Sporting Madness

After a month-long road trip, the Vancouver Whitecaps completed their odyssey with a return to Burnaby’s Swangard Stadium. Unlike certain Greek mythological heroes, though, their return was less than triumphal, and they came away with just one point from a 2-2 draw with the Austin Aztex. Whitecaps’ head coach Teitur Thordarson was impressed with his team’s play overall, but less pleased with their finishing touch. “We created so many chances today, it is unbelievable we didn’t score more than two goals,” he said. “We could have been up 4-0 by half.” Vancouver opened the scoring in the 16th minute when Martin Nash went in for a sliding tackle. The ball went off him and bounced to Cornelius Stewart , who broke in alone and drilled a low left-footed drive past keeper Miguel Gallardo into the bottom-right corner of the net. The Whitecaps dominated much of the rest of the first half, recording six shots against Austin’s two and controlling the majority of the possession. They we...

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...

The Vancouver Whitecaps will be heading to the W-League Final Four for the first time since they hosted the tournament and claimed the championship in 2006. They sealed a berth today with a 2-1 victory in the Western Conference final against the rival Pali Blues in front of 1,712 fans at Swangard Stadium, but it wasn’t an easy one. Keeper Siobhan Chamberlain turned in a tremendous performance for Vancouver, turning away four shots, including one that went off her and then off the post. She said it was a thrilling experience despite the pressure. "I enjoyed this one, although it was hard work," she said. "You need a bit of luck sometimes and we got it today." Pali began with a lot of pressure, but the scoring chances they generated were repelled by the Vancouver defence. Emily Zurrer and Martina Franko stood strong in the middle, while Robyn Gayle and Chelsea Stewart were solid on the wing and Chamberlain made some key stops. Still, Pali easily could have ...

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. ...

For a long while, Blake Wagner seemed like another cautionary tale of giving athletes too much hype too early. He was identified by the U.S. national team through their Olympic Development Program back when he was 13, was highly publicized and went on to play for the U.S. at the U-14, U-15 and U-17 levels. He then joined Generation adidas and was drafted 18th overall by FC Dallas in the 2006 MLS Superdraft. Dallas did bring him along slowly, only using him once as a substitute in a friendly that season and not starting him in MLS until 2007. He made 12 appearances with the team that year, then started 23 of 24 matches for them as a defender in 2008. He only saw limited time with them in 2009 though, and they opted not to bring him back. It looked like he had fallen off the map, but he then signed with Vancouver earlier this year, and his star appears to be back in the ascendancy. Although this was only Wagner’s fourth match with Vancouver, he has already surpassed his career goals ...

Tonight in Vancouver, an immovable object and an unstoppable force decided to forget the whole thought experiment and go for a drink together. The Vancouver Whitecaps came into this clash with a 4-0-2 record at home in USSF Division II play, while the Carolina RailHawks were 2-0-3 on the road, so you would have expected something to give. Neither side did, though, and the game ended 1-1 after a solid battle. Vancouver looked set to pick up another low-scoring home win when Ansu Toure put them ahead in the 31st minute. It was a beautiful goal with a terrific buildup. Former USL-1 MVP Jonny Steele found space for a run down the left flank, where Toure normally plays. Toure shifted inside and Steele sent a cross in for him near the top of the six-yard box, but it was slightly behind him. Toure reached back, though, and with a move straight out of a freestyle competition, hit a behind-the-back sideheel into the net. Their lead was short-lived, though. In first-half stoppage time, con...

Saturday’s Vancouver Whitecaps clash against the Rochester Rhinos saw the fall of one streak and the continuation of a more auspicious one. Before 4,996 fans at Swangard Stadium, the Whitecaps found a way to break their goalless streak while maintaining their defensive dominance, coming away with a 2-0 victory. Vancouver threatened early, but that was something we’ve seen before. This last stretch of games has been characterized by the team creating scoring chances but not capitalizing on them. Tonight was different, though, as Cornelius Stewart ended their scoring drought in the 17th minute. He collected the ball in the box after Marcus Haber ’s shot hit him, turned and drilled it past Rochester goalkeeper Neal Kitson into the corner of the net. The goal came in the 276th minute of USSF-II play since the Whitecaps’ last league tally ( April 29 against Portland) and the 296th minute of USSF-II and Voyageurs’ Cup play since their last goal of any type (a Marcus Haber penalty May 5...

For the Vancouver Whitecaps, the scoreline remained the same Wednesday night at Swangard Stadium as their third consecutive match there finished in a 0-0 draw. This had much more to it than previous USSF Division II efforts against Crystal Palace Baltimore [ Simon Fudge , WhitecapsFC.com ] and the Montreal Impact, though; the Voyageurs’ Cup and its accompanying berth in the CONCACAF Champions League were potentially on the line against hated rivals Toronto FC. The Whitecaps responded to the occasion and played a superb game against a Major League Soccer side, controlling possession, shutting down TFC’s attackers and creating their own chances. At the end of the day, though, that superior effort merely translated into another 0-0 scoreline. Head coach Teitur Thordarson was pleased with his team's performance, though. "I thought we played exceptionally well in all departments of the game," he said. "I thought we did well and controlled the game. For me, the only ...

Saturday night’s 0-0 scoreless draw [ Simon Fudge , WhitecapsFC.com ] with the Montreal Impact saw the continuation of a disturbing trend for the Vancouver Whitecaps. They’ve now gone 259 minutes without scoring in league play since Nelson Akwari notched an 11th-minute goal against Portland on April 29. Following that, they went 79 minutes of the Portland game without scoring again, then held Crystal Palace Baltimore to a 0-0 draw [ Marc Weber , The Province ] last weekend before tonight's scoreless clash. Of course, Vancouver did get one goal during that span, but that came against Montreal in last week's Voyageurs' Cup game, though, not in USSF Division II competition. They're still doing reasonably well in the league and lead the NASL Conference with eight points, but that's unlikely to continue unless the goals start to come. Tonight's game was a little more promising on the offensive end, however, as head coach Teitur Thordarson commented post-mat...

A 1-0 score frequently suggests a close match. That wasn't the case at Burnaby's Swangard Stadium tonight, as the Vancouver Whitecaps walked all over expansion AC St. Louis. They outshot St. Louis 11-1, had five shots on net to the visitors' nil and also dominated the possession battle, particularly in the first half. With the win, Vancouver improved to 2-0-1 on the season, while St. Louis fell to 0-3-0. Head coach Teitur Thordarson was not overly impressed with his team's showing, though, despite coming away with three points and statistical dominance. His criticism was for good reasons. Particularly in the second half, the Whitecaps sank to St. Louis' level and spent more time just passing the ball around than creating anything offensively. "I wasn't happy with the game today," Thordarson said after the match. Thordarson liked the way the team came out of the tunnel, but he was less impressed with their play as the game went on. "I thou...