Whitecaps jump into first with 2-0 win
Published on August 28, 2008 under USL First Division (USL-1)
Vancouver Whitecaps News Release
Vancouver Whitecaps moved into first place in the USL First Division standings with a commanding 2-0 home victory over Atlanta Silverbacks on Wednesday evening.
Lyle Martin's first-ever goal for the Whitecaps proved to be the match-winner at Swangard Stadium, as his first-half strike was enough to take Vancouver's unbeaten run to five games and allowed them to leapfrog over previous leaders Puerto Rico Islanders in the USL-1 table. The home side sealed the win in the second half when Eduardo Sebrango struck his 11th league goal of the season to condemn a tired-looking Silverbacks side to their fourth straight defeat, while the victorious Whitecaps clinched a playoff berth for the 12th straight year in a row.
After seeing his side claim an important 2-1 home win over Portland Timbers last Friday, Whitecaps head coach Teitur Thordarson named an unchanged side for the match with Atlanta. Silverbacks head coach Jason Smith, meanwhile, made three changes to the side that fell to a 3-1 defeat at Montreal Impact last Sunday. Felipe Quintero replaced Ryan McIntosh in the Atlanta goal, while Matthew Bobo replaced Zach Kirby in the visitors' defence, and Tony McManus came in for Greg Chevalier in midfield. Atlanta's line-up included recent acquisitions Brent Sancho in their defensive backline, while former Minnesota Thunder striker Aaron Paye partnered Jerson Monteiro up front.
A Swangard crowd of 4,621 were greeted to a cool midweek evening of soccer, with the Whitecaps looking the far stronger side in the first half.
In fact, the opening exchanges saw Vancouver win a number of corner kicks, as they imposed their attacking flank play on their Georgia-based visitors. On seven minutes, Nicholas Addlery fired a shot wide of the target after striker partner Sebrango had flicked Alfredo Valente's corner into the Jamaican's path. Three minutes later, former Silverbacks centre back Omar Jarun struck a header from another Valente corner wide of goal.
Atlanta offered little in terms of attacking endeavour in the opening 45 minutes, with Paye rolling a shot into the arms of Whitecaps goalkeeper Jay Nolly on 24 minutes before Chris Mahaffey blazed a close-range shot high and wide of the Whitecaps goal minutes later.
It was on 35 minutes that the Whitecaps gave their fans a goal to cheer about, with Martin getting on the scoresheet for the first time ever. Wesley Charles' forward ball was flicked on by Sebrango to right-sided midfielder. From the edge of the Atlanta box, Martin curled a sublime left-foot shot past Quintero to give Vancouver a priceless lead.
Having celebrated his goal in colourful fashion, Martin believes the Whitecaps are hitting form at the right time of the year. "It's always a good feeling to be top of the table," he said after the match. "You always want to win the regular season title and have that extra momentum for the playoffs. The things that Teitur has been having us do at practice have been coming together for us. Hopefully, that can continue through to the end of the playoffs."
Based on the balance of play in the first half, the Whitecaps deserved their advantage. Sebrango then had the last opportunity of the half with a turn and shot that flew wide of the target before both teams went to their respective dressing rooms for the halftime break, with Vancouver leading by a single goal.
The start of the second half saw the Whitecaps bring Jeff Clarke on for Mason Trafford in midfield, with The Blue & White creating a chance on 51 minutes, but Sebrango struck a shot across the face of Atlanta's goal after taking a well-played through ball from Charles.
It was from that sequence that the Whitecaps were given a cause for concern, as Charles was forced to come out of the match with a worrying leg injury. Experienced Steve Kindel replaced the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines international, as he went into central midfield, while Clarke dropped back into the centre of the Whitecaps backline.
Vancouver continued to press the Silverbacks, as they went in search of a second goal. On 59 minutes, Addlery headed Martin's knockdown from a Takashi Hirano cross over the Atlanta crossbar before the Silverbacks caused a bit of a scare for the home fans four minutes later, as former Whitecaps forward Jason McLaughlin struck a long-range shot just wide of Nolly's goal.
