Vancouver Whitecaps opened their preseason with a 4-1 win over New England Revolution in Casa Grande, Arizona on Tuesday. Leading the way for the Whitecaps was last season's leading scorer Darren Mattocks who scored a quick hat-trick, with Kenny Miller scoring the other one from a penalty.
The majority of the action came in the first 15 minutes when four of the five goals in the match were scored. It only took Mattocks 65 seconds to collect a pass from Kekuta Manneh and give the Caps the opening goal. Within five minutes it was a brace for Mattocks, who was sent in this time by Camilo, to give Vancouver a two goal lead.
The Revolution responded after Brad Rusin was called for a foul in the box and the subsequent penalty was converted by Chris Tierney. The Caps re-established their two goal lead in the 15th minute when Mattocks headed home a Rochat free kick.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]The second half saw a different team start for the Caps and it was not as explosive, with the only goal coming from Kenny Miller who converted a penalty that was earned by Corey Hertzog.
There were a couple of decent chances for each team but neither could add to the final 4-1 scoreline.
With this being the first preseason game there were very few expectations for the Whitecaps, so three goals in the first 15 minutes by Mattocks was a pleasant surprise. While it is still early, it is clear the addition of pace to the attacking ranks has made a difference to the way the Whitecaps will seek their goals.
<i>"I think it was a very good start to the game for us,"</i> Whitecaps FC head coach Martin Rennie told whitecapsfc.com. <i>"We got three good goals at the start of the match, and we looked dangerous going forward. There’s definitely a lot to work on, and things that were a bit frustrating, but for the start of the preseason, it was very good overall."</i>
The game saw 24 players take to the pitch for the Whitecaps, with Rennie wanting to see as many players as possible, especially the trialists.
It will interesting to see how many of these players will be there when the Caps take on the Houston Dynamo on Saturday in their second match of the preseason.
Let us know what you thought of the Caps performance below. In the meantime, here's the highlights of the match:
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