Whitecaps earn draw with Minnesota

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 a perfect long ball and Bracalello beat Jay Nolly with a tremendous strike from about 25 yards out. Energized by the goal, Minnesota began playing better defence and taking away some of Vancouver’s possession. The Whitecaps seemed somewhat stunned by the change in their fortunes and limped into the half.

The first half didn't produce the results for the Whitecaps it did against Portland, but it was a much better effort from Vancouver. Thordarson said he didn't change the pre-game approach, but his team came out a lot stronger.

"We were still focusing on having a go at them," Thordarson said. "We managed better today to keep posesssion in the open field. ... I thought we played extremely well in the first half."

The second half featured less stellar play, but it produced better results for Vancouver. Chances went back and forth, with Martin Nash narrowly missing in the 49th minute and Nolly diving to get one hand on a Bracalello long-range blast. The Whitecaps finally got on the scoreboard in the 67th minute when Marlon James, making his first appearance since May thanks to injury, set up Cornelius Stewart. Stewart fed Nash near the top of the six yard box, and Nash deked a defender, pulled it onto his left foot and beat keeper Matthew VanOekel.

Vancouver poured on the pressure after that, but the Minnesota defence held. Residency products Alex Elliott and Alex Semenets, the latter of whom was making his first-team competitive debut, gave good accounts of themselves as substitutes, but they couldn’t find the net. James narrowly missed in the 80th minute and Takashi Hirano sent a 25-yard free kick just high in the 86th minute. In addition to dominating the possession, the Whitecaps outshot Minnesota 16-7 and had nine corners to the Stars' two, but all the offence came to naught and they finished with only a single point.

Thordarson said he was impressed with his young players' performances.

"These are guys with great talents," he said.

According to Thordarson, the recent moves to trade Ricardo Sanchez and Jonny Steele and release Justin Moose were partly due to a desire to see what he had in his young players.

"Quite a bit, but it's more about trying to get together a roster we think is right to move forward with," he said.

Nash said the roster turnover has been a bit difficult to adjust to personally.

"It's tough," he said. "I've made friends with these guys over the past years."

Nash said he thinks the team has made the adjustment well on the pitch, though, despite the recent lack of results. He chalked part of that up to familiarity with many of the young players through their time in the Residency system and their occasional first-team appearances.

"They're all players who have been around us," he said.

Nash said he was comfortable working with Ethan Gage in central midfield thanks to the youngster's presence with the first team on and off over the past few years.

"Ethan's been kind of in and out for a while, but we know he can do it," Nash said.

The team may have adjusted to their new lineup, but they haven't produced the desired results yet. After a 1-1-2 record on this homestand, they head out on a five-game road trip and won't be back home until August 29. Nash said the recent results may be concerning, but the team's play isn't.

"I thought we had a great start to the game and we had a great first half," he said. "Tonight, we deserved more than a draw. We're playing well, we just have to find a way to win."

[Cross-posted to The 24th Minute]

Whitecaps fall to Timbers, lose Cascadia Cup

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. The Whitecaps were fired up coming out of the break, and they took the lead six minutes in when Phillipe Davies ran down the right flank and picked out Nizar Khalfan in front, who blasted a tight-angle shot home from close range. It was Davies' first-ever point for the Whitecaps [Marc Weber, The Province] and Khalfan's second goal of the year.

The weirdness continued from there, though. For a while, it looked like Vancouver would take over the game, but momentum abruptly shifted when the ever-dangerous Ryan Pore broke away from the pack. Greg Janicki went after him and brought him down from behind, receiving a red card for his efforts and conceding a penalty. Pore stepped up and clinically drilled it into the bottom-left corner to tie the match; Vancouver keeper Jay Nolly guessed right, but couldn't quite get a hand on it. The call changed the landscape of the game, and it stirred up some controversy.

Whitecaps' captain Martin Nash said after the game he understands the foul being called, but he didn't think it should have been a penalty or an ejection.

"You're going to get that call pretty much all the time, but, for me, I think he was outside the box when it happened," Nash said.

Vancouver head coach Teitur Thordarson said he also didn't agree with the decision to award a penalty.

"I don't think so," he said. "It happened outside the box from where I was standing."

Thordarson said the call knocked the Whitecaps off balance.

