For Canadians Dwayne De Rosario and Paul Hamilton, Wednesday’s fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup saw them make important contributions as their clubs survived.

As it stands, nine players from the three Canadian MLS teams will be on offer in Friday’s MLS Re-Entry Draft.

Ten minutes in, the Fire scored its first goal in three games, as Pavel Pardo curled a pinpoint free kick over the Vancouver wall and into the top left corner past a helpless Joe Cannon.

Yet just when it seemed as TFC had once again fallen apart late, Dunfield saved the day for the home side.

For 75 minutes of Wednesday’s second leg of the club’s Amway Canadian Championship final against the Vancouver Whitecaps, things looked good for FC Edmonton to be Cinderella at the BC Place ball.

The Vancouver Whitecaps were unfortunate to have to face Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium the game after the Utah-based squad registered its first loss at home in two years. The result was a 2-0 loss at the hands of RSL in lacklustre fashion. "Today it just wasn't good enough in so many aspects of the game,” said coach Tom Soehn.

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.

The Vancouver Whitecaps stuck to their guns. Omar Salgado, whose move to the club in August 2010 was scuttled after MLS discovered it would break international transfer rules, was grabbed with the No. 1 pick in the MLS SuperDraft in Baltimore. But, unless Vancouver gets special clearance from FIFA, he won’t be eligible to play for the team until Sept. …