Whitecaps Home Opener Friday Night
Published on May 2, 2002 under U.S. Soccer Federation D-2 (USSF D-2)
Vancouver Whitecaps News Release
VANCOUVER (Thursday, May 2, 2002) - The Vancouver Whitecaps will open their 16th season of play Friday night, when they host Western Conference rivals the Minnesota Thunder at Burnaby's Swangard Stadium starting at 7:30 p.m.
Vancouver, the 2001 regular season Western Conference Champions, will face Minnesota who were Western Conference Champions in 2000 and A-League Champions in 1999. The Thunder were also losing A-League finalists in 1998 and 2000.
Friday's festivities at Swangard will include a Tribute to Scotland, featuring Scottish country dancers, bagpipes, and Scottish rock duo The Proclaimers who will perform their new version of "White is the Colour" at half-time. Tickets for the game are available from Ticketmaster at 604-280-4400.
The Thunder are looking to get off to a better start to the 2002 season than they did last year, when they lost nine of their first eleven games. Minnesota finished out of the playoffs last season with a 9W-15L-2T record, a bewilderingly bad year for a team that was basically unchanged from the previous years in which it dominated. They have played one game so far this season, a 0-0 tie away to the El Paso Patriots, and play Saturday in Calgary in the home-opener of the Storm.
Minnesota eliminated Vancouver from the 2000 A-League conference semi-finals, running up a 4-0 home win to reverse an earlier 3-0 Vancouver win in the two-game total-goals series. Minnesota leads the all-time series 5-4, dating back to 1997, though Vancover is 3-1 against them at Swangard.
The Thunder have a multi-national attack, lead by Liberian international John Menyongar who is joined by talented Brazilian forward Thiago Martins, formerly with San Diego, and Turkish striker Zafer Kilickan. Kilickan however will not be on the road trip while he awaits his international release.
The Whitecaps go into Friday's encounter with a 2-2 preseason record and are looking to win their first home-opener since 1998. Most of Vancouver's 20-man roster should be healthy by Friday, with striker Niall Thompson (hamstring) the most notable player not expected to play. Vancouver had a 16W-8L-2T record last season, and advanced to the A-League semi-finals before being eliminated by the Hershey Wildcats.
SIX A-LEAGUE GAMES ON FOX SPORTS WORLD CANADA
Fox Sports World Canada announced today that they will broadcast six A-League games, including the Championship Final and Vancouver's August 2nd home game against the Toronto Lynx. Check local listings for broadcast times.
Friday May 3 Toronto Lynx at Atlanta Silverbacks
Friday July 5 Cincinnati Riverhawks at Toronto Lynx
Friday July 12 Calgary Storm at Seattle Sounders
Friday July 26 Montreal Impact at Rochester Raging Rhinos
Friday August 2 Toronto Lynx at Vancouver Whitecaps
Saturday September 28 A-League Championship
U.S. Soccer Federation D-2 Stories from May 2, 2002
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- Whitecaps Home Opener Friday Night - Vancouver Whitecaps
- Chris Craveiro and Rob Hall signed - Vancouver Whitecaps
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