Ventura County FC took home all 3 points in a 2-0 victory against Houston Dynamo 2 at SaberCats Stadium. This marked VCFC’s 4th straight win and ended Houston’s 9 game unbeaten streak at home.

VCFC came close to scoring the opening goal in the 15th minute. Eric Preston beat his man deep in the Houston box, squaring it to Jeremi Djieze. Djieze couldn’t get his shot on target, letting Houston off the hook.

Houston’s biggest chance of the half came in the 34th minute from Arthur Sousa. Sousa collected a cutback pass from Reese Miller and drove into the box. Sebastian Conlon rushed out to cut down Sousa’s angle, making a crucial save from close range.

In the end, it was Gabriel Arnold who opened the scoring just before half time with a smashing free kick from just outside the box. This was Arnold’s 2nd goal of the season; Arnold’s first goal of the season was also against Houston. 

With time winding down in the first half, Houston pushed for an equalizer and nearly found one. Mattheo Dimareli tried catching Conlon off his line with a strike from 25 yards out, only to be denied by the crossbar.

HALFTIME: VCFC 1 – HOU 0

5 minutes into the second half, VCFC doubled their lead. After winning a ground duel deep in VCFC territory, Vinny Garcia charged ahead through the midfield. Garcia spotted Luis Müller making a central run through a gap in the Houston backline. Müller collected and chipped it over the Houston goalkeeper for his 3rd goal in his last 3 games since his return.

Another big chance came for VCFC just 5 minutes later, this time for Jeremy Djieze. Djieze beat the Houston backline to a loose ball and found himself 1 on 1 with the goalkeeper, Roman Kerimov. Djieze’s low driven shot was saved by the foot of Kerimov to keep it a 2 goal game.

In the 57th minute, VCFC again were denied from close range by Kerimov. Julian Placias collected a long ball from Riley Dalgado and cut past his defender into the box. Placias’ shot was beaten away by Kerimov.

The final nail in the coffin seemed to elude VCFC until the very end. Mason Vanney struck the crossbar from 12 yards away in the 90th minute. In the end, VCFC managed to hang on to their 2 goal lead to secure their 4th straight win.

FINAL SCORE: VCFC 2 – HOU 0

MATCH DETAILS

Scoring Summary
43’ – VCFC – Gabriel Arnold
50’ – VCFC – Luis Müller (Vinny Garcia)

Disciplinary
90’ – VCFC – Enrique Martinez

Statistics
Possession: VCFC 44% – HOU 56%
Shots: VCFC 14 – HOU 13
Shots on Goal: VCFC 4 – HOU 2
Saves: VCFC 2 – HOU 2
Fouls: VCFC 14 – HOU 13
Offsides: VCFC 1 – HOU 1
Corners: VCFC 3 – HOU 12

Ventura County FC
41.Sebastian Conlon; 88.Mason Vanney, 60. Sebastian Hernandez, 73. Enrique Martinez, 50. Riley Dalgado (61. Palmer Bank, 76’), 45. Vinny Garcia (47. Arnau Vilamitjana, 76’), 87. Gabriel Arnold, 80. Jeremi Djieze (64. Jose Magaña Jr., 61’), 68. Luis Müller (75. Aaron Medina, 83’), 95. Eric Preston (83. Angel Villatoro, 83’), 57. Julian Placias

Houston Dynamo 2
43. Roman Kerimov, 23. Daniel Barrett, 14. Noah Bentancourt, 12. Vinicius Silva, 16. Alan Aparecido (44. Myles Gardner, 64’), 8. Gustavo Dohmann, 22. Matthew Arana, 27. Reese Miller (17. D’Allesandro Herrera, 46’), 33. Mattheo Dimareli (46. Tristan Cottle, 64’), 9. Arthur Sousa (24. Mamadi Jiana, 79’), 11. Jahmani Bell (39. Samir Mohammad, 46’)