TUKWILA, WASH. – Tacoma Defiance defeated the Washington Athletic Club 3-1 on Thursday night at Starfire Stadium in the First Round of the 2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Yu Tsukanome scored a brace, with Edson Carli adding another strike as Tacoma advanced to the Second Round, with matches scheduled to take place April 1-2. Defiance’s opponent for the Second Round will be determined via a draw at a later date.
After its Second Round fixture, Tacoma returns to MLS NEXT Pro play with a match against Whitecaps FC 2 on Sunday, April 6 at Starfire Stadium (7:00 p.m. PT / Apple TV).
MATCH SUMMARY
Tacoma Defiance 3 – Washington Athletic Club 1
Thursday, March 20, 2025
Venue: Starfire Stadium
Referee: Alex Wolbert
Assistants: Christopher Turner
Fourth official: Christopher Calderon
Weather: 46 degrees and light rain
SCORING SUMMARY
WAC – Nicholas O’Brien 9’
TAC – Edson Carli 37’
TAC – Yu Tsukanome 47’
TAC – Yu Tsukanome 71’
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
TAC – Kaito Yamada (caution) 8’
TAC – Ryan Baer (caution) 22’
WAC – Julian Avila Good (caution) 28’
LINEUPS & STATS
Tacoma Defiance – Lars Helleren; Charlie Gaffney (Jackson Khoury 70’), Kaito Yamada, Stuart Hawkins (Gallain Sandnes HT), Travian Sousa (Birame Diaw HT); Ryan Baer (Danny Robles HT), Peter Kingston; Joonmo Kang (Mitchell Emert 71’), Edson Carli, Sebastian Gomez – captain; Yu Tsukanome
Substitutes not used: Mo Shour, Elias Katsaros
Washington Athletic Club – Saif Kerawala; Egor Akulov, Kasey French, Lucas Hauswirth (Marshall Kosaka 72’), Mark Roth; Julian Avila Good (Connor Lofy HT), Alex Hall (John Magnus 70’), Goncalo Mendes (Dylan Teves 61’), Nicholas O’Brien (Scott Menzies 61’), Christian Soto Rincon; Eric Lagos – captain
Substitutes not used: Bernard Jones, Ryan DeGroot
