Whitecaps fall, 2-0
Published on May 24, 2008 under USL First Division (USL-1)
Vancouver Whitecaps News Release
Vancouver Whitecaps men suffered their second defeat of the season after falling 2-0 to Pacific Northwest rivals Seattle Sounders on Friday evening.
Early goals by Seattle's Josh Gardner and Sebastien Le Toux effectively ended this latest Interstate 5 derby at Swangard Stadium, as the Whitecaps looked far from their best in their opening Cascadia Cup game of 2008.
With a trip to Portland to face the Timbers on Saturday, Vancouver will hope to get Friday's defeat out of their system as soon as possible with an improved display at PGE Park.
Whitecaps head coach Teitur Thordarson made one change to the side that earned a goalless draw at Montreal Impact on Victoria Day Monday. Nicholas Addlery returned from his sending off at Miami FC Blues a week ago to partner Eduardo Sebrango in attack, with Vicente Arze making way for the Jamaican forward. Tony Donatelli took over the right side of midfield position for the Bolivian winger.
Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer also made one change from the side that started last Sunday's 4-2 home win over Atlanta Silverbacks. Midfielder John Fishbaugher replaced Youssouf Kante in the Washington State club's starting XI.
Despite a pleasant evening for soccer at Swangard, 5,146 Whitecaps fans were suddenly left in shock, as Seattle blitzed their hosts with two quick and decisive goals in the opening exchanges.
It took just three minutes for the Sounders to break the deadlock, as Gardner got on the end of a Le Toux through ball before hitting a fine first-time shot past a diving Srdjan Djekanovic to give the defending USL-1 champions the lead.
It was a unexpected opening for Thordarson's side, though Addlery tried to respond a minute later with a quick strike at the Sounders goal, but Seattle goalkeeper Chris Eylander was able to make a simple save.
The disappointment of being a goal behind turned to sheer horror for the home side, as Seattle extended their lead through last season's USL-1 Player of the Year in Le Toux on seven minutes. The Frenchman - who recently became the very first player to be signed by the new Major League Soccer franchise Seattle Sounders FC - got on the end of a Fishbaugher forward ball before racing clear towards the Whitecaps goal. Djekanovic came out to close down the Seattle goalscorer, but the striker easily slipped a right-foot shot past the Vancouver keeper for a 2-0 lead.
Whitecaps centre back Omar Jarun underlined the disappointment of his team's start. "The first few minutes were an absolute disaster from us defensively," he told whitecapsfc.com. "We came out flat, and that's disappointing because everything we put into this game in terms of preparation went to waste. It's hard to keep the team's head up after something like that. But tomorrow is another day, and hopefully we can put this defeat out of the way in Portland. Like Seattle, they are another good team, and if do not come out ready to play, it will be another nightmare."
Seattle's two goals left the atmosphere quite subdued at Swangard, and Zach Scott could have compounded the misery on 12 minutes, but his far-post header from Leighton O'Brien's cross flew wide of the Whitecaps goal. Addlery, meanwhile, tried his best to bring the Whitecaps back into the game on 16 minutes, but the forward's long-range effort from Sebrango's knockdown flew well wide of the target.
The real story of the first half was Vancouver's woes in dealing with the Sounders front two of Le Toux and Rogers Levesque. Both strikers were unsettling the Whitecaps backline with quick and incisive runs. On two occasions, both hit-men were just offside to through balls played into them.
Schmetzer was naturally delighted with the way his side claimed an important away victory in Vancouver. "I think we played well," he said. "When you get a couple of early goals, you are in control of the game. With both goals, we were able to dictate the pace of the game."
On 22 minutes, the Seattle strikers nearly unlocked the Whitecaps defence for a third time, as Le Toux timed his run to perfection to reach Levesque's through ball. The Frenchman put in a dangerous cross from the left that inadvertently struck Whitecaps left fullback Diaz Kambere in front of Djekanovic's goal, but the Vancouver number one was there to make the save.
