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    Michael Mccoll
    The calm before the storm - when 'Caps fans were hopeful

    Would it be a feast or a famine for Sigi Schmid?

    Carl Robinson gets lost in the moment

    Vancouver Whitecaps starting XI

    The other mob

    Early trouble for Vancouver as Chad Barrett latches on to a Clint Dempsey through ball and fires home the opener

    Five minutes gone and 1-0 Seattle amid jubilant scenes from the visitors

    Pedro Morales almost ties it up immediately with a looping effort that it tipped over the bar

    Then Kendall Waston comes close to an equaliser for the 'Caps

    Matias Laba picks up another early yellow card

    More Whitecaps woe as Barrett gets on the end of a perfect Pappa pass

    Firing past Ousted in the 38th minute to make it 2-0 Seattle

    Someone loves X-Box (us if there's any freebies going!)

    With nothing happening in the second half, Darren Mattocks sees what it's like to be Cristian Techera for a bit

    Octavio Rivero seems unlikely to get a penalty call in MLS this season

    Darwin Jones nearly makes it 3-0 for Seattle late on, but Ousted comes up big

    Sadly someone's going home happy

    You can see a Flickr slideshow of all of Tom's photos from the game below:

    Michael Mccoll
    REPORT (by Steve Pandher)
    For the second straight match Vancouver Whitecaps gave up an early goal but this time there would be no comeback as Seattle Sounders held on comfortably for a 2-0 win at B.C. Place. All the scoring came in the first half as Chad Barrett scored a brace while the Sounders defence limited Vancouver’s chances, earning Stefan Frei a cleansheet.
    The opening goal came in the fifth minute. Octavio Rivero's header found its way to Clint Dempsey who sent the ball over the backline allowing Barrett to beat the offside trap, take a touch into the box and finish past David Ousted to the far post to give the visitors the lead.
    Pedro Morales almost responded two minutes later when he got around a couple of defenders and attempted a shot that forced Frei to tip it over the bar. Then it was Kendall Waston’s turn, as his header from a Morales free kick was caught by Frei, denying another chance to even the match.
    Still inside 20 minutes, Kekuta Manneh had a chance from a tight angle with his shot skimming the crossbar and then moments later he set up Morales outside the box, with this attempt missing to the left of the net.
    After being kept quiet for the majority of the half, Octavio Rivero had his first attempt on goal blocked.
    The missed chances would prove to be costly as the 'Caps gave up another goal to Chad Barrett in the 38th minute and it was in a similar fashion to the opener. This time it was Marco Pappa who would provide the service into the left channel of the box and Barrett would take a first time shot to the far post to double Seattle’s lead.
    Within the first five minutes after the break the Whitecaps had a chance to pull one back when Manneh sent in a cross to the far post and found Rivero, but his header was easily caught by Frei. The remainder of the second half saw a number chances by the 'Caps either missed or blocked with the best chance coming from second half sub Darwin Jones for the Sounders late on.
    It was a frustrating game for the Whitecaps, especially for the attackers who were unable to find any space in the final third. Even when they got around the box the Seattle defenders negated chances by closing down quickly and blocking shots.
    Defensively, the Whitecaps backline fell asleep a couple times and allowed the Sounders to capitalise on their few chances in the first half. Both goals saw the Sounder midfielders place the ball in a perfect spot allowing Barrett to make the most of his opportunities.
    With the loss the Whitecaps have dropped from the top of the Western Conference into second, and are now only a point ahead of the Sounders with their rivals having played two less matches. However, before they get a chance to bounce back in MLS action and try to climb back to the top, Vancouver will travel to face FC Edmonton in the second leg of the Voyageurs Cup semi-final on Wednesday, where they'll need to put in a better performance than their last two matches to have any chance of advancing.
    FINAL SCORE: Vancouver Whitecaps 0 - 2 Seattle Sounders
    ATT: 21,000 (sell-out)
    VANCOUVER: David Ousted; Steven Beitashour, Kendall Waston, Pa-Modou Kah, Jordan Harvey; Matías Laba, Russell Teibert (Gershon Koffie 64); Cristian Techera (Darren Mattocks 61), Pedro Morales, Kekuta Manneh (Kianz Froese 76); Octavio Rivero [substitutes not used: Paolo Tornaghi, Nicolás Mezquida, Tim Parker, Robert Earnshaw]
    SEATTLE: Stefan Frei; Tyrone Mears, Brad Evans, Chad Marshall, Dylan Remick; Marco Pappa (Leonardo González 90+2), Osvaldo Alonso, Gonzalo Pineda, Lamar Neagle (Darwin Jones 85); Clint Dempsey, Chad Barrett (Andy Rose 72) [substitutes not used: Troy Perkins, Cristian Roldan, Zach Scott, Michael Azira]
    REACTION:
    VANCOUVER WHITECAPS
    CARL ROBINSON
    On whether who scored first had the game:
    "Yeah I think so. They're a good team. Supporters' Shield winners, we know that, good players. First goals change games. I couldn't fault the group, I really couldn't. The way that we played the first half especially. To go in two-nil down at half time was difficult to take. The first goal was probably going to be the deciding factor."
    On whether the body language of Vancouver's players indicated they'd given up:
    "I don't think that's a very fair assessment. When you're playing a very good team, and they are a very good team, the first goal changes the game. We were able to play through them in the first half. In the second half, when the dynamic of the game has changed, they have the ball, they keep the ball. They've got some very good, experienced players who know how to manage the game and slow it, and they did.
    "When you're chasing, it becomes hard so naturally your body language changes because you're chasing. When you're winning the game, you don't feel you're chasing because you have the ball. When you're not, unfortunately you do."
    On Robert Earnshaw [and why he wasn’t brought on]:
    “Because it wasn’t a case of we had pinned them back. It was a case of the game was still wide open and I think he’s good in and around the box. If I want to put Earnshaw on and the result would’ve finished the same, I’m sure it might have been ‘Well, why didn’t you put Darren on,’ and those decisions you have to make as a manager and a coach. I just felt it was right.”
    On Kendall Waston:
    “The front two players for Seattle are fantastic players, and they’ve got good movement. We planned all week for Clint and [Obi], Obi didn’t play and Chad came in and credit to Chad, that’s two super finishes. The second one was a fantastic finish with his left foot. But, it’s not nice when you concede any goal and we knew that would be the case. They would get the chances down that channel and we worked on it, and unfortunately we didn’t execute it… 15 chances and we were able to score none today.”
