Before the kickoff of the season, MLS headquarters instructed its officials to crack down on fouls in the box and to make absolutely certain that a player was in an offside position before raising the flag.More penalties, more cards, less offside calls — the recipe to boost scoring.We are clearly seeing the effect of the mandate. Fans will likely have to get used to seeing the flag stay down more often than not.

The Vancouver Whitecaps gave it their best shot to maintain their perfect season here yesterday against the Philadelphia Union and their boisterous Sons of Ben fan club —which cheers its heroes and jeers the opposition nonstop the entire game. They really did.But in the end the Caps simply couldn’t overcome a red card to striker Eric Hassli — his second yellow-card infraction of the day — forcing them to play a man down the final 35 minutes. The Union applied consistent pressure from there, finally converting an opportunity goal from Carlos Ruiz in the 79th minute to squeeze out a 1-0 win that might’ve been a different story otherwise.

Canada has announced its roster for the U-20 CONCACAF championships, which kick off two days from now in Guatemala.“We are ready to challenge for a FIFA U-20 World Cup spot,” said U-20 coach Valerio Gazzola. “The players are upbeat and ready to play.”