LAFC heads back out on the road, in search of their first MLS road win of 2024. This time, the Black and Gold head to St. Louis, last season's best team in the regular season. No sweat, right? Well, here on Episode 302, find out why the road woes are, indeed, over!After a lackluster first half where LAFC was certainly fortunate to be level, Coach Dolo pulls all the right strings yet again. Denis Bouanga receives a brilliant pass from Matty Bogusz before blasting a rocket past Roman Burki to take a 1-0 lead. After a red card for the home side, Denis waited until stoppage time to pounce on a Chris Durkin fumble and took it to the house for the goal, the brace, and three points, all in one! Just like that, LAFC have won an MLS match on the road!Also on this episode, Olivier Giroud makes it official, Scarf is back from the South, and Filly apologizes to several countries. Why? Listen to 302 to find out!

Scarf is in Alabama cheering on the Montgomery Biscuits while Filly and special guest: Chris Lafferty preview LAFC's upcoming road match vs St. Louis SC.

Its a solo Filly for once as Scarf has departed the West Coast en route to Atlanta with his middle schoolers. Speaking of middle schoolers, thats exactly how LAFC treated and toyed with a team they have dominated for the past year in that of the Vanouver Whitecaps. This will be a short and to the point podcast as it is Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers out there

Filly and The Scarf preview LAFC's upcoming match vs Vancouver

300! We made it! 7+ years, hours and hours of content, and here we are, 300 episodes strong. Thank you to all of you out there who have supported us, listened to us, said nice or not-so-nice things about us, fueled us, and otherwise been there throughout any part of this journey. We can't wait to hit 400 with you soon!LAFC took a trip to beautiful Cashman Field to take on the Las Vegas Lights in the 2024 U.S. Open Cup Round of 32. As we have been known to do this season, the boys in Black and Gold made it tougher than it needed to be, conceding another set-piece goal. Ultimately, however, some timely subs and a solid second-half effort saw LAFC pull one out, 3-1, behind a late brace from Kike Olivera and the first LAFC tally for Kei Kamara. Abraham Romero played well in his first start for LAFC. Aside from their suddenly-congested MLS schedule, LAFC must now ready themselves for another USL-foe, Loudon United, as the Open Cup moves to BMO on May 21. Between now and then, we will have MLS matches against both Vancouver and St. Louis, so stay tuned for lots of Filly and Scarf here on Defenders!

Filly and The Scarf chop it up about LAFC's upcoming US Open Cup fixture against their former affiliate, the Las Vegas Lights.

LAFC had an opportunity, at least for a minute, to share the top spot in the West if they could deliver a performance on the road against the worst team in the West. To put it very simply, we could not. This is Episode 299, and it's not pretty. San Jose jumped out early, scoring on a corner kick just 5 minutes in.  The Black and Gold had a few opportunities in the opening half, but either poor execution in the final third or a solid save by William Yarbrough kept us off the board. To start the second half, San Jose subbed on their expensive new addition, Hernan Lopez, and things did NOT get better for LAFC. A Pair of beautiful balls (giggity?) by Cristian Espinoza put the nails in our Santa Clara coffin. A Kike Olivera moment of brilliance gave LAFC a lifeline, but the same story that doomed us in the first half was the story yet again: Yarbrough and poor execution. LAFC fails yet another road test and questions now abound about our set-piece defense. 13 goals in 5 road games just won't get it done. Also on this episode, BMO Stadium gets it own Noah's Arcade while the boys get a new addition up top and say goodbye to a member of the braintrust. The next one is a big one, as we hit the three century mark! We can't wait to put this one behind us and to get going on 300!

LAFC heads up the coast to take on the Earthquakes at the home of the 49ers, Levi's Stadium! It looks like it'll be the debut of San Jose's new DP, Hernan Lopez. Too little, too late for San Jose? We think so!

On this episode, we again praise the exploits of one Denis Bouanga, or Saint Denis, as he has come to be known around these parts. Just when we thought our old friend, Maxime Crepeau, did enough standing on his head to deliver his new club, the Portland Timbers, a point on the road, St. Denis delivered a stoppage-time miracle and three points to the Black and Gold. Welcome to Episode 298, the one where Diego Chara sets records and sees red. LAFC played perhaps their best half of the season to start the match against Portland, racing out to a 2-0 lead behind a goal from Timmy Tillman in first-half stoppage and a Portland own goal.  But soccer matches are two halves long, and LAFC couldn't have come out more flat. Cabecita cut the deficit in half before Santi Moreno leveled with less than 20 minutes remaining. But consecutive yellows from Diego Chara just 4 minutes apart saw the home side go up a man, and it was time for a stunner. In the second minute of stoppage, after another great Crepeau save, Denis rounded the corner of the left side of the box, got everything behind his boot, and fired past Crepeau for the 3-2 stoppage time. Also on this episode, we discuss LAFC Day, remember our first home match, and look forward to Levi's. Enjoy Episode 298!

Episode description not available.

Filly and The Scarf are back in action previewing LAFC's upcoming match vs Aaron Long's former club, NYRB

"Keep Portland Weird" is the slogan you'll see plastered on many walls, billboards, and bumper stickers as you make your way across the Rose City. Well, LAFC and Portland did their best to keep Portland weird in their 2-2 draw on Saturday, and you can hear all about it here on Episode 296. With Filly still in New York, our good buddy Chris Lafferty joined Scarf to break down the match in Portland. The first half belonged to Evander, as The Real Deal gave Portland the lead on a pass to Felipe Mora for their first goal, and then re-took the lead for his club with a beautiful moment of brilliance right before halftime. If not for a great through ball by Timmy Tillman to Mateusz Bogusz, LAFC would have entered the half down 2-0. Everything went upside down for the hosts just minutes into the second half. Maxime Crepeau was shown a straight red after tackling Denis Bouanga just outside the box, and the ensuing free kick was rocketed home by Bogusz for his brace. Down a man, it was Portland who maintained the majority of solid chances in the second half, with LAFC able to muster a few quality chances during stoppage time, but no goals. 8 yellows, one red, and over 30 fouls later, both sides walk away with a point in the 2-2 draw. Also on this episode, Filly gets to see Doc Gooden at Citi Field, Lafferty endures some trivia from Scarf, and we wish a happy birthday to friend of the pod, Chris Aparri, affectionately known as DJ Flict. We hope you enjoy this episode, and we will see you back in a week for 297!

LAFC travels up the coast to see an old friend, as the Portland Timbers, with their new keeper, Maxime Crepeau, host the Black and Gold

LAFC beats LAG in their first rivalry match of the season. Filly and Scarf recap the goals, the memories and the good times.

The undefeated (ugh) Carson Galaxy heads to BMO for Round 1 of the LA Derby! Hear the boys' thoughts on the match, players to watch, and score predictions.

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!

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

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!

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!

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!