Even after the Whitecaps have wrapped up their playoff-less season, Camilo continues to earn the accolades.

“If I was sitting in the stands I think I would be going home a very happy fan, but unfortunately for us their 'keeper makes two world-class saves,” captain Jay DeMerit told reporters following the match. “They should be making a statue of Donovan Ricketts in Portland right now, because he's definitely kept them in it, which is disappointing for us, because that was a game where we should have taken three points.”

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.

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.

“We do not want to be close to the playoffs, we want to be in the playoffs. We want to reach our season-ticket subscription objective. We do not want to experience a dip in attendance like we had in our first game at Saputo Stadium. We do not want to leave points on the pitch by allowing so many late-game goals.”

But, the Whitecaps later found out they would become the first Canadian franchise to qualify for the playoffs after all, as FC Dallas couldn't capitalize on the Whitecaps slip-up, losing 3-1 to Seattle.

"How many teams in MLS can have five starters out and put on a performance like that?" Mariner asked. "When you ask players to come in after months of layoffs… if you factor those things in, with Portland having most of their guns firing and us coming out with 2-2, I'm reasonably happy with what's going on."

Thus ends the Jekyll-and-Hyde run of the Jamaican in the Impact goal. While, ovee the last few weeks, coach Jesse Marsch had reaffirmed his confidence in Ricketts, the keeper’s ability to confound you with a) eyepopping saves and b) infuriating mistakes, sometimes within minutes of each other, hadn’t gone unnoticed.

Andrew Wenger, playing up top in place of Marco Di Vaio, presently in Italy facing questions in that country’s most recent game-fixing scandal, gave the Impact a one-goal lead moments before the interval.

“I think that we were able to control the game. We were organized, we made it hard on them, and we didn’t give much up. From the back all the way up I think a bunch of guys had good games and collectively they were organized, they kept things tight,” said head coach Jesse Marsch.