But, in MLS, by the middle of the first round, you are already dealing with crapshoots. A good No. 7 pick is a great value.

“Two deflections that we’ve lost goals from,” head coach Martin Rennie said of Dallas’s goals. “So that’s very frustrating."

Nelsen: “It’s a great bunch of guys. All the hard work they put in during the week should be rewarded with performances like that — which was a fantastic performance.”

The Whitecaps lost in Dallas Saturday night, but the team did get some news from another part of the United States.

FC Edmonton has a new coach and an almost entirely new starting XI. But Saturday’s 2-0 loss on the Metrodome turf to Minnesota United FC felt a lot like the 2012 season.

The Canadian team played the third-place match as if it was playing for gold.

When players I’ve covered over the years earn major awards, I don’t think about the stats they’ve accumulated over the courses of their careers. I think about the moments I remember the most vividly, the marks that these athletes made on my brain.

In fact, Bologna didn’t use the term “loan,” but “transfer on a provisional basis.” So, for De Santis and co., it’s a case of try before you buy.

Hlavaty will be in the state of Minnesota, playing for the first time against his old team. But it won’t be all familiar — since Hlavaty left the Minnesota Stars and signed with FC Edmonton as a free agent late in 2012, his old team changed its name to Minnesota United FC and went to a sky-blue home kit.

Canada took the lead before the five-minute mark, but couldn’t hang on in hostile territory.