    On Seattle’s defending:
    “That’s credit to them. Whenever you lose you get back to basics and we’ll have to do that. They deserved the victory today. Even though we played well.”
    Thoughts on if this game is a step back:
    “I wouldn’t stay a step back, you’ve got to take these on the chin now and again. You’ve got to have disappointment then to have an excitement and elation. Today’s a disappointment for us. Because it is our rivals, but make no doubt about it, we know they’re a good team. Whether they’re second, third, fourth, wherever in the table, they are going to be there or thereabouts at the end of the year. We have to make sure we are. So, we just have to rebound because we’re going to lose games this year. The good teams are able to bounce back.”
    On the three matches lost at home and their performance at home:
    “We’ve lost a game of football today. It’s unfortunate we’ve lost three games at home. We’ve got to make sure we don’t lose at home. And we did today so I’ll take responsibility for that. We need to do better. Myself included.”
    On Russell Teibert being taken off [and was it because of Wednesday’s match]:
    “No. I thought he was dead on his feet. He was playing very well. He was excellent in possession of the ball. I just asked him how much energy he had and he just seemed a little bit tired compared to the levels that he had so it was just Koffie thirty minute fresh legs. That was the only reason.”
    On Cristian Techera being ‘out-muscled’:
    “If you look at the size of him, he’s not going to change overnight. He needs to think with his head and I think he got some great positions today and caused Seattle a lot of problems without the final execution. And that was throughout the team, a lot of the guys got into some good areas and we didn’t execute.”
    On Mauro Rosales’ recovery:
    “It would have been a massive risk to play him. I don’t take massive risks as you know. So he’ll probably be good to go next week. Maybe Wednesday, but we’ll see how he trains on Monday.”
    On Sam Adekugbe’s injury:
    “Sam will be a few weeks. It’s not as originally bad as first feared, which is good. That’s why he has a smile on his face, but he’ll be a few weeks.”
    STEVEN BEITASHOUR
    Thoughts on disappointing loss:
    “Yes, definitely, it’s disappointing especially being at home and against Cascadia rivals. We started off strong but giving that goal just deflated us, deflated the crowd, you could tell. We couldn’t rebound from it.”
    Thoughts on three losses at home:
    “It’s not a trend we want to continue. When we come home, we want to play in front of our crowd. They are so supportive, so loud and they get behind us. We have to give them something to cheer for and that early goal didn’t give them something to get on their feet for.”
    Thoughts on being 2-0 down at halftime and having to fight back from there:
    “Yes, it’s tough. They are a smart team, they are mature, they are old, they have been around the block a few times so they know how to keep the ball and make us chase and tire us out. You’re just chasing empty grass around, chasing the ball and never getting anything on it. We’re down two-nothing and you have to chase. You can’t just sit back. Otherwise, they are going to waste all the time in the world. It’s one of those things, it’s a tough situation to be in. We would like to not go down in the first place so we don’t have to worry about that but sometimes things happen and they get lucky breaks where they get one half-chance and one goal and we’re going to have to do a better job coming back.”
    On Sounders' strengths:
    ”They’ve been there. They are a veteran team. They’ve got good players in every spot from goalkeeper to their forwards. They were Supporters’ Shield winners last season for a reason. They got their squad back. We started off strong. I think we had it but to give up a too easy of a goal is deflating so we can’t do that. We have to be smarter and sharper at home and even on the road. We can’t do that again.”
    On avoiding complacency and continuing to work:
    “We know we’ve got a good team but we want to get to a great team. In order to get there, we have to get the stuff out. So we can’t come in thinking we know this is going to be easy. We know it’s going to be tough. We have to continue to work and improve. We have to see those two goals as perfect examples on not being complacent and letting something like that easy go in.”
    DAVID OUSTED
    Thoughts on the match:
    “It was very disappointing. I thought other than maybe the first 30 minutes, they were the better team. We lacked a little bit of fire and unfortunately they deserved to win today.”
    On what he could have done better on the two Sounders goals:
    “I just saw it again and my first step will always be forward to see if I can get there. In that situation, my decision is that I can’t get there – if I get to him in a 50-50 ball and I have to clip him then I’m off. I looked at it again and I stand by my decision. I’ll go look at it again and see if I can learn something but all in all, it’s a split-second decision and I don’t think I could have done anything differently. The second one, I’m a little bit more inclined to say that on a good day, I get there. He gets in behind and takes it first time. A good volley into the side-netting but I think, looking at my position there, I’m more inclined to say that that’s a save from me on a good day.”
    On lessons learned from Sounders defence:
    “I think we need to put a bit more tempo to it. Like you say, they are a very experienced team and they did really well slowing the game down, keeping the ball and whenever the ball went out, they took their time as they are supposed to do. Whenever we get on the ball, I think we need to try to speed it up. Speedier passes going forward. It’s harder for the guys though I saw they did really well closing them down. Whenever we got in their box they had a lot of people in there around the ball.”
    On defending Chad Barrett:
    “We knew that their two front guys was going to do that. Whether it was Obafemi Martins and Clint Dempsey or Martins and Barrett, we knew that one of them was going in behind. So it wasn’t a surprise. Unfortunately, he got in twice and finished it twice. We’ll take a look at that and become better in those situations.”
    On performance at home so far in the season:
    “I feel like we’re trying to make this our fortress. We’re trying to make this a tough place to play. We haven’t found that consistency at home. We really want to put on a performance and put on a show for the fans. We need to find that balance and we need to look at how we can get better.”
    SEATTLE SOUNDERS
    SIGI SCHMID
