“It wasn’t the kind of second half we wanted to have,” admitted captain Davy Arnaud.” If we’re going to be honest with ourselves, we weren’t in the second half, it was our worst half of the year, I would say, but we still came out with three points and in MLS you have to grind out results sometimes. That’s just the way it is. At the end of the day we leave with another win.

As soon as Colin Miller became FC Edmonton’s new head coach last November, he began working on a deal to bring central defender Carlyle Mitchell from the Vancouver Whitecaps to the Eddies.

Trinidad and Tobago central defender Carlyle Mitchell arrived in Edmonton Monday, as a loan deal that sends him from the Whitecaps to the Eddies is now awaiting signatures and league approvals.

The Montreal Impact finished its initial MLS season with a meagre harvest of nine points on the road. The team returns home after this season’s first two matches on the west coast with six points in pocket, having already matched 2012’s total of a pair of wins on enemy turf.

The Vancouver Whitecaps might not have had their captain, but they got a skipper’s performance from his stand in, as Kenny Miller bagged the winner as the home side defeated the Columbus Crew 2-1 in front of 18,078 at BC Place.

"These are players who have been in these situations. Not to slag off young players, but you only know what it's like when you're in the positions and Danny has been in these positions for years," O'Dea said. "It's a bit of experience and mental toughness and we lacked a bit of that last year."

It’s a symbiotic deal: Toronto FC desperately needs attacking options, and midfielder John Bostock needs to get his career moving in a positive direction.

The new Academy — based in Saskatoon — will be coached by Bryce Chapman, who runs the men's soccer program at the University of Saskatchewan.

Goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau, who just returned to the Impact after playing in goal for Canada's U-20 team at the CONCACAF Championships, has been moved from the Academy to the senior team.

Mike Magee, who scored three times Sunday in that win over Chicago, won in a landslide in the first ballot of the season for the members of the North American Soccer Reporters.