Defiance vs Las Vegas: Gamethread
The Defiance hope to avenge a drubbing in their last trip to Vegas
The Lights, the City of Lights, the Llama Having Lights, the Vegas Lights, indeed, even the Las Vegas Lights are south of Point Defiance at Cheney Stadium, the home of the Seattle Reign, the Tacoma Rainiers and the Tacoma Defiance to face the last. The Defiance will be looking to take vengeance for their dismantling at the hands of the Lights in the sides’ previous meeting, which was at Vegas, this season. That 5-0 loss was the Defiance’s nadir in a season full of low points.
Tonight the task will be much easier than the reverse fixture; the Lights are nearly as bad on the road as the Defiance, going just 1-6-1. The Lights have a fair-to-middling defence and a middling-to-poor offence. If you take away their five against Tacoma they would be third from bottom in goals scored in the USL Championship Western Conference. If the Defiance can avoid having another complete mental collapse they should be able to earn all three points with one or two goals
The person who the Defiance need to stop is former Sounders 2 player Irvin Parra. He has a full third of the Lights goals this season and is on pace to score 19. Parra is a physical player so the young Defiance centerbacks likely need to avoid getting a physical battle with him. He is a good creator from the wing and a good connector from the center of the pitch. The Defiance backline could be in for a bad night if they can’t keep Parra off the ball. If they can do it, they have a decent chance to walk away with a result.
nos audietis in somniis | nos audietis in altum
you will hear us in your sleep | you will hear us from the deep
this is our Sound
Keys to the Game
- Keep Parra off the ball
- Don’t lose your heads if Vegas score early
- Be aware of the Vegas counter
Lineups
Here is your Starting XI for tonight's #PrideofDefiance ️ match against @lvlightsfc! #DefiantlyTacoma pic.twitter.com/t2IUB1liPQ
— Tacoma Defiance (@TACdefiance) July 25, 2019
Here's our #StartingXI presented by @Zappos for tonight's match on the road against @TACdefiance. @santiagoep99 and @TabortEtaka77 are up front, but we got coming from the midfield with Irvin Raul Parra and Junior Sandoval as well. #VivaLights pic.twitter.com/DfZWg3ILvi
— Las Vegas Lights FC (@lvlightsfc) July 25, 2019
How to Watch
Match date/time: 7:00 PM PT, Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Venue: Cheney Stadium, Central Tacoma, Puyallup-White River Watershed, Cascadia.
Streaming: ESPN+ (Talent: Andrew Harvey and Dave Clark)
How I'm watching
Outfit: We’ll play it by ear.
Where: I’ll be at that old ball field we love called Cheney Stadium.