    Thoughts on the match:
    “We are pleased. We are pleased with the result. I thought the team played very well tactically. We learned from last week as well and put those lessons into effect. I thought we did a good job of shutting down the balls over the top. I thought we shut down Rivero fairly well and I thought we had Morales in check for most of the game also. We had some timely finishing from Chad.”
    On Chad Barrett:
    “Chad’s a forward, he’s scored goals in this league before. He is part of our team, he is a good player and scored goals for us last year. We talked about it, I said ‘hey here’s your chance, you’ve got to make use of your opportunity, concentrate, focus on the game.’ I tried to keep him in between the two centre backs and look for those little gaps when they popped up and he finished both his chances really well.”
    On Brad Evans:
    “I thought Brad was good. I thought the whole defence was good. Tyrone Mears has been solid on the outside. He’s got a tough day with guarding Manneh and I thought he did a good job with him. Remick did well and Ozzie [Alonso] sitting in that gap in front of them makes us a much more solid team defensively. I know we gave away more shots, but so many of their shots were from distance, they were not very troublesome. It’s good for the stats but they weren’t dangerous.”
    On frustrating Whitecaps on defence:
    “We talked about dropping our line. We talked about establishing our line of confrontation a bit further back. We know they like to get the ball to Morales and stretch the team by having Manneh and Techera run behind the defence. We want to take that space away from them and I thought we did that very well.”
    On Darwin Jones’ first appearance:
    “He did well. We thought at the very end that his speed could present a problem. He had a good opportunity there on goal. If he hits it a little more far post maybe he sneaks it past him. For his first experience, I’m sure he was a bit nervous but we felt it was the right time to bring him in.”
    On whether this was a statement win for Seattle:
    “It’s early in the season but we wanted to let people know that we are still here. We haven’t disappeared. I know Dallas and Vancouver have been on top of the table pretty much from the beginning of the season. But we wanted to let people know the road still goes through Seattle.”
    On Chad Marshall:
    “Chad certainly helped us. He solidifies our backline. His defending is an important part of our team. More than anything we asked Chad to change his game. Chad was never a guy who wanted to play possession. I thought he did a great job at it today. He is getting more and more comfortable. He is a good passer of the ball. Sometimes he doesn’t want it but he is a good passer. Obviously his leadership, his ability to win headers, the one block that he made. I forgot who dribbled across and he came sliding out to block that shot, that was a big play.”
    On getting a clean sheet:
    “It meant a lot. Three out of our back four are new guys. Remick didn’t play that much last year. Tyrone’s a new guy, we shifted Brad Evans position and I think those guys are really starting to gel and understand each other.”
    On Obafemi Martins' injury:
    “We’ll see. We are hoping he will be able to train next week and we will make a decision as we come into the weekend.”
    STEFAN FREI
    Thoughts on the game:
    “Great. This was probably our best performance overall just because we were very efficient and in control offensively and defensively. So at all times our possession was on spot. The way we took care of our chances was clinical. It was a pleasure to watch it from the back and at no point was there panic from any of us and that is against a really good team. They like to go a million miles an hour and they usually have that energy to do that for 90 minutes, but when you see some of their guys being dead tired at the end of the game, that means great possession against a team that usually runs you into the ground.”
    On Barrett scoring two goals:
    “Clinical. Sometimes it might be tough when you’re on the bench and not seeing the field too much. I think we all believe we are one big unit. And we all have to keep working hard in training and make sure we are ready when we are called upon. He took his chances well today and we needed it.”
    BRAD EVANS
    On position change and playing in the back:
    “With that position you kind of look back at games as a learning experience. San Jose was a big one where maybe I got too complacent. Last week I think I got a little too complacent as well. I watched some tape this week. We said there is no pressure on the ball, let’s trap and we absorbed pressure better like that and play out the back. They are all learning experiences and I am trying not to get ahead of myself.”
    On two goals by Barrett:
    “It’s awesome. It’s so important and that’s about building a deep team. As we step into Champions League and Open Cup this year, it is what we need to capture multiple trophies.”
    Michael Crampton
    After all the build-up to Sunday’s home opener versus Houston, including resting players versus Montreal in the cup to keep them fresh, the air was let out of TFC’s balloon during an insipid first 75 minutes last weekend. That seems to have erased memories of the strong finish to TFC’s road trip to start the season. Three wins from seven road matches, even against Eastern weaklings such as Philadelphia, is still a good road record for any MLS team.
    Arguably, Greg Vanney even seems to have found a tactical set-up that suits the players he has available, at least for road games: protect a wobbly defence deep with two deep lines of four, and let the DP’s create offense on their own in the space opponents leave behind their midfield. In away games, where the opponent is expected to carry the game to TFC, it’s a perfectly acceptable tactic, and bore fruit in Philadelphia and Orlando. The style didn’t work at home to Houston, but home games may require a different answer to a different problem.
    It shouldn’t be ignored that TFC’s best result of the season, an away win to start the year in Vancouver, came against a team that has gone from strength-to-strength since. The Whitecaps are looking like a solid MLS playoff team, and maybe even a Supporter’s Shield contender. If Toronto were heading to BC Place this weekend, would many fans be expecting a result? Yet TFC already grabbed three points there on the road this year.
    For their part, New England only managed a draw in their last match in Florida, versus the same Orlando side that TFC beat in the Citrus Bowl two weeks ago. Admittedly, however, the Revs were leading that match 2-0 heading into the final quarter of the game, and a win would have been their fourth on the trot.