"After the penalty, we were a little irritated and lost focus a little bit," he said.

That lost focus proved critical. Only six minutes later, Portland sent a free kick in towards the top of the box. There appeared to be a communication mixup on the defence, causing Nolly to come a long way out for it. He couldn't collect, and the loose ball eventually fell to Timbers' defender Mamadou Danso, who put the winner home.

Nolly took the blame afterwards, saying a goal like that was a tough way to lose.

"I took a bad run at it, I think two or three of us missed it and it was just a scrum ball," he said. "It's just tough to lose like that."

Nolly was particularly disappointed to lose the last second-division Cascadia Cup competition. Vancouver, Portland and Seattle will all compete for the trophy again in MLS next season, but that didn't take the sting out of this one for him.

"We lost the Cascadia Cup at home and it's frustrating," he said. "As a player, you want to win every cup that's out there."

What frustrated Thordarson more than the loss of the cup was a late Bright Dike tackle on Takashi Hirano that only earned a yellow card, although it capped off an evening of tough tackles and rough play.

"I usually do not criticize referees, but there were a lot of things that weren't called," Thordarson said. "That last challenge on Taka was a straight red."

There were positive signs for the Whitecaps, though. Only a few days after shipping out a pair of highly-regarded veteran midfielders in Jonny Steele and Ricardo Sanchez, they didn't appear too much worse for the trade. Nash and Luca Bellisomo continued their strong play in central midfield, with Blake Wagner and Phillipe Davies threatening on the wings. Alex Elliott, Ethan Gage and Justin Moose also appeared impressive in relief. The trade means the Whitecaps' reliance on young players has gone even further, but Thordarson said he isn't too worried about a lack of experience on the bench.

"Those guys who were on the 18-man roster today, we feel that they are good enough," he said. "We could have had a bit more experience out there, but young and fresh is always good."

A pair of young players who have been particularly impressive lately are striker Cornelius Stewart (who left thanks to injury in the 79th minute) and midfielder-turned-striker Nizar Khalfan. Thordarson said he likes the strike-force pairing the two have formed.

"They have been very good together, and very important to our team," Thordarson said. "They help each other out all the time, and hopefully they'll just keep getting better."

The Whitecaps will need them and their other young players to keep getting better quickly, though. Vancouver is still in first place in the NASL Conference, but losses like Thursday night's will be significant setbacks. They don't have a lot of turnaround time, either, as they host Minnesota Sunday night at 7 p.m. Pacific (10 p.m. Eastern). I'll be live-blogging that one here and at The 24th Minute; come join me then!

Setting up the Whitecaps - Timbers clash

[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 today," he said.

Gbeke, who led USL-1 with 12 goals this season, played one of his best games of the year. He was dominant all night, scoring the first goal and setting up the second. He's played in a variety of roles this year thanks to the Caps' depth up front, but he said he isn't concerned if he starts or not.

"It doesn't matter if Coach wants me to start or wants me to come in off the bench," he said.

Haber said the team didn't get frustrated when they fell behind.

"We knew we had to keep pressuring them," he said. "We knew we'd get our chances."

They did indeed get them, and Haber notched home the winner off a lovely cross from Gbeke. Still, Vancouver only has a one-goal lead going into this second leg at Portland, a place where they've struggled recently. The temptation might be to play defensively, but Thordarson said that won't be the case.

"We will try to go down there and play our game," he said. "I feel the team is very confident. It will be a totally different game down there; whether that will suit us beter than them is yet to be seen."

[Cross-posted to The 24th Minute]

Whitecaps get a leg up on RailHawks

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 only managed seven shots, but they forced Nolly to make six saves, some of them tough. The possession was reasonably even, but Vancouver seemed perhaps more determined to attack (likely thanks to the lack of an away-goals tiebreaker in USL-1), and they had the better chances.

Nolly, who was named the team MVP before the match, has played every minute of all 30 USL games this year for the Whitecaps, 2700 minutes in total. He is believed to be the first Whitecaps' goalkeeper to play an entire league season since Arnie Mausser played 26 games in the Whitecaps' 1977 season. Nolly said he isn't fatigued, though.

"When you get a win like this, it's hard to be tired," he said.

