Recap | LAFC 2-0 St. Louis CITY SC | 2026 MLS Season

LAFC Communications

LAFC continued its best-ever start to an MLS season, improving to 4-0-0 with a 2-0 win over St. Louis CITY SC at BMO Stadium on Saturday night. Mathieu Choinière made his first league start of the season and tallied a pair of second-half goals to lead the Black & Gold to the win. LAFC stands as the only 4-0-0 team in MLS this season as well as the only team to register a shutout in each of its first four games of the year.

Including the Concacaf Champions Cup, LAFC has a record of 6W-0L-1D in 2026, outscoring opponents 16-2.

Just 30 seconds into the game, LAFC nearly took the lead when Denis Bouanga got free inside the penalty area, only to see his right-footed shot clip the crossbar and go out for a goal kick. The home side struck the woodwork again in the 40th minute with Nathan Ordaz’s left-footed strike beating the dive of St. Louis goalkeeper Roman Bürki but crashing off the post. In between those two chances, St. Louis CITY had a goal called back for a foul inside the box, meaning that LAFC went to the half tied 0-0.

Both teams would create chances throughout the second half, but it took until the 73rd minute for LAFC to pull in front. Choinière collected a loose ball near midfield and ran at the heart of the City defense before hitting a low, right-footed shot just inside the post from the edge of the box, making the score 1-0.

Eight minutes later Choinière tallied his second of the night. The Canadian international collected a clearance in the attacking third and took one touch before once again placing a right-footed shot just inside the post, past the dive of Bürki to double LAFC’s advantage.

St. Louis CITY pushed to get back into the game over the final eight minutes plus stoppage time, taking seven shots and forcing LAFC captain Hugo Lloris into three saves. He finished the game with four saves for his fourth straight shutout to open the season.

The Black & Gold will be back in action on Tuesday, March 17, when the club travels to Costa Rica to face Alajuelense in the second leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16. That game kicks off at 6 p.m. PT and can be seen live on FS2, TUDN, OneSoccer, and ConcacafGO. The club returns to MLS play on Saturday, March 21, when it faces Austin FC on the road at 5:45 p.m. PT.

LAFC returns to BMO Stadium on Saturday, April 4, when Orlando City visits.

NOTES

With Saturday's win over St. Louis, LAFC is now 4-0-0 for 12 points. LAFC is the only club to open the 2026 MLS season with four consecutive wins so far. This is the first time in LAFC history that the team has opened a season with four consecutive wins.

For the first time this season, head coach Marc Dos Santos did not use the same starting lineup, making three changes to the team that beat FC Dallas 1-0 last weekend. Mathieu Choinière, Nathan Ordaz, and Ryan Raposo all came into the lineup, replacing Stephen Eustáquio, Sergi Palencia, and Timothy Tillman.

For Raposo, it was his first-ever start in an MLS game for LAFC.

All-time, LAFC is now 5W-0L-2D all-time against St. Louis CITY, outscoring the 2023 expansion side 13-2 in those seven games. At BMO Stadium, LAFC is 3W-0L-1D against St. Louis.

LAFC has recorded a shutout in each of its first four games of the season, becoming the fourth team in MLS history to do so. The club joins St. Louis CITY in 2025, Vancouver in 2012 and the 2007 New York Red Bulls as the only teams to open a season without conceding a goal in their first four games.

Including the end of the 2025 MLS season, LAFC has not allowed a goal in the last 363 minutes of regular-season play. This is the second-longest shutout streak in club history, beaten only by a 550-minute scoreless streak in 2024.

Mathieu Choinière scored both goals on the night for LAFC. These were his first goals of 2026 and his first-ever goals at BMO Stadium.

Choinière is the first LAFC player to score multiple goals in a league game this season. His brace marked the second multi-goal game of his MLS career. His first was on August 20, 2003, against Toronto FC when he was a member of CF Montréal.

In the 82nd minute, Jude Terry entered the game in place of Denis Bouanga, making his MLS debut. At 17 years, 157 days old, Terry, who made his first-ever appearance for the club in the Concacaf Champions Cup win over Real España on February 24, is the third youngest player to appear in an MLS game for LAFC. Only Erik Dueñas (15 years, 362 days) and Christian Torres (16 years, 137 days) were younger when they made their debuts for the club.