But, for players on the fringes of teams, this is nail-biting time, as this is the time clubs may need to make salary and roster room to fit in new additions. And, Michael Boxall became a victim of the numbers game Friday, as he was waived by the Vancouver Whitecaps.

And, the result only confirmed what we’ve all come to realize since the MLS season began; that Portland is well ahead of Vancouver. The Whitecaps weren’t deserving of losing by the slender 2-1 scoreline.

Saturday’s match between the Vancouver Whitecaps (last overall in MLS) and the Los Angeles Galaxy (first overall) played out a lot like a mid-round FA Cup match. That is, the kind of FA Cup match that pits the Blue Square Premier club, or even a semipro factory team, that made a Cinderella run through the early round having to face one of the Premiership big boys.

Eric Hassli scored twice as the Whitecaps came back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to earn a 2-2 draw at Buck Shaw in a wide open, end-to-end game that could have very easily with a ridiculous scoreline like 4-4 or 5-5.

Sometimes, you just have to wonder if artificial surface is preferable to temporary grass fields. Manchester City beat the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1 Monday night in their Herbalife World Football Challenge friendly at Empire Field. But the talk of the match won’t be the audacious strike from Shaun Wright-Phillips that gave Man City the win. It won’t be on an impressive …

But, in the one-goal loss, like so many of the Whitecaps other losses that season, a silly mistake undoes 90 minutes of work.

It took 14 games to do it, but the Vancouver Whitecaps got their second win of the season. A stunning left-footed strike from defender Alain Rochat gave the Whitecaps a 1-0 lead over the Philadelphia Union just 11 minutes in, and it was good enough. The Whitecaps, owners of the third-worst defensive record in MLS, shut out a Philadelphia team Saturday that scored six times when it last crossed the border — when it routed Toronto FC at BMO Field.

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.

Russell Teibert’s signing wasn’t a surprise. But his designation as a Generation Adidas prospect does represent a historic moment for Canadian soccer fans. Both Toronto FC and the Whitecaps signed trialists on Thursday, filling out their rosters ahead of the MLS opener. But Teibert was the biggest news of the lot.

he ‘Caps, as they did in the SuperDraft, held the first pick in the Supplemental Draft. With that pick, they grabbed New Zealander Michael Boxall from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Boxall had been expected to go in the SuperDraft but slipped badly in the eyes of the scouts during the combine.