Nolly said the workload has helped him maintain consistency and improve his game.

"Definitely," he said. "You pick up little things. Every game, you become better. It's been great for me to play 30-something games this year. It's been great for my development."

Edwini-Bonsu's goal came in the 77th minute after Nolly booted the ball downfield. James flicked it on for the young striker, and he promptly blew past RailHawks defender Jeremy Tolleson before beating Carolina keeper Caleb Patterson-Sewell and neatly tucking the ball into the net. It was his first goal for the senior team, and it came in his first playoff start.

"It feels amazing," he said afterwards. "I've been waiting so long for this, and it finally came at an important time. It's a great win right now."

The Whitecaps now go to Carolina for the second leg of the two-game aggregate series Sunday (5:00 p.m. Eastern, 2 p.m. Pacific, to be live-blogged here). They have struggled on the road at times this year, but Edwini-Bonsu said he's optimistic that will change.

"We just have to come together as a team and work hard for the whole 90 minutes, not let up in the last five minutes like we've been doing lately," he said. "Just work hard for the whole game and we'll get the result."

Head coach Teitur Thordarson said both teams were defensively-minded tonight.

"Both teams didn't want to lose," he said. "It was more that than the will to win."

Thordarson said he brought that defensive mindset to the game tonight because he was confident his strikers would capitalize, even on limited opportunities.

"Our main assignment to the players was don't let in a goal," he said. "We knew we could create chances."

Thordarson said Carolina will have to attack Sunday thanks to being down a goal, which may open up scoring opportunities for Vancouver.

"It will be a new game down there, and they will have to open up," he said. "I just hope we can defend as well as we did today."

Thordarson said he was impressed with Edwini-Bonsu's play off the bench.

"He's done extremely well as a player," Thordarson said. "He has really done his things well every time he's come on."

Tonight's game saw four different Whitecaps' players up front. Gbeke and Haber started, with Edwini-Bonsu and James in relief. Thordarson said he appreciated having players with their speed on the bench to change the tempo of the game.

"It surprises the opponent every time we do it," he said. "It's extremely nice to have opportunities off the bench where you can change the game tactically."

Thordarson said although Gbeke and Haber were the first-choice pairing for much of the year, they may not get the start Sunday. He said he wants to evaluate his options before then. Regardless of who starts, the others may appear in relief.

Team captain Martin Nash said it's a tremendous asset to the Whitecaps to have so many quality attacking options

"We have a lot of depth," he said. "The young players are great. They've taken their lumps over the year, they've been up and down at times, but that's to be expected of young players. All in all, they've been great. They were great tonight, so hopefully they can keep up this effort."

Nash returned to the lineup after missing time with an injury and played all 90 minutes, creating some excellent scoring chances off passes and set pieces. He said his teammates were key to him getting through the match.

"I haven't played for months, so it's not easy to walk back in, but the guys around me gave it everything they've got and that made it easier for me to contribute," he said.

Nash said the team will have their work cut out for them on their trip to Carolina Sunday.

"It's going to be tough; they're a great team," he said. "We've got to go work our ass off and hopefully we'll get the result."

[Cross-posted to The 24th Minute].

The GBU: Whitecaps vs. Puerto Rico

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 he's a capable wingback. He appeared more composed than on the previous occasions when I'd seen him play, which was good to see. He did a nice job of shutting down the speedy Islanders' wingers, and won a lot of balls in the air.

-The crowd: It was great to see 4,563 people take the time to come out to a Caps' game on a rainy Sunday night. That's normally a pretty good attendance for a Friday or Saturday game, and it's not far from Swangard Stadium's capacity of 5,288. Of course, it probably helped that the Lions had a bye week, as the Whitecaps were the only game in town this weekend. Still, there were a lot of people there, and those who came were loud and passionate, which is also good to see.

The Bad:

-Nigel Henry: The tall Islanders' defender turned in a great performance, but as per the rules of The GBU, his effort gets filed here because it was for the wrong team. Henry did an exceptional job of winning balls in the air, thwarting the Whitecaps' strategy of attacking via crosses from the flanks. He also neutralized the ever-dangerous Sebrango for much of the match, not an easy feat.

-Josh Hansen: The ex-Whitecap midfielder made a strong showing in his return to Swangard, controlling the play in the middle of the park and sending several good balls through for the Islanders' swift strikers.

