Vancouver Whitecaps Archive

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Deja vu: Whitecaps let TFC escape Vancouver with an advantage, again

By
Steven Sandor
– 05/17/2012

Joe Cannon: Point-blank save on Nick Soolsma

It is the nature of two-legged Cup ties that the first game is often forgotten. Quick. Think back to the first leg of the Chelsea-Barcelona Champions League semifinal. Doesn’t come back to you as quickly as that epic second leg, does it?

And when we think of the 2011 Voyageurs’ Cup final, we remember the second leg, not the first. The rainout and subsequent replay turned that second leg into a strangely epic affair, and Whitecaps fans still lament losing a second-half 1-0 lead because a downpour at BMO Field aborted the first attempt at playing the game.

Almost conveniently forgotten was the first leg, which the Whitecaps dominated in terms of possession and chances. But the ‘Caps squandered chance after chance and settled for a 1-1 draw, which set up TFC to take that home leg.

Fast forward to 2012: Again, the Whitecaps get a 1-1 draw at home. A 91st-minute wonder volley from Eric Hassli, which came just minutes after keeper Joe Cannon denied TFC striker Nick Soolsma a vital insurance goal on a point-blank chance, gave the draw a euphoric feel for Vancouver fans.
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Hassli’s thumping volley allows Whitecaps to draw level with TFC

By
Martin MacMahon
– 05/17/2012

Eric Hassli

It was another Eric Hassli special.

With the Vancouver Whitecaps down 1-0, the big Frenchman reached into his bag of magic tricks and pulled out one his finest efforts yet, hitting a powerful volley into the top right corner of Milos Kocic’s goal.

The wonder strike ensures it’s all squared up at one apiece going into next Wednesday’s second leg at BMO Field, after Ryan Johnson fired Toronto into the lead with a 66th minute header from a cross from Julian de Guzman.

“Alain [Rochat] gave me a great ball,” Hassli told reporters following the match. “I practiced yesterday. I killed some birds [with wayward shots] and today was pretty good – lucky too. It’s a good goal.”
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Richmond-based club asks for court injunction to stop BCSA-Whitecaps deal

By
Steven Sandor
– 05/15/2012

Colin Elmes

The B.C. Soccer Association is being sued.

Late last week, Sportstown B.C. Holdings and Total Soccer Systems Inc. filed their suit in the province’s Supreme Court which asks for an injunction that would prevent the provincial soccer body from continuing its partnership with the Vancouver Whitecaps.

All items reported in the statement of claim have yet to be proven in a court of law.

The TSS Academy, based in Richmond, is a for-proft academy that isn’t allowed to become a full BCSA member. And it is angered that the BCSA entered partnerships with the Whitecaps, which is a for-profit MLS team. The Academy believes that is an unfair barrier to its business. According to TSS, the issue is not the Whitecaps, it’s the BCSA.

Even though the case is a long way from being heard, in the meantime TSS and its lawyers are asking for “a temporary injunction prohibiting the Defendant (the BCSA) from receiving any funding from the Vancouver Whitecaps or from the Province of British Columbia” until the case has been resolved.
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Nguyen’s statement game earns him MLS POTW honours

By
Steven Sandor
– 05/14/2012

Lee Nguyen, before the Whitecaps let him go

Lee Nguyen never got a chance to play a game for the Vancouver Whitecaps. And, on Monday, he was named MLS Player of the Week for showing up the Whitecaps.

Nguyen scored his first two MLS goals and set up another as the New England Revolution beat the Whitecaps 4-1 on Saturday. That effort earned him the most POTW votes from the membership of the North American Soccer Reporters.

Nguyen’s first goal was the product of being in the right place at the right time, as he banged a shot home after a goalmouth scramble. But his second was a thing of beauty, a 25-yard volley after a throw-in. It will be hard to see anyone beating that for Goal of Week.
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Revenge is a dish best served cold: Nguyen haunts Whitecaps

By
Martin MacMahon
– 05/13/2012

Lee Nguyen in a Whitecaps' jersey

The streak is over, and it’s largely due to a castoff.

After winning five consecutive matches in all competitions, the Vancouver Whitecaps fell to the New England Revolution 4-1 on Saturday, mainly thanks to Lee Nguyen, the twice-capped U.S. international attacking player the club waived following preseason.

Nguyen scored twice and set one up on the night at Gillette Stadium, creating his own version of the cliched tale of a player proving his old coach wrong.

