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.

The final 20 minutes of the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1 loss Saturday in Columbus — which saw the visitors throw everything they had at Crew keeper Will Hesmer in a wild attempt to pull another game out of the fire — wasn’t enough to erase 70 minutes of indifferent play. Don’t let the Whitecaps’ frantic attempt to come back from a two-goal deficit fool you; the Caps came into this game with a very negative mentality.

There is a very real trend that has become evident in Whitecaps match after Whitecaps match. Win, lose or draw, the Whitecaps will allow their opponents to have more of the ball and, in the case of Saturday’s 0-0 draw at home to Chivas USA, a lot more of the ball.

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.

Omar Salgado won’t have to wait until his 18th birthday to play in his first MLS game. The Vancouver Whitecaps have been successful in their efforts to get the No. 1 pick in the 2011 Superdraft cleared to play. Salgado is currently with the U.S. U-20 team as it prepares for the CONCACAF qualifiers in Guatemala, so he won’t be able to help the Whitecaps this Saturday in Philadelphia, where the club has a bit of a roster crisis because of international call-ups.

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.

There’s something about Canada that brings out the best in Jamie Smith. The Colorado Rapids’ midfielder scored the only goal as the MLS Cup champs beat the Whitecaps 1-0 in Vancouver Saturday in the teams’ final tuneup before the season kicks off.

But, anyone who tuned in to watch the Vancouver Whitecaps hang on to beat the Seattle Sounders 3-2 in the finale of the Cascadia Cup — or any of the 4,000 people who packed what’s normally a training pitch in Tukwila, Wash — got to see about as entertaining a MLS preseason game as you’re ever going to see.

For the second time in three preseason Arizona games, the Vancouver Whitecaps faced CONCACAF Champions League opposition. And, just as the Whitecaps beat Real Salt Lake 2-1, they triumphed over the Columbus Crew by the same score on Tuesday.