St. Louis CITY SC recorded a historic third come-from-behind win after defeating Portland Timbers 2-1 away at Providence Park. After going behind early in the match, CITY SC rallied behind goals from Jared Stroud and Kyle Hiebert to extend their winning streak to three games. With the win tonight, St. Louis CITY SC join Seattle Sounders as the only other expansion club to win each of their first three MLS games.
Three Matches, Three Wins
St. Louis CITY SC upend Portland Timbers 2-1 to secure their third win of the MLS season. Earlier in the season, CITY SC defeated Austin FC and Charlotte FC to become the fourth expansion team in MLS history to win its first two matches. With the win tonight, St. Louis join Seattle Sounders as the only other expansion club to win each of their first three MLS games.
Jared Stroud and Away Goals
Jared Stroud was on target to find the equalizer for St. Louis CITY SC just before halftime. The goal marked the second time Stroud found the back of the net this season, with the other time being away against Austin FC in the club’s first-ever MLS match.
Kyle Hiebert, the game-winner
Kyle Hiebert scored the unlikely game-winner in 75th minute after capitalizing on a set-piece from Eduard Löwen. Hiebert has seen little time on the bench since he arrived in St. Louis. During the 2022 MLS NEXT Pro season, Hiebert played all but four minutes for CITY2 across all competitions. Hiebert has played every minute of CITY SC’s three MLS matches so far.
Homegrown Start
Miguel Perez, St. Louis CITY SC’s 17-year-old Homegrown signing made his first MLS start. Perez who has now featured in all CITY SC’s three matches, played 65 minutes before he was replaced by Tomáš Ostrák in midfield.
Goal-Scoring Plays
POR – Zac McGraw (Eryk Williamson), 3rd minute: Zac McGraw header from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Eryk Williamson with a cross following a corner.
STL – Jared Stroud (João Klauss), 45’+1 minute: Jared Stroud right footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by João Klauss.
STL – Kyle Hiebert (Eduard Löwen), 75th minute: Kyle Hiebert header from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Eduard Löwen with a cross following a set piece situation.
Next Game
St. Louis CITY SC returns to CITYPARK to take on San Jose Earthquakes in their second home match next Saturday, March 18.
Portland Timbers (1-2-0, 3pts) vs. St. Louis CITY SC (3-0-0, 9pts)
Mar. 11, 2023 – Providence Park (Portland, Oregon)
Goals by Half 1
Portland Timbers 1 0
St. Louis CITY SC 1 1
Scoring Summary:
POR: McGraw (Williamson), 3
STL: Stroud (Klauss), 45’+1
STL: Hiebert (Lowen), 75’
Misconduct Summary:
STL: Jared Stroud (caution), 29
POR: Dario Zuparic (caution), 54
STL: Miguel Perez (caution), 65
POR: Santiago Moreno (caution), 68
POR: Zac McGraw (caution), 74
Lineups:
POR: GK David Bingham; D Claudio Bravo (Marvin Loria 81’), D Dario Zuparic, D Zachary McGraw D Juan Mosquera; M Larrys Mabiala, M Eryk Williamson, M Diego Chara ©, M Christhian Paredes (Evander 12’, Jaraslaw Niezgoda 69’) F Santiago Moreno (Diego Gutierrez 81’), F Nathan Fogaca
Substitutes Not Used: GK Aljaz Ivacic; D Eric Miller, D Justin Rasmussen D Pablo Bonilla;
TOTAL SHOTS: 13; SHOTS ON GOAL: 3; FOULS: 20; OFFSIDES:
STL: GK Roman Bürki ©; D Jake Nerwinski, D Tim Parker, D Kyle Hiebert, D John Nelson (Lucas Bartlett 86’); M Miguel Perez (Tomáš Ostrák 66’), M Eduard Löwen, M Indiana Vassilev (Akil Watts 73’), M Jared Stroud (Célio Pompeu 66’) , M Rasmus Alm (Niko Gioacchini 72’), F João Klauss
Substitutes Not Used: GK Ben Lundt; D Josh Yaro D Selmir Pidro; F Sam Adeniran
TOTAL SHOTS: 12; SHOTS ON GOAL: 6; FOULS: 17; OFFSIDES:
Referee: Victor Rivas
Assistant Referees: Corey Rockwell, Mike Rottersman
Fourth Official: Malik Badawl
VAR: Drew Fischer
AVAR: Craig Lowry
Venue: Providence Park
Weather: Clear, 46 degrees
ST. LOUIS CITY SC POSTGAME QUOTES
Link to post match interviews: Interviews (Will be populated with the three interviews from tonight)
ST. LOUIS CITY SC HEAD COACH BRADLEY CARNELL
On the importance of Stroud getting a goal before half-time…
