CITY SC takes down Vancouver with first homegrown MLS goal by Perez

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - St. Louis CITY SC defeated Vancouver Whitecaps FC 3-1 Saturday night with the help of a late dagger by homegrown midfielder Miguel Perez.

Perez, 18, was already the first homegrown player in club history to start a game for CITY SC, and the first to score in the U.S. Open Cup. And now, just two days after graduating from Pattonville High School, Miguel Perez continues to make history as the first CITY SC homegrown player to score in MLS. After a Vancouver header in minute 83 to bring the Whitecaps within one, Perez found himself on the end of a pass into the box where he was able to smash the ball into the back of the net. His goal in stoppage time would put the nail in the coffin. With this win over Vancouver, CITY SC became the first expansion team to reach 25 points within its first 13 MLS matches.

“You can see what it meant for him,” Head Coach Bradley Carnell said. “He’s got one in the Open Cup and now he’s got one in the MLS. These are incredible moments as a young man, and he keeps on growing with us every single day.”

Another notable performance was that of No. 10 Eduard Löwen, who found the back of the net for the second straight match. He followed up his penalty against Kansas City last week with an absolute rifle of a free kick last night that curled into the top corner. With the goal, Löwen took his goal tally to five across all competitions. All five came at CITYPARK. He also tied Klauss for most MLS goal contributions on the team with nine (four goals, five assists).

“He puts a lot of pace and whip on the ball and makes it a tough decision for the goalkeeper to come out or not, and the keeper chose to stay on his line this time, and fortunately we did score on that one,” Carnell said when asked about Löwen’s free kick.

CITY SC (25) now sits in the No. 2 spot in the Western Conference, trailing Seattle (26) by one point. Up next, St. Louis hosts Tim Parker’s former club, the Houston Dynamo. The match is set for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 3.

Games can be watched on Apple TV with an MLS season pass. For more information on St. Louis CITY SC, check out our guide to the 2023 season.

For an exclusive look at what fans can expect at CITYPARK on match-day, click here.

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