Sporting Madness

In a twist from three days earlier , the Vancouver Whitecaps came hard out of the gate against the NSC Minnesota Stars—and initially, they wound up worse off for their troubles. In the end, their efforts were rewarded, but not to the degree they would have hoped for as they finished with a 1-1 draw. "It was two points lost," head coach Teitur Thordarson said. "I think we played well, especially in the first half. ... I think we still played well in the second half, but there wasn't the energy and there wasn't the intensity." Unlike Thursday’s game against Portland where they started slow but came on late in the half and collected the match’s first goal, Vancouver controlled the play early on and created plenty of great chances. Marc Weber of The Province tweeted that it looked like a 3-0 Vancouver victory, and I concurred . The game changed dramatically in the 28th minute on a counterattack when Johnny Meyongar sent Simone Bracalello through with...

Last night's 2-1 Portland Timbers victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps was an odd game for a variety of reasons. For one thing, Portland had won only one of their last 17 matches at Swangard Stadium and hadn't won there in six years [ Prost Amerika ]. The victory also allowed Portland to retain the Cascadia Cup [ Simon Fudge , WhitecapsFC.com ]. Furthermore, the result was probably pretty fair given the overall flow of the game, but it came in a highly unexpected way. The Timbers dominated the first half of play, but didn't come away with much to show for it. Vancouver had a few early chances as well, but they looked disorganized at the back at times and not terribly dangerous in attack. George Josten really should have opened the scoring for Portland; he had a tremendous chance in the 26th minute that was nullified by an offensive foul, and had another chance in the 29th minute, but drilled a rebound wide from five yards out. The second half was a different story. ...

[Second leg live blog is above] The first leg of the USL-1 semifinal was a bit of a tricky win for the Vancouver Whitecaps. Yes, they won 2-1 , but they conceded a penalty along the way after a ball bounced off Lyle Martin 's hand. That tied the score after an early goal from Charles Gbeke , and Vancouver only won thanks to a late goal from Marcus Haber off a Gbeke cross. Whitecaps head coach Teitur Thordarson said he was impressed with the team's resilence. "I think they responded very well to the goal," he said. Thordarson wasn't happy with the penalty call, though. "From my perspective, it's very harsh to give that penalty there," he said. "He just covered his face and the ball hit him. I've never seen that before." Gbeke said he was confident the team would come back despite a 1-1 tie at halftime, and he figured Haber would notch one of his opportunities. "In the locker room, I told Marcus he was going to score ...

The first leg of the 2009 USL-1 playoff series between the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Carolina RailHawks was a tight battle, but the home team came out on top tonight at Burnaby's Swangard Stadium. It wasn't traditional threats Charles Gbeke , Marcus Haber or Marlon James who scored, although they all saw action and created chances. When it came down to it, though, 19-year-old supersub forward Randy Edwini-Bonsu was the only one who managed to find the back of the net, and keeper Jay Nolly preserved the clean sheet for Vancouver. Nolly said holding the RailHawks off the scoreboard was key for the Whitecaps. "The first game of the playoffs, to get the clean sheet, I think that's great for our defensive mind," he said. "They've been weathering a lot of goals of late, so this will keep them up." Both sides created substantial chances throughout the game. Vancouver finished with 11 shots, but only three of them hit the target. By contrast, Carolina ...

Sunday Night Lights Photo: The Vancouver Whitecaps take on the Puerto Rico Islanders Sunday night under the lights at Burnaby's Swangard Stadium. The match ended 0-0. [Andrew Bucholtz photo]. Breaking down yesterday night's match for USL supremacy, featuring the second-place Vancouver Whitecaps and the top-of-the-league Puerto Rico Islanders... The score: 0-0 How I saw it: In person The Good: -Jay Nolly: The Whitecaps' keeper continued his outstanding season with another stellar performance, including several diving saves, key interceptions of crosses and corner kicks, and a couple of crucial stops on potential breakaways. -Alfredo Valente: Valente had a solid game on the wing for the Whitecaps, creating several quality chances with his speed and crossing ability. His crosses weren't always exactly on the mark, but on balance, he turned in a strong performance. -Luca Bellisomo: The SFU product came on for Lyle Martin in the 63rd minute and demonstrated again that...

Photo: The Vancouver Whitecaps take on Toronto FC at Burnaby's Swangard Stadium. [Andrew Bucholtz photo]. A bit late getting to this one due to the other work I've had to do, but I was at the Vancouver Whitecaps - Toronto FC match on Wednesday, so I figured I'd better write about it briefly here. This was of course the Whitecaps' final match of the Nutrilite Canadian Championships, and came on the heels of their stunning Canada Day victory [myself, Out of Left Field ] over TFC at BMO Field [myself, this blog]. Unfortunately, the pair of eggs they laid against Montreal meant that they needed to win by a landslide to have any hope, and there wasn't much of a chance of that happening. There was plenty of pride on the line, though, and the Whitecaps played their hearts out, earning a draw in the end [Matthew Sekeres, The Globe and Mail ]. Here's the breakdown, in classic GBU style : Final score: Whitecaps 2, TFC 2 How I saw it: In person The Good: Eduardo Sebra...