I mean, we had a game plan and we wanted to execute. And I think up until that point, we didn’t really do it as much as we would have liked to. We know Rasmus has a lot of quality tools in the final third and we like his movements off the ball. So that was one of the things that we wanted to achieve on the night and yeah, we only started doing that a little bit later on. But I thought, you know, we got a grip of the game we have to deal with the physicality of Portland. Portland is always a gritty customer to deal with and yeah, it’s never easy to play against them individually. You know, if you talk about the midfield, it’s got exceptional quality and strength. So you have to come back to the way we did to show the character we did it’s a memorable moment for the club.
On the impact of Stroud and Miguel…
Yeah, I mean, they were good. Jared Stroud plays you know, with a lot of energy, he plays with intent and plays inherently with the style of play in mind and the philosophy. He wears down teams, and I’m glad he’s showing final third quality as well. You know, it’s one of the moments and one of the parts of his game that he’s always looking to improve and always striving to get better at and he’s got a couple of goals now. You know, unfortunately, through the week, we lose Njabulo Blom, but we were very confident and there was one name to go in there, which was Miguel Perez, and yeah, I thought he battled along. He worked hard, he committed to what we wanted to do, and nothing seems to faze him. So, you know, these moments and these experiences are only going to get better for him and he’s going to take this all up. And, you know, it’s something for him to go back to school on Monday morning and to share with his friends in school.
On the team become the second expansion team to win three first consecutive matches…
Yeah, I don’t think it’s about creating history or equaling history for us. You know, this group is about honoring the history, honoring the group, that has been here and done it before in St. Louis. Not on the MLS level but you know, it’s almost a tribute to everyone. Prior in the 50s and onwards, you know, I mean, for several years now, this town, St. Louis, they’ve all been itching and hoping for something like this. And we are just proud as players, as coaches, as staff members, to be given a platform to operate at this level and to show the confidence in us and to see the value in what we’re doing every single day. But this is not for us to break records. This is us to pay respect to the people before us.
On what he sees in this group…
Yeah. 100% we’ve invested a lot of time with each other. Not just on the field with training, and a preseason and competitive games and internal competition. We spent a lot of time team building, right so team building behind closed doors and things that that we discuss and bond and get together and grow together as a group and commit to each other. So, I just think it’s moments that we get challenged by right and for us to come back the way we do, I think if you know if you are a neutral fan watching the game, we were in the game for all the game, we took control of the game in many moments and I thought we dictated the tempo and executed especially in the second half again which shows great credit to the staff for the planning the execution of the loads plus the tactical game planning towards the end of the game. So I thought it’s a massive step for us together as a group.
On how proud he is of the team’s resilience…
Yeah, I can’t say enough about the boys. You know, and one of the things that excites me most is, you know, the sense of being comfortable and satisfaction doesn’t really filter into this group, right? There’s a feeling of never being satisfied. There’s a feeling of playing with an edge. There’s a feeling of playing with anger almost every time we step on the training field, because each of them has something to prove right, whether it’s privately whether or it’s collectively whether it’s as you know, us as groups want to just better ourselves and our careers. I said it last week, we’re all from different walks of life. And you know, I think the diversity I think, the spirit, I think the connection, the chemistry between every individual. We’re a good group of guys on and off the field and I think that shows.
