"It was just two silly goals, two silly errors," Nelsen said. "I'm very disappointed in the first goal….The boys have three or four seconds to get back and commit to it and normally they're very good about it. They're devastated that a goal like that was conceded since we pride ourselves on not giving up soft goals."

In a 2-0 win over Seattle, the Whitecaps’ first win over a Cascadia rival in MLS, Knighton made a series of sensational saves. He made a one-handed stab to rob Zach Scott off a set piece. And, his double-save on Eddie Johnson and Obafemi Martins saw him dash out of goal to make the first stop, then scramble across the box to get a piece of the second shot.

Kenny Miller and Darren Mattocks scored Vancouver’s goals, but goalkeeper Brad Knighton stole the show with several high-end saves, especially in a first half in which he made five of them.

This was one of those weeks. With two goals and an assist against FC Dallas, the team with the league’s best record, Seattle Sounders forward Eddie Johnson ticked off all the boxes when it comes to Player of the Week-worthiness.

The Montreal Impact walked onto the pitch at Seattle’s Century Link Field and, in front of almost 39,000 of the most rabid fans in MLS, handed their hosts a 1-0 defeat, signalling to the rest of the league that the sophomore version of the club might bear very little resemblance to last season’s inaugural edition.

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.

“I thought tonight our players showed everything about a Canadian football team that we would expect in terms of heart, commitment, endeavour, everything.”

Eddie Johnson scored twice for the Seattle Sounders as they rallied from a 1-0 deficit to defeat Chivas USA 2-1.

Suspensions will force both Montreal Impact coach Jesse Marsch and Whitecaps’ boss Martin Rennie to make some adjustments in the coming weeks.

Seattle Sounders striker Eddie Johnson, who opened the scoring in a 4-0 rout of the Los Angeles Galaxy this past weekend, was named the MLS Player of the Week.