    In the likely absence of 2013 MLS Defender of the Year Jose Goncalves, Jermaine Jones’ conversion to an emergency central defender may continue. That switch has worked out for the Revs, but it does limit the influence the American can have on a game. When the Revs were at their best late last season, on the run that swept them to an MLS Cup Final appearance, Jones was dominating matches in central midfield and allowing freedom for the attackers in New England’s set-up.
    For TFC, the line-up question is whether Greg Vanney will hand Mark Bloom his first start of the season at right fullback, or persist with Justin Morrow. Bloom has been injured so far this season, often not even travelling with the team, and fans have been calling for his inclusion since Warren Creavalle’s misadventures in the position began the year. Morrow seems to have stabilized things, and switching him to his natural position of left back would bump the re-emergent Ashtone Morgan to the bench. Vanney may prefer to wait to reintegrate Bloom as opportunity or need allow.
    Fireworks were lit off at the end of Toronto’s match against the Montreal Impact Wednesday night at BMO Field, but it didn’t lift the mood. The Reds had won on the night, but were eliminated from the Canadian Championship due to the away goals tiebreaker. It will be another year without a Voyageur’s Cup, the only real trophy Toronto FC have lifted. That means TFC’s entire season is now about one thing only: finally qualifying for the MLS postseason. With the bottom of the East so awful, a loss in New England wouldn’t seriously damage those chances. Why it should be acceptable is another question.
    Guest
    -Their first home game was on April 16th 2005 at the Rice-Eccles Stadium, a 1-0 win versus the Colorado Rapids.
    -Real Salt Lake have two “claim to fame” moments in their history, their great run through to the Concacaf Champions League Finals in April 2011, losing to Monterrey and their biggest achievement, the 2009 MLS Cup!
    -Their home stadium is the Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City, opened in October 2008 and has a capacity of 20 213.
    -Their head coach is Jeff Cassar, an assistant coach with the club for many years, who took over after Jason Kreis, their most successful coach in history, left the club after the 2013 campaign, becoming the head coach of the New York City FC.
    -In 2014, they finished the regular season 3rd in the Western Conference with a record of 15-8-11, losing to the LA Galaxy in the Conference Semi Finals (2nd Round).
    -They are qualified for the 2015-16 Concacaf Champions League.
    Players to watch for:
    -Goalkeeper Nick Rimando, a perennial candidate at the Goalkeeper of the Year award, Nick has made a habbit of stopping penalties when his team really needs him to do so, also a mainstay in the United States Men’s National Team.
    -Midfielder and Captain Kyle Beckerman, heart and soul of the team, part of the 2009 and 2011 teams that had great success, loves to control the pace in the midfield, will find a way to give service to his striker and if there is an opportunity, he is not afraid to try the goal from 30 yards out!
    -Striker Joao Plata, the former TFC player has really found a system where he can thrive! 17 goals in 55 games with RSL since 2013, what can I say, another former TFCer having a great career in Major League Soccer.
    -Defender Jamison Olave, from 2009-12 Olave was a key piece of the RSL puzzle, after a 2 years with Thierry Henry and the Red Bulls, he is back to his old stomping ground to bring back the glory to the RioT.
    Here is a look at their full roster from earlier this season
    No. Position Player Nation
    1 Goalkeeper Lalo Fernández Mexico
    2 Defender Tony Beltran United States
    3 Defender Phanuel Kavita (HGP) Democratic Republic of the Congo
    4 Defender Jámison Olave Colombia
    5 Midfielder Kyle Beckerman (Captain; DP) United States
    6 Defender Boyd Okwuonu United States
    7 Midfielder Jordan Allen (HGP) United States
    8 Forward Joao Plata (DP) Ecuador
    10 Midfielder Luis Gil (GA) United States
    11 Midfielder Javier Morales Argentina
    12 Defender Elías Vásquez http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ec/Flag_of_Guatemala.svg/23px-Flag_of_Guatemala.svg.png Guatemala
    13 Forward Olmes García http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Flag_of_Colombia.svg/23px-Flag_of_Colombia.svg.png Colombia
    14 Defender Justen Glad (HGP) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a4/Flag_of_the_United_States.svg/23px-Flag_of_the_United_States.svg.png United States
    15 Forward Álvaro Saborío http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f2/Flag_of_Costa_Rica.svg/23px-Flag_of_Costa_Rica.svg.png Costa Rica
    16 Midfielder Pecka http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/05/Flag_of_Brazil.svg/22px-Flag_of_Brazil.svg.png Brazil
    17 Defender Demar Phillips http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Flag_of_Jamaica.svg/23px-Flag_of_Jamaica.svg.png Jamaica
    18 Goalkeeper Nick Rimando http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a4/Flag_of_the_United_States.svg/23px-Flag_of_the_United_States.svg.png United States
    19 Midfielder Luke Mulholland http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/be/Flag_of_England.svg/23px-Flag_of_England.svg.png England
    21 Defender Aaron Maund http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a4/Flag_of_the_United_States.svg/23px-Flag_of_the_United_States.svg.png United States
    23 Forward Sebastián Jaime (DP) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/Flag_of_Argentina.svg/23px-Flag_of_Argentina.svg.png Argentina
    24 Goalkeeper Jeff Attinella http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a4/Flag_of_the_United_States.svg/23px-Flag_of_the_United_States.svg.png United States
    26 Midfielder Adolfo Ovalle (HGP) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a4/Flag_of_the_United_States.svg/23px-Flag_of_the_United_States.svg.png United
    States
    27 Midfielder John Stertzer http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a4/Flag_of_the_United_States.svg/23px-Flag_of_the_United_States.svg.png United States
    28 Defender Chris Schuler http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a4/Flag_of_the_United_States.svg/23px-Flag_of_the_United_States.svg.png United States
    29 Defender Abdoulie Mansally http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/Flag_of_The_Gambia.svg/23px-Flag_of_The_Gambia.svg.png Gambia
    49 Forward Devon Sandoval http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a4/Flag_of_the_United_States.svg/23px-Flag_of_the_United_States.svg.png United States
    50 Midfielder Sebastian Saucedo (HGP) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a4/Flag_of_the_United_States.svg/23px-Flag_of_the_United_States.svg.png United States
    Graphic and Images Sources: Wikipedia
    Michael Mccoll
    [Also check out Tom's website www.residualimagephotography.com for more of his photos and work].

