TACOMA, WASH. – Tacoma Defiance (2-9-3, 9 points) on Wednesday earned its first road point of the season with a 2-2 draw at LA Galaxy II (4-4-5, 17 points). Justin Dhillon scored in his fourth straight game and Jesse Daley added the other marker for the visitors, while First Team goalkeeper Bryan Meredith made six saves, including multiple highlight-reel stops. Defiance has now played to three consecutive draws after dropping its previous six matches.
Dhillon’s goal came in the fourth minute of the match, just 11 days after he set a USL Championship record by scoring nine seconds into the game against Reno 1868 FC. He now leads the club in goals with four.
In the 21st minute, Azriel Gonzalez sent a pass back to Daley near the top of the box to set up Tacoma’s second goal of the evening. Daley blasted a shot to the top left corner of the goal for his first marker of the season to give Defiance a 2-0 advantage. The assist was Gonzalez’s second of the season, which leads the club.
Galaxy II scored in the 87th and 90th minutes to salvage a home point. Frank Lopez tallied the first marker for Los Dos, and assisted on the second. Brian Iloski netted the equalizer on a blast from outside the area that missed an outstretched Meredith.
Five players under the age of 20 saw action for Tacoma tonight, including one First Team player in Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez and one Academy player in Gabe Threadgold.
Tacoma Defiance next hosts El Paso Locomotive FC at Cheney Stadium on Saturday, June 1 (7:00 p.m. PT / ESPN+). The club then embarks on a four-game road trip, beginning with a match at Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC on Saturday, June 8 (5:00 p.m. PT / ESPN+).
MATCH SUMMARY
Tacoma Defiance I 2-2 I LA Galaxy II
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
Venue: Dignity Health Sports Park I Carson, California
Referee: Malik Badawi
Assistants: Diego Blas, Christian Lara
Fourth Official: Brandon Stevis
Weather: 63 degrees and clear
Attendance: 681
SCORING SUMMARY
TAC – Justin Dhillon 4’
TAC – Jesse Daley (Azriel Gonzalez) 21’
LA – Frank Lopez (Jose Hernandez) 87’
LA – Brian Iloski (Frank Lopez) 90’
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
TAC – Denso Ulysse (caution) 23’
LA – Adrian Vera (caution) 40’
LA – Nicholas DePuy (caution) 41’
LA – Justin Fiddes (caution) 42’
LA – Abraham Romero (caution) 42’
TAC – Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez (caution) 42’
TAC – Azriel Gonzalez (caution) 43’
TAC – Justin Dhillon (caution) 75’
LA – Kai Koreniuk (caution) 82’
LINEUPS & STATS
TAC – Bryan Meredith; Denso Ulysse, Aleks Berkolds, Josh Atencio, Matt Nance; Jesse Daley, Joel Rydstrand; Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez (Danny Robles 69’), Antonee Burke-Gilroy (Gabe Threadgold 90’+3’), Azriel Gonzalez; Justin Dhillon (Nick Hinds 80’)
Substitutes not used: Jacob Castro, Modou Ndow
Total shots: 12
Shots on goal: 6
Fouls: 19
Offside: 10
Corner-kicks: 3
Saves: 6
LA – Abraham Romero; Mauricio Cuevas (Armel-Don Tchilao 75’), Michael Gallagher, Nicholas DePuy, Justin Fiddes; Brian Iloski, Juninho Pereira, Adrian Vera (Jose Hernandez 81’), Kai Koreniuk; Ethan Zubak, Augustine Williams (Frank Lopez 60’)
Substitutes not used: Eric Lopez, Nate Shultz, Jorge Hernandez, Omar Ontiveros
Total shots: 26
Shots on goal: 8
Fouls: 14
Offside: 1
Corner-kicks: 11
Saves: 4