-Bill Gaudette The Islanders' keeper was effective all night, and proved especially adept at intercepting aerial crosses, a prominent feature of the Whitecaps' attack. He also made several key diving saves to preserve the draw for his side.

The Ugly:

-Eduardo Sebrango's sending off: The Whitecaps' star Cuban striker, who's well in front in the team scoring race with 10 goals (tied for second in the whole USL and eight goals better than his nearest teammate), actually had a decent game on balance. He was the most dangerous man on the pitch for much of the day, but his finishing was a little off. However, what was really ugly was his red card late in the match. He thought the Whitecaps had scored in the 79th minute after defender Omar Jarun buried a rebound that was jarred loose after a collision with Puerto Rico keeper Bill Gaudette, but they were instead called for an offensive foul. Somehow, Sebrango was shown a yellow card, and he then earned a second yellow for dissent and was sent off.

It was tough to tell from the stands exactly what happened. I thought at first it was Sebrango who committed the foul and that was what gave him the first yellow, but Steve Ewen's game story [The Province] indicates that it was Jarun. In that case, it doesn't seem clear what the first yellow to Sebrango was for, and Ewen indicates that the dissent that earned him the second yellow also seemed pretty minimal. However, that's tough to tell without being right there, as you can't tell from the press box if he said anything objectionable. What's clear is that you should shut up as soon as you get a yellow, something most soccer players realize. Sebrango's second booking left the Whitecaps to play the last 15 minutes or so with only 10 players. It may have been a bad call by the ref, or it may have been a selfish decision from Sebrango to mouth off after a yellow. Either way, it cost the team a chance at getting all three points.

-Martin Nash's set pieces: Whitecaps' midfielder Nash (the brother of new Whitecaps' co-owner Steve) had a decent game overall, and was effective at both making key tackles defensively and sending through balls to the Vancouver wingers and strikers. However, his set-piece efforts, usually one of the best parts of his game, were a bit off: many of his corners soared clear over the box, while his free kicks found only defenders. Towards the end, Valente took over the set-piece duties. Nash will surely regain his set-piece form down the road, but it wasn't there Sunday night.

-NAIA references:: The Whitecaps' game-day program, which overall is a fine piece of work (and free too, unlike most sports programs these days), has one rather ugly error. It lists Bellisomo's last school as Simon Fraser (NAIA). Yes, the Clan used to play NAIA soccer, and they still are in the NAIA in some sports, but they've been playing CIS soccer since 2002. As a CIS guy, I'd like to see the league get a bit of credit for the guys that have come through its ranks.

The Verdict: Overall, it was a pretty good match, and surprisingly offensive for a 0-0 draw. There was plenty of end-to-end action, and both sides were clearly going for goals: it was only some spectacular defence and goalkeeping that kept them in it. It was billed as a clash between two of the USL's best franchises, and the on-pitch action lived up to that, even if the scoreboard didn't show it.

On Tap: The Whitecaps travel to Tukwila, Washington Wednesday night to play old rivals in the Seattle Sounders. It will be the Whitecaps' first game at the Starfire Sports Complex, where the USL Sounders are now based (due to the MLS Sounders taking over Qwest Field next season). They won't have any rest, either: Friday night, they're back in Vancouver to host the Portland Timbers. I'll be at Friday night's match, which will also be shown live on Fox Soccer Channel, and I should have a game report up Saturday.

The GBU: Whitecaps draw with TFC

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 Sebrango: Cuba's greatest export other than cigars or rum again proved his value to the Whitecaps, scoring two stunning goals. His 87th minute equalizer in particular was a thing of beauty, as he stole the ball, broke in on goal and beat a sliding tackle from Tyrone Marshall and a diving Greg Sutton before gently slotting a drive into the back of the net. He had plenty of other chances as well, including one in stoppage time that was called back for offside and a stellar opportunity just before his second goal where he stole the ball and was in prime shooting position, but took too long and was promptly dispossessed.

