Late Carolina Goal Ties Vancouver
August 18, 2009 - USL First Division (USL-1)
Vancouver Whitecaps News Release
Vancouver Whitecaps FC were held to a 1-1 away draw by Carolina RailHawks in USL First Division action on Tuesday evening.
Substitute Marcus Haber gave Vancouver the lead midway through the second half at WakeMed Soccer Park, but they were denied the road win after Carolina substitute striker Andriy Budnyy equalized in the dying stages to earn the RailHawks a second-straight stalemate with Vancouver.
Tuesday's draw takes the Whitecaps record in USL-1 to 7W-9L-6D and leaves them in sole possession of seventh place in the league standings, with Vancouver's winless run now extended to five matches. Carolina, meanwhile, draw level on points with second-place Charleston Battery, as the RailHawks take their record to 13W-5L-5D after extending their unbeaten run in the league to six games.
Whitecaps head coach Teitur Thordarson made three changes from the side that faced Carolina at Swangard Stadium on Saturday night. Marco Reda replaced Chris Pozniak at centre back, while Ansu Toure replaced Tyrell Burgess to play on the left-hand side of midfield. In attack, Charles Gbeke initially took the place of Haber to partner Marlon James up front.
RailHawks head coach Martin Rennie, meanwhile, made eight changes to the side that played in Vancouver. The three players to be retained from the weekend trip to the Lower Mainland included defender Jeremy Tolleson and midfielders Amir Lowery and Brad Rusin.
On a very warm midweek evening in Cary, North Carolina, the first half saw chances at both ends, with Carolina edging it in terms of quality opportunities.
It was the RailHawks that had the first chance of the match on three minutes. Joseph Kabwe made a dangerous run down the right flank before finding the impressive Gregory Richardson. The Guyana international then set himself up for a shot along the edge of the Vancouver box, but his effort rolled wide of the near post.
Five minutes later, the Whitecaps suffered an injury blow, as James was forced off with a suspected groin injury. As a result, Haber took the place of the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines international.
The visitors then responded with a good opportunity on 12 minutes. Toure took a pass from Gordon Chin before striking a left-footed shot that forced RailHawks goalkeeper Eric Reed into a fine diving save to give away a Whitecaps corner.
As the match neared the midway point of the half, the Whitecaps were fortunate not to be a man short after Reda pulled down Kabwe near the edge of the visitors' box. The Zimbabwean midfielder had got the better of Reda with his pace after taking a through ball from Richardson on 21 minutes. Though it looked like a professional foul by the Vancouver defender, Reda only received a yellow card for his indiscretion. From the ensuing free kick, Daniel Paladini curled his right-foot set-piece just wide the near post a minute later.
The speed and threat of Richardson in possession was a concern for the Whitecaps, and Reda risked another booking on 33 minutes when he stopped the attacker with a bodycheck of a challenge near the edge of the Whitecaps box.
The early evening heat seemed to have an impact on the pace of play in the first half, with spells of even play unfolding towards the break. Vancouver's Nizar Khalfan and Carolina's Josh Gardner each struck shots on target that came to no harm on 38 and 39 minutes respectively.
Four minutes later, Richardson missed a chance for Carolina when he failed to connect properly with Gardner's cross from the right at the far post. Then in the one minute of time added on, Richardson missed the target with a close-range shot, but the play had been blown down for an offside call to the RailHawks.
As a result, both sides went into halftime tied at 0-0.
The second half saw a strong spell of pressure by Vancouver soon after the restart, with Reed called into action on 50 minutes. The former California Victory and Cleveland City Stars keeper dove well to stop Gbeke's downward header after the Canadian international had connected with Wes Knight's throw-in from the right.
With the match still in the balance, and another tough game to come in Charleston on Thursday, Thordarson introduced Burgess and Mason Trafford to his midfield for Chin and Toure respectively.
What followed were chances at both ends. Rusin forced a simple save from Whitecaps goalkeeper Jay Nolly with his header on 57 minutes, while Khalfan made Reed stretch again to save his low drive at goal two minutes later, with the Tanzania international now playing in his usual position of central midfield. On the hour mark, Richardson could not find the target with a right-footed shot following a RailHawks short corner.
The course of the match then turned on 66 minutes, as the Whitecaps took the lead through a fine individual effort by Haber. From Reda's forward header, the young striker got on the end of Trafford's flicked header before turning Rusin on the edge of Carolina box. With only the onrushing Reed to beat, Haber slotted his finish past the Carolina keeper to give the Blue and White a 1-0 advantage. It was the first goal to be conceded by the RailHawks in 566 consecutive minutes of league action.
The goal prompted Rennie to make some attack-minded substitutions in an effort to get back into the contest, with play starting to open up in the game's latter stages.
As Carolina pressed, the home side left spaces at the back that the Whitecaps tried to expose on the counter-attack. On 74 minutes, substitute Burgess played a give-and-go with Gbeke before making a run and shot that Reed confidently saved. Three minutes later, Whitecaps captain Martin Nash - who battled hard all evening in central midfield - took the full force of RailHawks substitute Brian Plotkin's shot in the face on the edge of the Vancouver box, with the ball deflecting into the arms of Nolly.
With the RailHawks mounting more pressure, they eventually found their way past the Whitecaps rearguard on 87 minutes. Substitutes John Cunliffe and Plotkin played a give-and-go on the left side of the Whitecaps box before Cunliffe found Budnyy facing goal. He skillfully side-stepped Trafford - who was now playing at centre back - before slipping his finish past Nolly to make it 1-1.
The goal brought the WakeMed Soccer Park crowd to life, and with four minutes of time added on to be played, the Whitecaps were now in a position of having to preserve an away point after it looked for so long like they might be on course for victory. Just before the end, Nolly needed to concede a corner following a late header on target.
The final whistle confirmed another draw between these two USL-1 clubs, though the Whitecaps will rue the fact they did not come away from North Carolina with all three points.
The 'Caps will turn their attentions to neighbouring South Carolina and their lone regular season visit to Blackbaud Stadium to face the high-flying Charleston Battery on Thursday night. Carolina, meanwhile, will prepare for a trip to Upstate New York, where they will meet Rochester Rhinos on Saturday evening.
USL First Division Stories from August 18, 2009
- Late Carolina Goal Ties Vancouver - Vancouver Whitecaps
- Impact Take 2-1 Road Win - Montreal Impact
- Cleveland City Stars Drop Back-And-Forth Match With Montreal Impact 2-1 - Cleveland City Stars
- Three Timbers Receive Team Of The Week Honors - Portland Timbers
- Battery set for Whitecaps - Charleston Battery
- Patterson, Tolleson make USL-1 Team of the Week - North Carolina FC
- USL Week 19 pro honors announced - USL-1
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