    Oh Canada, Oh Whitecaps

    Vancouver Whitecaps starting XI

    Gershon Koffie's mistake lets in Tomi Ameobi

    Who easily fires home the opener for Edmonton just four minutes in

    Happy days indeed for the Eddies

    Worse is to come for the 'Caps as Sam Adekugbe strains his right ankle

    A tough injury for young Sam. He's been for tests. How long he'll be out is still unknown.

    More bodies hit the floor

    The Whitecaps will have been glad to see the back of that half

    Meanwhile, Sam is already in a boot and on crutches

    The second half starts more brightly as Erik Hurtado has an early chance

    Before wasting an even more golden opportunity in the 66th minute

    The shock of seeing indoor plumbing was too much to take for some Edmonton players

    Just as it was looking bleak for Vancouver, Koffie shows some nice footwork in the box and fires home an 87th minute equalizer

    Can we get our ball back mister?

    As the game enters stoppage time, Robert Earnshaw finds himself clear in the box

    But it's just too tight and angle and the ball ends up in the side netting

    Paolo Tornaghi finally got to get a Whitecaps start. Really pleased for the Italian keeper

    Twas a tough night for Captain Koffie

    Eddies coach Colin Miller knows history is in the making for his side next week

    While Carl Robinson knows his 'Caps have a tough time ahead of them if they are to advance

    You can see a Flickr slideshow of all of Tom's photos from the game below:

    Michael Mccoll
    REPORT (by Steve Pandher):
    For the second straight match Vancouver Whitecaps started slow and this time it cost them as they drew FC Edmonton 1-1 in the first leg of their Voyageurs Cup semi-final.
    While Gershon Koffie’s late goal was able to salvage a tie for the MLS side, it was his mistake in the opening minutes that gave the Eddies the vital away goal from Tomi Ameobi.
    Koffie’s error came in the fourth minute when he was pressured by Ritchie Jones forcing him to turn into Ameobi. The striker took the ball away and walked into the box easily scoring past a helpless Paolo Tornaghi.
    The remainder of the first half saw the visitors sit back and absorb any little pressure the Caps were able to mount. Of the five attempts on goal, none tested the keeper, with three of them getting blocked and two of them missing by a wide margin.
    It took four minutes into the second half for Vancouver to get one on target with Matt Van Oekel gathering a up a shot from Erik Hurtado. The 'Caps striker had another glorious chance in the 66th when Mattocks was able head the ball into Hurtado’s path but his wild first time attempt missed to the right of the goal.
    With 15 minutes to go, Ameobi had a couple of chances to get Edmonton a second away goal but both attempts were sent wide.
    The Caps were finally able to rescue a draw with three minutes to go, as Gershon Koffie made up for his early flub. He took the cross from Jordan Harvey, cut back to his left and poked the ball past Van Oekel for the equaliser.
    In added time, the Caps almost grabbed the lead when second half sub Robert Earnshaw found himself free on the right side of the goal, but there was little room due to the tight angle and he sent the ball into the side netting.
    The Whitecaps will now go up north to take on FC Edmonton in the second leg with the hope to advance to Voyageur Cup final. However before that they will host their Cascadian rivals Seattle Sounders on Saturday at BC Place in a crucial Western Conference matchup.
    FINAL SCORE: Vancouver Whitecaps 1 - 1 FC Edmonton
    ATT: 15,283
    VANCOUVER: Paolo Tornaghi; Ethan Sampson, Tim Parker, Christian Dean, Sam Adekugbe (Jordan Harvey 4); Gershon Koffie, Deybi Flores (Kekuta Manneh 74), Kianz Froese, Nicolas Mezquida (Robert Earnshaw 61), Erik Hurtado; Darren Mattocks [substitutes not used: Marco Carducci, Ben McKendry, Russell Teibert, Caleb Clarke]
    EDMONTON: Matt Van Oekel, Eddie Edward, Mallan Roberts, Kareem Moses, Johann Smith, Sainey Nyassi (Michael Nonni 88), Ritchie Jones, Christian Raudales, Daryl Fordyce (Tomas Granitto 80), Lance Laing, Tomi Ameobi [substitutes not used: John Sits, Allan Zebie, Sadi Jalali, Hanson Boakai, Chad Burt]
    REACTION:
    VANCOUVER WHITECAPS
    CARL ROBINSON
    Thoughts on the match:
    “I’m delighted we got the goal in the end. I thought we deserved it the way we played. There was a lot of good performances, there were others that were okay. I’ve asked them individually to look at it and we’ll look at it collectively but as I said I think we deserved something out of that game.”
    Thoughts on an error leading to the goal:
    “I spoke to my coaches at halftime. I want us to play. I want us to be a team that tries to pass the ball and play and because I want to do that [but] we will make mistakes. I likened it a little bit to Steven Gerrard giving the ball away against Chelsea and they lost the Premier League. Gershon gives the ball away in a cup competition in the first few minutes of the game, they catch us and they score. Would you tell Steven Gerrard to do the things that he shouldn’t do? Nah. So I’m not telling Koffie to do that. I’ll take responsibility for that cause I want them to play. I think we grew into the game and obviously they answered in the end.”
    Thoughts on players being nervous:
    “Yeah maybe. They shouldn’t be but I think for some it was. Got to get used to it. In front of our fans, we play in front of 20,000 every week. We go to Portland, we go to Seattle on the road, so you got to get used to it. We will. We're in the big boy world now."
    Thoughts on players being unfamiliar with each other:
    “Maybe in games they haven’t played enough minutes together, but they train together and I think as the game grew they got stronger and more confident with each other. They played some decent stuff at times. That’s the encouragement I’m going to take away. Even if we have won or lost this game, the tie is not over. We got a game next Wednesday, but a game we will be ready for.”
    Thoughts on injuries affecting next game:
    “Yeah I wanted to come out of the game without any injuries, which is why I rested some of the guys, but obviously that didn’t work. My fault for that one. Sam isn’t looking great if I’m honest. He will be re-assessed by the doctor. He landed awkwardly so I’ll keep my fingers crossed on that one. Deybi Flores – it’s just the bum cheek so that’s not too bad.”
    Thoughts on Jordan playing so many minutes lately:
    “Yeah I’m lucky he is a fit boy aren’t I? I didn’t want to use him today. I wanted him rested but we got him. He was very composed when he came on as I expect form a senior player. He managed the game very well, managed his performance very well as well and set the standard as well.”
    What was said at halftime?
    “I just said to them to be confident. The game panned out exactly as I thought it would. Unfortunately I didn’t think about giving them a goal after two or three minutes. The way they played was exactly how I thought. I thought they slowed the game down. I give Colin credit. His team managed the game very well which is why I said to him at the end in the 46th, 49th minute, in the 55th minutes – your players are going down. It’s not why we pay to watch football. The ball wasn’t in play enough.”
    Thoughts on Paolo’s game:
    “It was quiet for Paolo today. Conceding after a couple of minutes is probably not nice for him, but he was good. “
    Thoughts on playing more senior players in the return leg:
    “Maybe. We’ve got a big game on the weekend which obviously our focus turns to now. We’ll try and win that game against Seattle cause it’s a massive game for the club, it’s a massive game for the group in there. We’ll put this game to bed now and we’ll deal with Saturday and we’ll get back to work on this game on Sunday or Monday."
    ROBERT EARNSHAW
    Thoughts on the match:
    “I think it was a difficult game. I think there’s a lot of things we can work on. I think for at least half the game we struggled to make a difference. We struggled with the competitiveness. I think they wanted the game more than us in the first half and this is crucial because that’s when they got the goal. I think second half we were much better. We slowed the game down ourselves but passed the ball quicker. This was key because once you start moving the ball – the ball is quicker than everybody else on the pitch. So once we start moving the ball, trying to create angles and make space, that’s when we got our spaces.”
    Thoughts on Edmonton slowing down the play in the second half:
    “Credit to them. They tried to be clever. They played the game, they played within the rules and the sportsmanship was obviously difficult but this is the cleverness of the details of football. Sometimes when you can understand the game and see what’s going on, you have to slow it down. They were clever. Credit to them. Obviously they made it difficult for us.”
    Thoughts on his missed scoring opportunity:
    “I think I would probably have taken the touch inside. I think that would have opened the goal up a little bit more. It was a very tight angle and I just tried to hit the roof of the net. I just thought in that split second that going across the goal would have been too tight. The bigger angle was to go high, so I just sliced the ball a little bit. These chances will come and I’m sure if I have another one I’ll put it in. These things happen, but the key thing is we created the chance. I almost got it just before that as well. I’ll take this chance – that’s what we are all about. We are happy that we make the chances.”
    GERSHON KOFFIE
    Thoughts on the match:
    “I think we came out to win this game. Sometimes it doesn’t go your way, but we didn’t lose. We’ll take the positives out of this game.”
    Thoughts on you having to make up for the mistake:
    “Mistakes are part of the game. Mistakes happen here and there. Thanks to my teammates, they helped to fight back.”
