This isn’t the first time the Impact have been censured for the team’s behaviour in a playoff ouster. After a 2010 USSF-Div. 2 playoff loss to Carolina, in which an Impact goal was disallowed — and Montreal also claimed one of Carolina’s goals was offside — the team charged the match officials.

With the MLS season moved up to its earliest start ever, forgive us if we don’t feel 100 per cent totally prepared for First Kick. Judging by the way many MLS teams finished preseason, with tentative matches and still looking at trialists with a week to go before the games count in the standings, a lot of coaches aren’t quite ready for the early start, either.

“Overall, I was actually very encouraged about the game,” said Vancouver head coach Martin Rennie. “It was a very young team from us – lots of inexperienced players. For most of the game, we were doing well. We were on top for quite a long time. Obviously, (we’re) disappointed that we lost the goals that we did. I thought we could have defended those a little bit better given that we hardly gave up any chances throughout the game.”

And this is where Kinnear got it wrong — he left his best defender on crosses — Canadian Andre Hainault — out of the starting lineup. If you’re willing to yield the wide positions, you need to have your best options out there when it comes to dealing with crosses.

But it all came undone as poor defending gave Houston the opportunity to steal a point at home on a hot, humid night in its brand new BBVA Compass Stadium.

Program the PVR. Make sure your Internet connection is fast enough to allow for multiple streams. This weekend marks a landmark in Canadian soccer. Four professional clubs are in action; FC Edmonton and the Montreal Impact kick off their NASL campaigns Saturday with road games in Florida. And MLS? Toronto FC visits the San Jose Earthquakes Saturday night. And the Vancouver Whitecaps head to Texas to take on the Houston Dynamo on Sunday. Of the weekend’s action, only Montreal and FC Edmonton overlap.