Yu Tsukanome scored his 18th goal of the season — setting a new Tacoma Defiance/S2 single-season record for all competitions — to help lead the Defiance to a 2-1 win over Houston Dynamo 2 on Wednesday. Leo Burney also scored his first goal of the season and Sounders Academy goalkeeper Noah Newman made seven saves to deliver the Defiance their first win since Aug. 10, snapping a five-game losing streak.
Tsukanome’s record-setting goal came in the 17th minute after he collected a pass from Charlie Gaffney and got just enough on it to get it past the Dynamo 2 goalkeeper. He now has 15 goals in the MLS Next Pro season, one behind Golden Boot leader Sam Starver. That also ties him for the most regular-season goals in Defiance/S2 history, equaling Braudilio Rodrigues’ total in 2023.
Defiance scoring has, for the most part, paved the way for a first-team contract. Among the other four players in the all-time top 5 list, three earned MLS contracts.
