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A Mile-Hi and welcome to episode 294 of Defenders of the Banc. Our expectations after last week's win were sky high, but the Rapids brought us back down to earth with a frustrating 3-2 defeat in Commerce City, CO. With Scarf miles away in Puerto Rico, Filly enlists the help of friend of the pod, and member of the @blackandgoldrc , Chris Lafferty ( @lafclaff ) to cover the news from this past week and recap everything from today's match. Take a listen to EPISODE 294!

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Filly is flying solo today on this edition of OMS. Well, Filly and Hello Kitty. 

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Welcome to Episode 293, and what a match it was for the boys in Black and Gold! LAFC ends our scoreless streak just before it hit 350 minutes, Denis Bouanga bags a brace (though he will tell you it should have been 4!), and Olly takes a circuitous route around BMO for her pre-match flight. Take a listen for all the details of a thrilling night at BMO. 

LAFC got on the board early, off a beautiful corner kick by Eduard Atuesta. The ball nicked Aaron Long's head before Nashville's defender deflected it right to the foot of a waiting Timothy Tillman, and just like that, the drought was over for LAFC! Denis Bouanga would join the party moments later, off a Tillman-drawn penalty kick, and the Golden Boot winner of 2023 got his first of 2024. 

After the half, more fireworks, as LAFC put up two more in regulation. Right after the halftime whistle, a cross by Palencia is dummied perfectly by Atuesta, and it's Denis waiting to slam it home.  A straight red for keeper Joe Willis would see Nashville down a man for the last half hour, and LAFC would take full advantage. Atuesta and David Martinez would combine for a few beautiful touches to find Kike Olivera, who slides it past backup keeper Elliot Panicco for the fourth of the match for LAFC!

In stoppage time, Bouanga would slot a perfect ball onto the head of a diving Eduard Atuesta for his first goal for LAFC since 2021, and the party was on! 5-0 LAFC, a clean sheet for a largely untested Hugo Lloris, and, most importantly, Olly was back on the arm of Jason Miknuk after halftime. What a night! 

We hope you enjoy Episode 293, a solo Scarf project, and can't wait to get Filly back for 294!

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Turns out we forgot to upload this to Buzzsprout before the match! Sorry! Here is Scarf's One More Sleep leading into LAFC's match vs. Nashville at BMO!

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LAFC traveled to the Twin Cities to take on Minnesota United and, stop us if you've heard this before, LAFC was held goalless. Again. In fact, it's been 339 minutes of actual live play since out last goal. Cue the Titanic meme, indeed. 

A mess of a clearance by Murillo off a set piece given under questionable-at-best circumstances fell to the feet of Robin Lod, who, even with his off-foot, doesn't miss from that close, put the Loons up a goal just after the 15' mark. Flash forward to the 88', and a horror show of a back pass from LAFC finds Bongi Hlongwane, which set him 1v1 with Hugo. Kudos to Lloris for even getting a touch on it, but it wasn't enough to keep Minnesota from doubling the lead. 

In between, and bookending the goals, for that matter, LAFC could barely muster an offensive whimper. Two shots-on-target and 5 offsides aren't going to cut it. LAFC has to find some answers with Nashville set to enter the fray at BMO next Saturday. 

Also on this episode, Scarf congratulates Filly on his CBS debut while Filly calls Scarf old. We salute all the LA Marathon runners and finishers, including many of our own in the Black and Gold Running Club. Enjoy Episode 292, and we will see you soon at BMO!

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Filly and Scarf preview LAFC's upcoming match vs Minnesota United. 

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LAFC heads back to the friendly confines of BMO Stadium for a matchup against Peter Vermes-led Sporting Kansas City, the only club to beat LAFC twice at home in the regular season in our club's first 6 years. What we hoped would be a high-scoring match for the Black and GOld quickly turned into a battle of keepers. 

Former MLS Pool keeper and longtime SKC player Tim Melia was outstanding, making huge save after huge save over the course of 90 minutes to keep LAFC off the board. Our best chance likely came in the 84th minute, as David Martinez shook his man, raced up the left side, and... fired his shot high and deep into the 3252 instead of passing it to Denis Bouanga for an absolute sitter and potential game-winning goal. Ugh. Sporting had their opportunities, but nothing really troubling for Hugo Lloris, as he is able to make all 6 necessary stops en route to his first clean sheet.  

Also on this episode, we chat briefly about the re-signing of Bouanga, ponder our squad's depth, and Scarf gets a little too excited about a Dio sighting in Los Angeles. This is Defenders of the Banc, and we hope you enjoy Episode 291!

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Despite Filly's rotten luck with his computer the boys give you a preview of LAFC's upcoming match vs SKC. 

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It's no Lazy Sunday for the Defenders, as they wake up early Sunday morning to give you all the LAFC news, notes, banter, and a recap of the blizzard that hit Sandy, Utah by the name of Andres Gomez. LAFC gets TKO'd by Salt Lake, 3-0, amid a blustery, winter storm. 

First, the match was delayed 2 hours because of weather. Then, just 3 minutes in, lightning halted the festivities for nearly another hour. But upon restart, the match was essentially over at the half, as Andres Gomez's brace, Chicho's goal and snow angel, and Zac MacMath's MacMastery in net did in LAFC. 

A solid second half by LAFC wasn't enough, but there were bright spots. Kike Olivera looked good throughout, another post by Denis Bouanga, and the LAFC debuts of both David Martinez and Tomas Angel helped to soften the sting of this defeat. 

The orange ball is a harbinger of doom, but we hope this episode of Defenders of the Banc gives you a little comfort after the awful loss! Enjoy Episode 290!

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Preview of LAFC's upcoming trip to Sandy, Utah