The Defiance saw the club pull one over on Sporting Kansas City in the soon-to-be announced Dejan Joveljić transfer, and decided to pile on with a dominating 4-0 win over Sporting KC II. While the stats don’t represent a dominant win, the game never felt in doubt.
This dominance started early with the Defiance up by a score of 3-0 within the first 20 minutes. The first goal was from usual suspect Mark Bronnik, who finished a pinpoint cross from Rafael Jauregui. This goal started with a nice bit of progression from Jasper Winslow, who beat the first line of confrontation on the dribble and broke a second line of pressure with a through ball to Matthew Bell, who made the pass before the pass to Jauregui. Bell was again involved in the second goal when he intercepted a pass from the KC keeper while the team was implementing a high press. He made a nice cutback pass to Danny Robles at the top of the box, and he finished past the diving keeper. Finally, Xavi Gnaulati got played through by Jauregui and beat two defenders on the dribble before slotting his goal in the far post.
The second half didn’t have quite the same level of fireworks, but it did follow a similar pattern of the Defiance coming out on the front foot. In the 48th minute, Bronnik received a throw-in from Codey Phoenix into the opposition penalty box. He then played an exceptional slipped pass in to Bell whose shot ended up a goal, even with the keeper getting a touch. The only sour note of the evening was Gnaulati having to be subbed due to a head injury in the 89th minute.
Overview
Lineup
Substitutions
- 63’ Landon Lucero ⇆ Mark Bronnik
- 63’ Saku Kitafuji ⇆ Matthew Bell
- 73’ Bryan Cisneros-Tafolla ⇆ Danny Robles
- 84’ Drew Brown ⇆ Codey Phoenix
- 84’ Omar Hassan ⇆ Charlie Gaffney
- 89’ Jared Ríos ⇆ Xavi Gnaulati
Goals
- 11’ Tacoma Defiance - ⚽Mark Bronnik (Rafael Jauregui)
- 12’ Tacoma Defiance - ⚽Danny Robles (Matthew Bell)
- 19’ Tacoma Defiance - ⚽Xavi Gnaulati (Rafael Jauregui)
- 48’ Tacoma Defiance - ⚽Matthew Bell (Mark Bronnik)
Stats
Key performers
Mark Bronnik
For those counting at home, in Bronnik’s last 12 MLS Next Pro games he has 11 goals and 4 assists. He simply can’t be stopped and is continually showing different facets to his game as a striker. Not only is he goal dangerous, but he again showed excellent vision to create for others and is an effective outlet to hold the ball up and keep possession. The Sounders are welcoming a new star striker to the first team this week, but they also look to be developing one of their own in Tacoma.
Rafael Jauregui
Jauregui is a player who is quickly shooting up the list of players that deserve real consideration for the first team. With his double assist game, he is now up to 2 goals and 6 assists on the season. While this game didn’t need his signature defensive acumen, he was heavily involved in the attack with 83% completion on 36 pass attempts and 4 chances created, the most on the night. He was named MOTM by the Defiance on their social media and it was well deserved.
Matthew Bell
Matthew Bell is a new signing to Defiance and is making a great first impression, as he already has 2 goals and 1 assist in his first two games with the club. He replaced Edson Carli as the partner alongside Jauregui in Defiance’s dual 10 formation, and added a bit more direct play. Interestingly, he tended to float further inside and forward then we are used to with Carli, sometimes switching positions with Bronnik. It was a more fluid rotation in the attacking third and something to keep an eye on in future appearances.