The two-goal lead gave the Sounders the chance to take command of the contest and deal with Vancouver's direct attacking approach, as the home side struggled to create any real worthwhile goalscoring opportunities. On 37 minutes, Addlery saw a near-post header fly wide of Eylander's goal from Alfredo Valente's cross from the left before the former DC United striker was booked two minutes later.
The half ended with jeers from the home crowd, and the Whitecaps needing to improve from the first-half display they had offered.
The trend of the contest continued seven minutes the break, as Fishbaugher nearly earned another assist in the game when he took a fine cross-field pass before racing in on the Whitecaps goal and slipping a low cross to the outstretched Levesque. Unfortunately for the visitors, the Seattle striker was unable to connect with the ball in front of goal.
A spate of substitutions then ensued, with Arze, Justin Moose, and Jason Jordan all replacing Valente, Donatelli, and Addlery, as Vancouver tried to bring some spark to what had been a below-par Whitecaps performance.
There was also a Vancouver debut for new signing Chris Pozniak, as he replaced centre back Omar Jarun on the hour mark. "Give credit to Seattle tonight," Pozniak said of the defeat. "They were the better team over the 90 minutes. They are so well organized, and I tried to speed up the play when I came in, but it didn't work. With the game tomorrow night, it might better for us mentally to get another crack at playing and show that we are better than the performance tonight."
The home side tried to find a way back into the game, with Arze shooting well over Eylander's crossbar on 62 minutes before Sebrango went closer with a near-post header from Martin Nash's corner on the right on 66 minutes.
With the game entering the latter stages, a restless Whitecaps crowd got frustrated with a couple of Seattle injuries that held up play before opportunities were had at both ends. Gardner curled a free kick wide for the visitors before Arze made a fine move and shot from the edge of the Seattle box that brought a confident save from Eylander.
As the match entered the five minutes of time added on, a deflected shot from Pozniak was the extent of Vancouver's efforts to pull a goal back before the final whistle, as Seattle ran out comfortable winners in the end.
90 FULL MINUTES
Thordarson admits things did not go according to plan for his side. "The beginning of the game was disappointing," he said to reporters. "We wanted to try to press them, but we didn't manage to do that. Our back four was pushed a bit high and they were able to get in behind us as a result. That's what really hurt us. The longer the game went on, the more we came back into it, but we didn't create the chances we wanted, so there's not much more to say."
The Whitecaps will have little time to ponder Friday's defeat, as Thordarson's side will head south to Oregon for Saturday's first league meeting with Portland Timbers. Seattle, meanwhile, are away to Carolina RailHawks in their next USL-1 contest on Wednesday.
Scoring summaries:
3' 0-1 - Josh Gardner (Sebastien Le Toux)
Gardner started and finished the play, winning the ball in midfield before eventually playing it ahead to Roger Levesque, who back-heeled it to Le Toux before slipping it square for Gardner on his left. He fired a left-footer into the bottom right corner.
7' 0-2 - Sebastien Le Toux (John Fishbaugher)
Seattle broke out quickly after a Vancouver corner kick, with Le Toux playing it to Josh Gardner, who fired it ahead to Fishbaugher. He redirected it to Le Toux, who had continued his run up the left. With no offside decision, the striker broke in on goal and slipped it between the legs of Whitecaps goalkeeper Srdjan Djekanovic.
USL First Division Stories from May 24, 2008
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- Minnesota holds on to early lead and defeats Miami 3-1 - Fort Lauderdale Strikers
- Battery beats Atlanta to extend win-streak to five - Charleston Battery
- RailHawks Tie Rhinos 1-1 - North Carolina FC
- Carolina RailHawks tie Carolina Dynamo 1-1 - North Carolina FC
- Whitecaps call up forward Orgill - Vancouver Whitecaps
- Whitecaps fall, 2-0 - Vancouver Whitecaps
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