City SC midfielder Eduard Lowen passes the ball during a game against the Earthquakes on Saturday, May 31, 2025, at Energizer Park.
Good news has been as rare as wins for 最新杏吧原创 City SC this season, but there was some Wednesday as the team geared up for its game Sunday against Portland: Eduard Lowen is back.
Lowen went through a full training session with the team Wednesday, and coach David Critchley is expecting to see his playmaking star midfielder on the field for the first time since May 31.
鈥淲e think his fitness is good enough now to come in for the weekend against Portland,鈥 Critchley said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a massive help for this team, his presence, just in general, as a human being, away from the field, but then his quality that he brings to the team, we all know what he can do with the ball, so we鈥檙e looking forward to having him back in our roster for this weekend.鈥
Lowen has been out with a hamstring injury and has appeared in just one of City SC鈥檚 past 10 MLS games, which also happens to be the only one of those it won. Lowen has started six games for City SC this season: The club has three wins, two ties and one loss in those games. City SC has just one win its past 17 games, a run that has shrunk its playoff hopes down to almost nothing.
Considering how little he has played, it is unlikely Lowen can go the full 90 minutes against Portland. Critchley said how Lowen is used will depend on the medical staff. If they feel he can go 45 minutes, he鈥檒l start. If he can鈥檛 go 45, he鈥檒l come off the bench in the second half.
But any Lowen is better than no Lowen for a team that has had trouble getting the ball into scoring positions and also missed his abilities on free kicks and corner kicks.
鈥淚t just gives us more depth,鈥 Critchley said. 鈥淲hether that鈥檚 him starting a game or even coming in to change the game for us, we know his quality, even off the bench if he needs to come in for a limited amount of minutes. We know what he brings this team, going back all the way to my first game with him against San Jose, just being composed at the 92nd minute to score the penalty. So he brings some great quality to this team, and he鈥檚 going to be very welcomed with open arms by me.鈥
But because this is City SC 2025, there鈥檚 a limit on good news. Chris Durkin, who at the start of last week looked like he would be back for the Real Salt Lake game, only to miss his 12th MLS game in the team鈥檚 past 15, wasn鈥檛 on the practice field Wednesday, just as he wasn鈥檛 on the field at the end of last week. Critchley didn鈥檛 want to consider it a step back.
鈥淚鈥檇 say a step neutrally,鈥 he said, 鈥渘o step back, no step forward just yet. For Chris, it鈥檚 still looking at every couple of days, how do we reevaluate where he鈥檚 at? So not involved in the training session today but in the gym getting some cardio work in. I鈥檓 not quite sure, though, what his status will be for Sunday鈥檚 game.鈥
One of each
Josh Yaro had a rare two-goal game against Real Salt Lake, scoring once for each team. He deflected a cross into his own net to give RSL a goal that made it 3-1, then came back 17 minutes later and scored one for City SC on a corner kick that deflected off a defender, hit Yaro on the shoulder and went into the net.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a first,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 one of the strangest things. Do you celebrate scoring a goal? It鈥檚 the weirdest feeling. I was a little bit down when I scored an own goal, but I鈥檓 glad I was able to get our goal back for us. It鈥檚 just unfortunate that we didn鈥檛 get any sort of result from that game because I think it鈥檚 a game that we did enough to get some points. ... I think if the game was at 2-1, we had momentum at that point. Once it goes up to 3-1, it kind of kills the team momentum a little bit.鈥
Yaro knocked the ball in his own net as he tried to break up a pass in the City SC box. Had he not slid in to break up the pass, it probably would have been a tap in for RSL鈥檚 Zavier Gozo. What Yaro had no way of knowing at the time, however, was that Gozo was offside and, if he had scored, the goal would likely have not counted. (One can never be too sure of these things.) But because the ball never got to Gozo, there was no offside on the play.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a strange one,鈥 Yaro said. 鈥淔or me, that鈥檚 one of the hardest things to deal with as a defender because when there鈥檚 a man behind you and there鈥檚 pressure in front of you, you鈥檙e going to have to try to make a play, and that鈥檚 what I did.鈥
The City SC goal, the second in 68 MLS games for Yaro, was weird in its own way. Yaro didn鈥檛 even get off the ground to head it in.
鈥淚 was wrestling with him,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 guess I needed luck.鈥
Debutante
On his third try, Tyson Pearce made his debut with City SC on Saturday, coming on in the 63rd minute for Tomas Ostrak. Though Pearce has been mostly playing right back for City2, he was used in a defensive midfield role against RSL.
鈥淚t was awesome,鈥 Pearce said. 鈥淎mazing.鈥
Pearce was on the roster for two games last season, at the very end of Bradley Carnell鈥檚 run as coach, but never got in. Pearce, entering his senior year at De Smet High, is the fourth of City SC鈥檚 four Homegrown players to get in a game and the oldest of the bunch to do so. He was 17 years, 10 months and 23 days old on Saturday. Caden Glover is the youngest at 16 years, two months, five days when he debuted.
