“We showed a will to win, to play through difficult circumstances. This is a team that is willing to run for each other and to run for the team. We played well in the cold with 17,000 fans here to support us. We’re certainly on the right track,” declared head coach Marco Schallibaum in his post-game comments.

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.

On Friday night, the failed experiment to marry Le Toux — one of MLS’ top scorers over the past three seasons — into the Whitecaps lineup came to an end. The French forward was traded to the New York Red Bulls, who already have Kenny Cooper and Thierry Henry up front, in exchange for midfielder Dane Richards and allocation money.

MLS is supposed to have a hard cap, but it doesn't. Allocation money, which is never publicly declared, shifts around the league. So no one really knows who has what. And that includes the people who cover the game.

A late equalizer from Heath Pearce neutralized a spectacular goal from Martin Bonjour Wednesday night, as the Vancouver Whitecaps drew 1-1 with the New York Red Bulls at BC Place.

During a back-and-forth final 10 minutes, Sebastien Le Toux fired the Whitecaps ahead thanks to a fine ball from Davide Chiumiento, before the Rapids countered by hitting the crossbar, post and being denied by a superhuman defensive block from centre back Martin Bonjour.

Darren Mattocks may be a rookie, but his finishing in the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 win over the Houston Dynamo Sunday evening proved the difference, as he bagged a double.

Hassli and Mattocks injected some life into a Whitecaps team that, for the first 60 minutes of the match, managed just one shot on goal towards Timbers keeper Troy Perkins .

"We can still make something out of the season because we play Champions League now," said forward Danny Koevermans. "The club needed this. The fans needed this. Everybody needed this."

After winning five consecutive matches in all competitions, the Vancouver Whitecaps fell to the New England Revolution 4-1 on Saturday, mainly thanks to Lee Nguyen, the twice-capped U.S. international attacking player the club waived following preseason.