If, next week, the players wearing the red of Toronto FC hoist the Voyageurs’ Cup over their heads, the Vancouver Whitecaps will rue a second half filled with missed opportunities in the opening leg of the Nutrilite Canadian Championships. The final scoreline on Wednesday read 1-1. But, make no mistake, Vancouver will feel it deserved not just to win the game, but win it handily.

But Thordarson decided to use Saturday’s date in New England as a chance to test his squad players. Striker Long Tan, who any Whitecaps fans would be forgiven for not remembering still played for the club, got the start with attack partner Omar Salgado, the teenager chosen first overall in the 2011 Superdraft. The Revs won 1-0, as Shalrie Joseph converted a penalty kick after Whitecap Blake Wagner was adjudged to have stepped on the foot of Rev Benny Feilhaber just inside the box.

Once again, the cardiac kids struck late. Davide Chiumiento’s 90th minute cross into the San Jose penalty area eluded a series of charging Whitecaps and, more importantly, keeper Jon Busch. The ball nestled in the corner of the goal, giving the Whitecaps a 1-1 draw with the Earthquakes.

The Whitecaps and their fans can have no complaint about the result — a 3-1 loss to the Houston Dynamo. Indeed, you could argue that things could have been a heck of a lot worse. A four- or five-goal margin would have reflected the run of play.

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.

Both of the Canadian MLS franchises made moves Thursday to add to their defensive depth charts. The Vancouver Whitecaps announced the signing of French-Algerian central defender Mouloud Akloul. Akloul played one game for the Whitecaps in Div. 2 play back in 2010. He scored the match-winning goal and fractured his ankle in a 1-0 victory over AC St. Louis, and missed the rest of the season.

Jay Nolly will start his first game in MLS since 2007, when he goes between the sticks for the Vancouver Whitecaps for Saturday’s season opener against Toronto FC. Like a lot of players on expansion clubs — no matter what the league — Nolly told media Friday at Empire Field that the Whitecaps can exceed the low expectations placed upon them by the pundits. After all, in MLS, there is a history of expansion teams walking into a league with a low salary cap and high roster turnovers and winning. Chicago won it all in an expansion season. The Seattle Sounders have been to the playoffs each of their first two years in the league, and have two U.S. Open Cups. Nolly believes the Whitecaps will benefit from consistency. “We’ve brought, 10, 11, 15 guys from last year along,” said Nolly.