On Lucas Bartlett and Akil making their debuts…
Yeah, I mean, the game poses different challenges and we knew we had to bring a little bit extra, you know, on the road in Portland to deal with potentially exactly the outcome, right? We knew exactly prior to the game. What we needed and what players were needed to bring on the road. So, Lucas Bartlett, kept his head down in preseason as a trialist and, you know, earned his way through and committed to the cause and he shows great qualities. He’s good in the air, aggressive to defend forwards and is brave as with Tim Parker the whole night as well as Kyle Hiebert. So, you know, very, very good and a guy like Akil, he’s a quiet customer and he gets through his weekly job without saying two words, but he’s a guy and commits since day one almost a year and a half ago now. This is a platform for him to grow as a person. It’s one of the things with Akil to release the handbrake, right. He’s been in many fantastic moments as a young pro, and he’s been searching for the next step and the next level. So yeah, we are happy with all the players in the roster. We’re happy with certain tactical changes and tweaks we need to make, and we feel we can compete at these levels and what the games are throwing at us. And I’ll just say it’s only those now it’s more it’s early days. But yeah, we have three success stories to sort of write home about.
On Kyle Hiebert’s performance…
Yeah, I mean, he’s just a gem on and off the field to work with. He committed to everything we do every single day. And he’s unassumingly so strong in the air, right? He uses his body very well. He’s very fast on the backline to recover. He’s brave like all of our center backs to defend forwards and he’s growing from strike. I think for him to get this moment, he deserves to be playing in the MLS after two years now of chasing and soul searching and wondering where the next step is for his career and playing out of college. Finding a guy like Kyle, credit to the staff and scouting because John Hackworth scouted him before I even got here. And he was a guy who said he knows he can commit to what we want to do and ultimately be a strength in our roster.
On if he expected to start the season 3-0…
Yeah, I mean, we’ve done a lot of I would say, coaching the guys behind the scenes of what an MLS season looks like. Did I know it was going unfold this way? That we’re going to be challenged many moments and to come out again on top. These are some things you cannot foresee, right, but all I could foresee is we played very competitive opponents in preseason. We’ve been committing to a style of play for over a year now. So, we got guys in early June, July, August, September last year so we’ve had a very committed group of guys. And listen, this style of play is not easy. This style of play demands a lot of commitment, not just to the philosophy but to each other as a teammate and we felt every minute that the lights were not on on us in MLS, these were moments for us to grow and get ready so again we just take in everything in our stride with feeling we’ve achieved nothing and, yeah, we have to keep it calm and excited for next time.
MIGUEL PEREZ
On his reaction finding out he was going to start the match…
Yeah, it was amazing feeling. I mean, when Bradley called and said Blom was sick and then he said I was starting, I called my family after practice, and they were very excited for me.
On the conversation with his family that he was starting…
Yeah, when I when I first told them, they didn’t believe me. And then I told them about it and then they were very excited. And I told my brothers right after, so it was amazing feeling for our family and for the organization for helping me get the first start.
On a coach that impacted his playing style…
I would say yeah, when I was playing with Academy I mean, John Hackworth, he was that coach from the beginning of season, and I think he helped me to become the player I am.
KYLE HIEBERT
On how it feels to score his first goal in MLS…
Yeah, I mean, it was a surreal moment. To be honest. It’s been a surreal couple of weeks, I’m just having a blast. This team is special. The locker room is special and to be able to get three points on the road was big time.
On what the win says about the team…
I think it’s the third time we’ve gotten behind in the game. So, every game we’ve had to show, you know, resilience that we can be a team that will keep fighting, a team that can come from behind and I think we showed that again today. And so, I think it gives us a lot of confidence moving forward, no matter what the situation is in the game we can be a team that fights and scraps and comes out with three points.
On what he saw on his goal…
Yeah, I was surprised that came all the way through but thankfully it did. I think it went just over Tim’s head and then maybe their one center back thought you’re getting a contact on it and then it bounced right before me and I tried to get it back across the goal to the far corner.
On what it meant to share the field with some of his former MLS NEXT Pro teammates…
Yeah, I mean, those are my guys. So those are the guys I went through all of 2022 with. All the highs and lows and then to have them on in the last minutes as we were grinding out our third MLS win was just super special. You know, those are great guys.