But while the final score heavily favoured the Revs, things didn’t appear scripted for that conclusion in the early moments, as the ‘Caps took a fifth-minute lead through Eric Hassli.
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Whitecap Carlos Marquez named PDL’s Player of the Week

By
Steven Sandor
– 05/10/2012

Carlos Marquez

Richmond, B.C.’s Carlos Marquez has been named the PDL’s player of the week.

The league announced the honour on Thursday, nearly a week after Marquez set up Michael Boxall’s opening goal and then scored two of his own as the Whitecaps U-23 side beat the Kitsap Pumas 3-0 in their season opener.

Marquez, 18, joined the Whitecaps’ Residency program in 2010. In 2011, he made 13 appearances for the Whitecaps U-23 side in PDL action. But he is quickly rising up the ranks. He played for the Whitecaps’ senior reserve team against the Seattle Sounders’ Reserves on March 26.
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New CSA president Montagliani strikes conciliatory tones

By
Steven Sandor
– 05/08/2012

Victor Montagliani

Victor Montagliani sounded a lot like a man who had just won a political-party nomination.

In his first telephone media conference after being elected president of the Canadian Soccer Association, he spoke about building relationships, about working with the people who had voted against him. Really, it was no different than hearing a new leader reach out to the camps of the other candidates in an effort to bring a political party together after a divisive campaign.

And, of course, there was unbridled optimism: Talk of being able to double the CSA’s operating budget in eight years, about working with the pro clubs, that the reform process is moving along, a promise to do what it takes to make the national teams better.

For those hoping that Montagliani would kick off his presidency with angry ultimatums to the MLS over Canadian-import quotas or some angry words for remnants of the old guard who remain in the CSA, well, that was never going to happen.
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Wondolowski named Player of the Week: Too early to talk about Lassiter’s record?

By
Steven Sandor
– 05/07/2012

Chris Wondolowski: 10 games, 11 goals

After scoring three goals over the course of two games, Chris Wondolowski was named the MLS Player of the Week.

Wondolowski took over the MLS scoring lead this week, and now has 11 on the season. The reigning MLS Player of the Month easily took the vote from the membership of the North American Soccer Reporters.

“Wondo” scored twice in a midweek match that saw the San Jose Earthquakes down D.C. United by a 5-3 count. And, even though Whitecaps’ striker Eric Hassli stole the show with an injury-time winner, Wondolowski headed in the opening goal in Vancouver on Saturday. The Quakes lost that match to the Whitecaps 2-1.

The Whitecaps have only given up seven goals all season long. Wondolowski has three of them.
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Win over Earthquakes shows off the Whitecaps’ depth

By
Martin MacMahon
– 05/06/2012

Eric Hassli

Big Eric is back.

He left it late, but Eric Hassli’s 94th minute stoppage-time winner gave the Vancouver Whitecaps a 2-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes Saturday night at BC Place, sending the 19,271 fans home happy.

First-half goals from Chris Wondolowski and Gershon Koffie appeared to set the match up for a draw before the substitute had other ideas, getting on the end of a pass from Davide Chiumiento before beating goalkeeper Jon Busch with a low shot into the right corner.

The goal breaks the Frenchman’s 17-game Major League Soccer goalless streak, and gives the previously hapless striker two goals in two games in all competitions following his match-winner against FC Edmonton in the Canadian Championship semifinal, first leg on Wednesday.

“It’s like almost six months I didn’t score [in MLS],” Hassli told The 11 following the match. “So, I’m happy tonight, but the most important [thing] is that we won 2-1 and we continue our way.”
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Blame FCE’s losses, not City of Edmonton, for poor attendance at Commonwealth Stadium

By
Steven Sandor
– 05/03/2012

Commonwealth Stadium before the ACC match: Most of the seats remained empty

The number was painful to read, painful to report. In a concrete monolith of a stadium that’s built to seat more than 60,000, just 2,777 people came to see FC Edmonton play the Vancouver Whitecaps in the first leg of their Amway Canadian Championship semifinal.

And that number was bolstered by a healthy number of Vancouver supporters who made the trip to back the Whitecaps. In fact, from the broadcast booth on the other side of the stadium, the noise made by Curva Collective and the Southsiders drowned out anything the rest of the small FCE-suporting portion of the crowd could muster.

It was supposed to be a great scenario for the tournament in Edmonton. Unlike last year, when Edmonton faced Toronto, the Eddies would play a regional rival, with a chance to build something of a Western Canadian derby. The start time was at a more fan-friendly 8 p.m., when last year it was tacked onto the end of the work day to accommodate Eastern time zone TV watchers.

Yet the Whitecaps game drew far less than the 2011 edition against Toronto.
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