51黑料

鈥淒efinitely the third goal today,鈥� he said. 鈥淔or sure.鈥�

Joyner scored four times for 51黑料 City2, the first player on the first or second team to have a four-goal game in the club鈥檚 brief history, as City2 beat Portland Timbers2 6-3 in an MLS Next Pro match at Energizer Park. But the third one, a blast from the just outside the far corner of the box that went over a diving goalkeeper and inside the far post, was the clear standout. The ball traveled about 35 yards in the air on a one-touch on the run.聽

鈥淚 saw (the goalie) cheating on the front post and I just thought to myself, 鈥業鈥檓 going to have a rip and see if I score,鈥� 鈥� Joyner said. And he did, on a goal that Joyner said was probably the best one he has scored at any point in his career.

It was a big night all around for City2: Four goals from Joyner, two goals from Brendan McSorley, a 90-minute performance from Eduard Lowen, who was almost visibly shaking off rust as the game went on as he prepares to return to action with the first team, and 20 minutes off the bench from an also-rehabbing Rasmus Alm.

But the night will always belong to Joyner. He scored his first two goals on penalty kicks, extending his record on those over the past two seasons to a perfect 11 for 11, and his big goal from outside that gave him a hat trick and then a header on a perfectly placed free kick by Lowen into the box for his fourth. Joyner was pushing for a fifth but was subbed out in the 71st minute. His three second-half goals came in a 12-minute span.

鈥淚t was just super fun,鈥� Joyner said. 鈥淗onestly, we all came together as one team. We went down one, came back at halftime and we totally switched it on and it was amazing from there.鈥�

鈥淧retty special,鈥� said City2 coach David Critchley. When you score four goals, it鈥檚 hard to not use a word like a special performance. But for him, we know he鈥檚 a goalscorer, and that鈥檚 something he鈥檚 shown us for a couple of years at this club. But his work rate off the ball, the way he defends now, the way he鈥檚 been more, I would say selfless in his movements, they鈥檙e also improving as well. A complete performance by him but to top it off with four goals is always good.鈥�

The four goals moved Joyner into a share of the lead for goals in Next Pro with eight, and he鈥檚 done it in just seven games because of his five callups to the first team. (As a player who鈥檚 on non-roster status with the first team, he鈥檚 eligible for six callups.) He thinks the last time he had four goals in a game was maybe when he was 6. Of course, in the case of Joyner, who鈥檚 only 18, that wasn鈥檛 all that long ago.

But he鈥檚 earned respect for his play. When Emil Jaaskelainen was fouled in the penalty area early in the game, Joyner, who takes City2鈥檚 PKs, deferred to Lowen, who takes the PKs for City SC. But Lowen wanted Joyner to take it.

鈥淚 told him, 鈥楬ey, this is all you,鈥� 鈥� Joyner said, 鈥渁nd he had all the confidence in me to take it. Couldn鈥檛 ask for a better teammate and a better human. He鈥檚 such a good human on the field and off the field, so I want to give a lot of thanks to Edu. He just told me, 鈥楬ey, you can take it.鈥� And he just had a lot of respect for me and I love that as a teammate and a human.鈥�

Joyner also benefitted from Critchley changing the team鈥檚 formation at halftime, when City2 trailed 2-1, to a 3-4-3, bringing Joyner, Jaaskelainen and McSorley closer to the goal.

For Lowen, he looked more and more ready for first team action as the game went on. Ninety minutes in Next Pro isn鈥檛 as grueling as 90 minutes in MLS, but it will get Lowen ready. His absence has been one of the most sorely missed parts of the team this season.

鈥淚 think he got comfortable,鈥� Critchley said. 鈥淲e pushed him up a little bit higher as well so we brought Tyson Pearce in to his position and moved him higher into the next line and just put him into positions where we felt like he could succeed a lot and get on the ball a lot and help us, which he did. I鈥檓 super proud that he was able to get 90 minutes tonight.鈥