    Thoughts on the comeback from a goal down:
    “We ended up 1-1, but we train tomorrow and do our corrections and we train what to do. It’s all about us and what we do next weekend. The focus is on this weekend’s game and then we focus on the next game, which is on Wednesday.”
    Thoughts on younger players being nervous:
    “I think for some of the guys it’s not their first game, but it’s their first game starting. I wouldn’t say there is so much nerves but really the first 15 to 20 minutes they have to be nervous about the game but they are strong, and their mentality is strong to come back.”
    Thoughts on being captain
    “It’s great. The group of boys inside are fantastic guys. To be their leader is something that is blessed. I love to be with them and I love to lead them.”
    FC EDMONTON
    COLIN MILLER
    Thoughts on the match
    “I’ve got to say that I am extremely proud as head coach of FC Edmonton tonight. And on behalf of our owner Tom Fath in the corner there, very proud of the players. You know we have just arrived from New York on Monday late in the afternoon, played in 87 degrees, little bit warmer than it has been in Edmonton as you guys saw last Wednesday. To put an effort in like that tonight I think is fantastic, absolutely fantastic. We wanted to keep the tie tight, score an away goal which we did and I thought for a spell in the first half almost gave the impetus back to the Whitecaps sometimes because we gave the ball away too easy in the wrong areas. That gives the crowd a lift because it gives the Whitecaps a lift. But the heart, the determination, the character was everything the Eddies stand for. I am very proud of everyone in the club and everyone back home is very proud of the team as well. So it’s been a really good evening and as soon as I saw the six minutes go up, I thought bad words because we saw that six minutes go up in Montreal and the same referee gave a penalty, a very dodgy penalty. The guys weathered the storm as you would imagine it is a very very talented Whitecaps group. Whoever plays for the ‘Caps has got real quality and I am sure they are the envy of the MLS with the talent that they have at their disposal. Carl’s done a great job with the group here. So all in all absolutely ecstatic about the attitude, individual performances, there were some fantastic performances. Very proud of our team tonight.”
    Thoughts on upcoming game and if players will be rested:
    “Absolutely no rest at all, what do you think this is a country club? No, we will assess the guys obviously. We get up tomorrow, travel back to Edmonton, more of a recovery day on Friday and then we will assess it on Saturday, if there’s some knocks, some pains or whatever which is understandable. We’ve got a very difficult game on Sunday against San Antonio who won the Soccer Bowl last season. So we will have to regroup, program the thoughts to as much recovery as we can and then get ready for a real battle. We are good at home. We are unbeaten in 11 games at home so we’ve got a lot to look forward too. The incentive is there for the guys to play well on Sunday so it gives everyone a lift because I was so disappointed in giving away four goals. It was the first time in almost three seasons that our club has given away four goals on Sunday. The manner that we gave them was very poor. But we finished a stronger team against the Cosmos. We’ve had a lot of games, a lot of travelling recently and it doesn’t get any easier. As an ex-professional myself I wanted to play in games rather than train so for some it’s been great but for the guys doing the running out there it’s not been fun.”
    Thoughts on Whitecaps losing two players and if that changes things tactically:
    “No, not at all, because as I have said earlier it is what the Eddies do. It’s what we do and we play well at home. We play very well at home and we play dangerous, we’ve got real good pace. It doesn’t matter. We won’t change. We haven’t changed for any team that has come into Edmonton. The same culture, the same desire and passion that’s a demand of every training session with our team and anything below that would be disappointing. We know we will have to be at our very best again on Wednesday and it’s a very talented Vancouver Whitecaps team. Regardless who puts on a Whitecaps jersey has quality. Once again we will have to be on our best and hope the Whitecaps have an off day. I’m not under any illusions, not getting carried away. It was a solid away performance in the cup against a very talented team with lots of pace. I thought we more than matched them with the passion and the desire and the way we organized the team.”
    Thoughts on goalkeeper Matt Van Oekel:
    “Yeah, he was poor on Sunday and I told him. It’s not anything he hasn’t heard before. I gave him the belt on Monday when we arrived in Vancouver because it was disappointing by his standards. But tonight he has answered the bell and that’s why we brought him to the club, to put in performances like that. He made two very good saves to keep us in the tie. In all honesty the guys were heavy legged at that point. Rob Earnshaw broke through against Kareem Moses. I worked with Earnie when I was at Derby County in the English Premier League so he’s normally deadly from there so thank goodness he managed to miss the chance. But big Matt was excellent. He came up big when he needed to and that’s what he is paid for. He’s paid to make those saves at that time.”
    TOMI AMEOBI
    Thoughts on the draw:
    “I think we probably deserved to get a little more out of the game. They were pushing in the second half, and obviously going down to 10 men kind of killed us a bit. They managed to get the goal when we had our man off.”
    Eddies performance after Sunday’s loss at New York Cosmos:
    “I think with our work ethic and the attitude, the boys put in a great shift tonight. We just need to make sure we do that game in and game out, not just when big games like this arise.”
    What they expect in the second leg next week:
    “They’ll be coming out all guns blazing, I’m guessing. But we know that we ourselves are not just going to sit back and try and hold on. We know how strong we are at home, especially in the second half.”
    "We’re definitely going to go and try and get a goal or two to try and kill the tie off. But we’re going to have to be ready because it will be a very strong Whitecaps team coming next Wednesday.”
    James Grossi
    Cyle Larin
    Larin made his fifth-straight start for Orlando City in their come-from-behind 2-2 draw against New England on Friday night – adding in his two substitute appearances, Larin now has seven on the season.
    Leading the line for the Lions by his lonesome, Larin was constantly on the move, but not particularly involved in the build-up – attempting just eleven passes and completing only seven.
    The same could be said of the entire Orlando side, who fell behind 0-2 through seventy minutes, and could easily have trailed by more. But something clicked as Charlie Davies doubled the Revolution lead in the 71st minute and four minutes later, the Brampton, Ontario-native would draw one back for the home side.
    Moments before scoring, Larin nearly got on the end of a left-sided Brek Shea cross, getting in front of his marker at the near-post, but unable to stretch and get the required touch. When Rafael Ramos collected a ball on the right and shaped a wonderful cross to the edge of the six-yard box, Larin made no mistake, guiding his header to the left of Bobby Shuttleworth, having gotten goal-side on Jermaine Jones in the 75th minute – it was Larin's second goal of the season.
    He would make way shortly thereafter, in the 81st minute, for Bryan Rochez, just as the Lions were coming to life. It would fall to Aurelien Collin to grab the equalizer in the final minute of regulation with a header of his own.
    Aside from kick-starting the comeback, Larin had a numerically sparse night: his goal came from his only shot; passing was virtually non-existent; he was off-side on one occasion, and he suffered a single foul, one that saw Jones booked for his lunging challenge in the centre-circle.
    It can be tempting to desire a forward who gets himself more involved in the passage of play – which is not to say that Larin does not contribute on the opposite side of the ball – but pure strikers, those who constantly probe the opponent's back-line for weakness, seldom rack up the passing or defensive statistics. With Kaka playing behind him, Larin's role is not to get on the ball, but to do the running and make himself an option, something he has increasingly excellent at in his short time in MLS.