Jay Nolly: The Whitecaps' keeper, who stole the show on Canada Day, was again in fine form. He made several crucial saves, including a brilliant one in the 64th minute on the speedy Jeff Cunningham who was in all alone. Nolly dove headfirst for the ball right at Cunningham's feet, always a risky play and one that would have undoubtedly resulted in the award of a penalty if he had missed, but he pulled it off, hit the ball first, and left a bemused Cunningham flopping to the ground in vain and then sitting there for a minute awaiting a call that would never come. He also did superbly well to keep out an Amado Guevara blast on a 27th-minute rebound after TFC winger Rohan Ricketts drilled the ball off the underside of the Whitecaps' crossbar.

Justin Moose: The speedy little winger turned in another stellar performance and created several noticeable chances down the flank. Perhaps the best one was his blasted shot in the 44th minute, where he collected his own rebound off a superb diving save by Sutton and calmly set up Sebrango for the Whitecaps' first goal. Even more impressive, though, was the defensive job he did on Laurent Robert, who is usually one of TFC's strongest offensive players but was barely noticeable Wednesday night.

Omar Jarun: The tall American central defender hasn't featured too prominently for the Whitecaps this year, at least in the matches I've been to or watched, but he turned in a fantastic performance Wednesday and should be worthy of future consideration in manager Teitur Thordarson's future squad selections. He won countless battles in the air against TFC's shorter strikers, Jeff Cunningham and Amado Guevara, and made several key tackles on the ground as well. One of his strongest efforts of the night was his well-timed slide to block a dangerous cross from the speedy Marvell Wynne in the 22nd minute.

The fans: It was a capacity crowd of over 5,600 that packed Swangard Stadium, the only time I've ever seen it quite that full. Perhaps more impressive was that the vast, vast majority of them were decked out in Whitecaps jerseys or colours: often, you see more European jerseys at Caps' games than local ones. There were a few Toronto fans in attendance as well, and the Vancouver fanbase treated them perfectly: they were given full respect on the concourse and in the stands, but their cheers were shouted down properly by the assemblage of West-Coasters. In fact, it was great having some visiting supporters along: their chants seemed to galvanize the crowd into further and louder support for the local side against the team from "The Centre of the Universe".

There's plenty of good reasons for Whitecaps fans to resent Toronto besides the typical stereotypes and East-West controversy: many still think it's a bit unfair that they got an MLS franchise and a largely publicly-funded "National Soccer Stadium" that's rarely used for national matches despite Toronto's historical lack of support for its soccer teams, while the Vancouver area's long history of passionate support for its soccer teams was seemingly overlooked. Now, granted, that probably has more to do with Vancouver city council making it difficult to build a soccer-specific stadium (that they wouldn't even have to pay for, by the way) than with any fanbase issues, but there are a lot of Vancouver fans who resent the way Toronto seemingly got a franchise on a silver platter, and they were out in force Wednesday night. Overall, that's probably a good thing, as those sentiments would help to create a fantastic rivalry if Vancouver ever gets into MLS.

The massive fan support also had one other significant impact: it was one of the best advertisements for the idea of an MLS franchise in Vancouver. It certainly demonstrated that the city's fans (and those from its outlying suburbs where I hang my hat) care about MLS-calibre games even when there's no Beckham [Dan Stinson, Vancouver Sun via canada.com] to be found, and it should demonstrate to the league that there's a bona fide rivalry here waiting to be exploited (there's actually two great rivalries ready and waiting if Vancouver gets into the league, as they've been warring with the Seattle Sounders since recorded history began, and there would be a third one if Montreal joins the party). Even one John Carver, who happened to be coaching their rivals on this day, is in the Vancouver-for-MLS camp: he told the Globe's Matthew Sekeres that the competition and Vancouver's fan support demonstrated that the city deserves an MLS team, along with Montreal.

"Over the two games between ourselves and Vancouver, it shows us how much this competition means to people," TFC head coach John Carver said.
Carver added that the tournament showed him that both Vancouver and Montreal belong in the more prestigious Major League Soccer loop, where TFC competes.
"That's the biggest thing that came out of this competition," he said. "It would be a great rivalry."

That ever-expanding camp also includes one Steve Nash, by the way, and possibly even MLS deputy commissioner Ivan Gazidis, who recently told Eric Koreen of the National Post that "the Canadian markets clearly would be successful for an MLS soccer team to come up here." Gazidis qualified his statement by talking about how the league can't promise anything yet as they're evaluating their expansion policy, but even that's hopeful for those who dream of an MLS Whitecaps franchise: it sounds like perhaps they aren't as firmly stuck on only adding two more teams as they had previously stated.

