placias and Brett Phan converted from the spot. VCFC missed their next 2 penalties which proved fatal as Max Kissel scored the last Portland penalty to take home the extra point.

FULL TIME: VCFC 2 (2) – POR 2 (4)

MATCH DETAILS

Scoring Summary

41’ – POR – Daniel Cervantes (PK)
45’ – VCFC – Eric Preston (Julian Placias)
60’ – VCFC – Eric Preston (Gabriel Arnold)
67’ – POR – Daniel Cervantes (PK)

Disciplinary
20’ – POR – Nicklas Lund (Yellow)
50’ – VCFC – Enrique Martinez (Yellow)
90+2’ – POR – Charles Ondo (Yellow)

Statistics

Possession: VCFC 64% – POR 36%
Shots: VCFC 4 – POR 6
Shots on Goal: VCFC 2 – POR 4
Saves: VCFC 2 – POR 0
Fouls: VCFC 18 – POR 15
Offsides: VCFC 1 – POR 0
Corners: VCFC 5 – POR 2

Ventura County FC
41. Sebastian Conlon, 60. Sebastian Hernandez, 94. Matteo McLean (90. Brett Phan, 59’), 73. Enrique Martinez, 50. Riley Dalgado (61. Palmer Bank, 76’), 87. Gabriel Arnold (47. Arnau Vilamitjana, 75’), 45. Vinny Garcia, 80. Jeremi Djieze (88. Mason Vanney, 59’), 68. Luis Müller, 95. Eric Preston (83. Angel Villatoro, 88’), 57. Julian Placias

Portland Timbers 2
91. Sam Joseph, 57. Bryce Vanvoorhis (53. Connor Ferguson, 74’), 44. Alex Bamford, 61. Niklaus Lund, 81. Henry Mueller, 73. Eric Izoita, 77. Benjamin Barjolo (37. Noah Santos, 64’), 35. Lucas Hernandez (63. Daniel Nunez, 57’), 46. Victor Enriquez, 39. Colin Griffith (94. Charles Ondo, 64’), 47. Daniel Cervantes (90. Max Kissel, 74’)