The midway point of the half saw Thordarson reinforce his intention to attack Atlanta from the wide areas, as Vicente Arze and Justin Moose replaced Valente and Luca Bellisomo respectively, with both players moving into Vancouver's wide midfield positions.
On 69 minutes, the move paid dividends, as Arze's cross from the left found Sebrango in the Atlanta box. The Cuban striker turned his Silverbacks marker before hitting an unstoppable shot off the underside of Quintero's crossbar and into the net for his 11th goal of the season.
With Vancouver two goals to the good, there was a flow of confidence in the home side's play in the latter stages, with Martin Nash unlucky not to get on the scoresheet himself with a well-hit volleyed effort that grazed the outside of the post on 71 minutes. Two minutes later, Arze curled a drive into the arms of Quintero.
Nash felt that claiming control of Wednesday's contest was essential for victory. "We wanted to jump on Atlanta tonight and not let them get out of their current slump," he said to reporters. "We looked to stamp our initiative on the game, and I thought we did that. We created a lot of chances and I think we should have scored a few more goals. If we want to win the league and the championship, we have to put those chances away."
The Whitecaps then came close to catching the Silverbacks out on the break on 79 minutes, but Moose missed the target with a low shot after Sebrango fed him with a forward pass on the right in the Atlanta half.
Credit to Atlanta, they had chances to try and blemish Nolly's clean sheet in the dying stages, with Josh Bolton hammering a shot just wide on 83 minutes before Sancho forced a save from the Whitecaps number one after redirecting a long Bolton throw-in on goal in the Vancouver box.
Fittingly, the last chance of the match fell to the Whitecaps and substitute Randy Edwini-Bonsu on 89 minutes, but just as it looked like he might create history by being the first Whitecaps Residency player to score in a men's first-team match, the forward could only find the Atlanta side-netting with his low shot. It mattered little, as the Whitecaps still ran out deserved winners to go a point clear at the top of the USL-1 standings, though Puerto Rico can re-claim first place with a result against third-place Charleston Battery in South Carolina on Friday night.
90 FULL MINUTES
After completing a four-game road trip in the space of a week, Smith admitted his Atlanta side were not at their best on Wednesday. "We had a couple chances tonight, but we were a tired team," he told whitecapsfc.com. "We tried to keep the ball a little bit more, but we didn't have the legs to do it. The Whitecaps have good pace out wide and up top, and that kept us off balance all night. I thought Lyle Martin was particularly hard for us to contain. We've got quite few injuries at the moment, so we were trying to get through tonight and not add to the injury pile before our weekend game with Rochester."
Thordarson, meanwhile, felt his team performed better in the latter stages against the Silverbacks. "I must admit that I wasn't too happy with the first half, as I felt we started the game too slowly, and I wanted the guys to speed the tempo up," said the Whitecaps head coach. "To be fair, the pitch was wet and heavy, so I can understand how it was a challenge to play a higher tempo on this surface. The second half, however, we got better after we made some changes to the team, and we created a lot of chances. We scored two goals, but we could have scored five in this game."
The Whitecaps will now turn their thoughts to the Caribbean and the first of two crucial league games versus the Islanders in Puerto Rico on Sunday, with the second match to go on Friday, September 5. Atlanta, meanwhile, will complete their grueling 11-game schedule for the month of August when they host Rochester Rhinos on Saturday evening.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC have announced that they will pursue one of two Major League Soccer (MLS) expansion franchises set to be added to the league by 2011. Fans are encouraged to visit whitecapsfc.com/mls to register their support for a Whitecaps MLS franchise and help show the rest of North America what Vancouver and British Columbia have to offer.
USL First Division Stories from August 28, 2008
- Miami FC vs. Minnesota Thunder: Crucial Weekend Series in the Playoff Hunt - Fort Lauderdale Strikers
- RailHawks Announce Relationship with Consulate General of Mexico in Raleigh - North Carolina FC
- Whitecaps jump into first with 2-0 win - Vancouver Whitecaps
- USL-1 sides surprise in CONCACAF Champions League debuts - USL-1
- Impact blank Nicaraguan champion club, 1-0 - Montreal Impact
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