The Bad:

Steve Kindel: The Whitecaps' midfielder turned in a rather lacklustre performance Wednesday night: many of his passes missed the mark while others were intercepted, and he wasn't able to do much to shut down Toronto's attack. Granted, it's certainly difficult to deal with the likes of Carl Robinson (who has graced Swangard Stadium before, by the way: he was one of Sunderland AFC's prized new signings when they stopped by a few years ago for a friendly before their first recent trip up to the Premiership) and Maurice Edu, but Kindel's performance was still below average for him and the play in the middle of the park was probably the biggest difference between the sides, despite a strong performance from Kindel's fellow inside midfielder Martin Nash (brother of the aforementioned Steve).

Nicholas Addlery: Sebrango's Jamaican striking partner proved rather disappointing on this day. He had several good chances, but invariably squandered them, notably in the 50th minute where Sebrango set him up in the box and he elected to blast the ball wide from a sharp angle instead of sliding it over to Alfredo Valente, who had a wide-open net to shoot at. He was replaced by Jason Jordan in the 72nd minute, who was much more effective.

The Ugly:

Jeff Cunningham: No, this is not a comment on Cunningham's physical attractiveness or lack thereof, which I am singularly unqualified to judge. Rather, it's a comment on his diving, which he displayed so prominently that you'd think he was practicing for the 10-metre platform event at this summer's Olympics. Cunningham is a tremendously skilled forward and one of the fastest players in MLS, but he'd be much more likeable if he didn't fall over in pain every time someone breathed on him. I felt referee Carol Anne Chenard did a great job of calling the actual fouls while refraining on the more overdone performances (Cunningham's flying leap and subsequent sulking on the ground after losing the ball to Nolly on a breakaway come to mind), but Cunningham should have been booked for diving at least once in my mind. It's performances like that that make it tough to sell many North Americans on soccer.

Toronto's second goal: TFC's first goal was a thing of beauty, as Edu brilliantly volleyed a mishit shot from Robert past a surprised Nolly, who had no chance. Their second goal wasn't anywhere near as nice, though, and really shouldn't have happened. The Vancouver defence was asleep at the switch and left Ricketts all alone in the box near one side of the goal, and he made no mistake, firing the ball home from a sharp angle almost immediately after he received it and before Nolly could get across the goal.

FC references:
The Vancouver Province's Marc Weber, a skilled soccer writer on the Whitecaps beat, had his excellent article on the game almost ruined by an incompetent editor who clearly knows nothing about soccer and gave it the horrible title "Caps put pressure on FC". We saw this with the inital wave of articles about Toronto FC, but most journalists have learned by now that "FC" could refer to any one of a million clubs, as it simply stands for "Football Club" (indeed, the Whitecaps' full name is Vancouver Whitecaps FC). Weber clearly knows this, as his article refers to the Toronto side by the proper TFC acronym throughout. Unfortunately, whoever wrote that headline must have missed the memo.

Looking ahead: The draw eliminates Vancouver from contention for the championship, but it means that Montreal only needs a tie with TFC in the final game [BMO Field, July 22] to advance. It also shows that Vancouver's win on Canada Day wasn't just a one-off fluke, and demonstrates that the calibre of play between MLS and the USL isn't as vast a gulf as many MLS-centric fans would have you believe. Interestingly, many of these people will forever argue that MLS isn't that far below the EPL in the face of their own league's detractors (an assumption I support, by the way), but still believe that they have the right to dump all over any other pro soccer in North America. If you're sick of people bashing your own league, don't perpetuate the cycle of detraction by going after the guys below you on the totem pole. MLS fans and USL fans ultimately have the same goal: promoting soccer in North America, and many, like myself, enjoy both leagues. In any case, I still like TFC when they're competing in MLS, but I'll be firmly rooting for the normally-hated Montreal Impact to strike a further blow for the USL on July 22.

Related:
- Duane's take on the game from a Toronto fan's perspective. [Out of Left Field].
- Simon Fudge's game recap. [WhitecapsFC.com].