    Post-match, Larin reflected on his goal and the first few months of professional soccer: “I think I have learned a lot in recent weeks. I just waited for my chance and Rafa put in the right ball at the right time. I have been working hard in training to be ready for that moment, and I was very pleased to convert it tonight.”
    Kofi Opare
    Opare started his sixth-consecutive match for DC United as they drew 1-1 against Sporting KC on Saturday night – it was his seventh appearance of the season since coming on in the fifth minute against LA for the injured Steve Birnbaum. Birnbaum is now fit enough for the bench, but Opare's form is keeping him out of the starting lineup.
    Paired with Bobby Boswell as the left-sided centre-back, Opare again made his presence know, spending the entire match in a running-wrestling contest against the pesky Dom Dwyer, who is a constant menace.
    In an excellent physical battle throughout the match, Opare got the better of Dwyer, out-muscling him for position on one play in particular. But Dwyer would find his revenge in the 45th minute, catching Opare a touch flat-footed seconds away from half-time, peeling off the defender to meet a low Roger Espinoza ball at the near-post to level the match at ones three minutes after Jairo Arrieta had put the hosts in front.
    The Niagara Falls, Ontario-raised defender exhibited his excellent reading of the game, stepping up to easily intercept a defense-splitting ball bound for Jacob Peterson that would have carved open DC – one of two interceptions on the night - going on to pad his stat-line with seven recoveries, five clearances, and a pair of tackles, conceding just a single foul, despite the physical encounter.
    And his passing has definitely improved in recent weeks, completing all but six of some forty attempts.
    Opare would shake off a slight knock after an aerial collision with Erik Palmer-Brown to nearly get on the end of a potential game-winner, only for KC keeper, Tim Melia, to pluck the cross off his head before the needed contact could be made. Opare will score some goals this season – foreshadowing next week's review.
    Earlier in the month, Opare was interviewed by CSN's own Daniel Squizzato, on a range of topics, but most crucially on his efforts to represent Canada at the international level.
    Tesho Akindele
    Still riding the pine, Akindele would have to wait until half-time to enter the fray against Los Angeles on Saturday night – making his fourth-straight appearance from the bench. Dallas would fall behind on the hour, only to mount a rousing comeback in the final fifteen minutes of the match to win 1-2.
    Taking up the left-sided attacking midfield role from Ryan Hollingshead, Akindele showed his usual willingness, rampaging forward and tracking back, covering lots of ground, eager to demonstrate what he is capable of contributing.
    With LA's stamina fading, Dallas would begin their push with a glorious chance, or possibly two, to respond coming Akindele's way in the 73rd minute. The first look came when Fabian Castillo whistled a low cross through the area from the right, but it was just beyond the reach of the forward. Blas Perez would collect on the left, squaring a set-up Akindele's way, but he was unable to turn on the attempt, sending his snatched left-footer rocketing high and wide into the night sky.
    Perez would equalize four minutes later in the 77th minute and the Calgary-born Akindele would make amends for his earlier miss(es) when next an opportunity presented itself.
    In the 86th minute, Akindele, on the left, collected a raking cross-field ball from Mauro Diaz. Finding himself one-on-one against Dan Gargan, who kindly backed off, Akindele settled the ball and made a slight inside-move onto his right-foot before looping a dipping shot to the far, side-netting, beating Jaime Penedo to put his side in the driver's seat with the lead – it was his third goal of the season; the first in five matches, stretching back to the beginning of April (the fourth, to be exact).
    With two shots – one on (the goal) and one off (the miss), four recoveries, an interception, and two offside flags, while completing 18 of his 24 passes, the second-year forward made the most of his 45-plus minutes in the pitch. Whether he did enough to fight back into a competitive Dallas starting lineup remains to be seen.
    Post-match, Akindele was asked about 'coming out of the sophomore slump': “I guess… It’s the media’s job to write about the things that are happening and I had not scored in a while but it’s my job to stay focused and score goals. Everybody is doing their job.”
    Before moving on to discuss his goal: “
    It was a fast break for us. They were playing a bit cautious – probably trying to delay until help could arrive.
    We work on that in training every day. People only see the one in the game, but I did that 200 times this week. That is what comes of it.
    It was an amazing feeling. Mauro [Diaz] had the ball on the opposite side of the field. Everyone was concentrating on him. I just tried to stay open. I know he can pick people out on a pass. When I received the pass, I had a one-on-one in the box, which is always a good situation to be in for a forward.”
    Akindele also discussed those perceived 'struggles' prior to the match with MLSsoccer.com.
    Jonathan Osorio
    Osorio was on the bench for Toronto FC in their 1-2 loss to Houston on Sunday, coming on in the 58th minute for Robbie Findley with the Dynamo already leading 0-2 – it was his seventh appearance of the season; his second from the bench.
    Taking up the left-sided midfield position, Osorio was lively, more so than he had been in any of his previous appearances, linking up well with Sebastian Giovinco immediately.
    The Toronto, Ontario-native would nearly set up Michael Bradley, picking out his teammate with a chipped ball from the left – Bradley would hammer the volley over the target. But it was his cross in the 77th minute that proved most substantial.
    Advancing towards Raul Rodriguez on the left, Osorio backed off the defender before cutting in-field to send in a cross that picked out Jozy Altidore at the back-post, sneaking in-between DaMarcus Beasley and Jermaine Taylor to head in a consolation goal – it was Osorio's first assist and first point of the season.
    Having completed sixteen of his twenty passes, Osorio added four recoveries, and won a single foul, signaling in his 32 minutes that perhaps he was ready to be reinserted into the starting lineup.
    His post-match interview can be seen here.
    Russell Teibert
    Teibert started a fourth-straight match for Vancouver as they strolled to a 3-0 win over the struggling Philadelphia Union on Saturday night – it was his eighth start and ninth appearance of the season.
    Continuing he deep-lying defensive role, alongside Matias Laba in front of the back-four, Teibert was largely responsible for keeping track of the Union's most troublesome attacker, Cristian Maidana, which he did with aplomb.
    The Niagara Falls, Ontario-native has been very good this season, there is no denying his value to the club, but it has been difficult to pick out specific moments that exhibit his worth.
    With Vancouver largely playing on the counter, utilizing their intense speed, Teibert rarely ventures over the midway line; his most influential passages involve collecting loose balls, picking off passes, and providing much-needed defensive cover, whenever potential trouble looms.
    Teibert is often the first line of defense, confronting the ball-carrier as soon as he crosses into the Vancouver half, and it is his knack for spotting impending doom that is most useful – though hardly highlight-reel stuff.
    Consider this one play from Saturday. Ray Gaddis, Philadelphia's left-back, beats Kekuta Manneh to get into a good crossing position, but Teibert, having recognized the frailty of the situation, had already made his way into the area, and was thus on hand to block the cross at the source, preventing Gaddis from sending the ball into the area. That is valuable play, and should be recognized as such, but is not the sort of contribution that grabs the headlines.
    That said, his passing was again excellent, completing all but five of some 45-plus attempts, while racking up five recoveries, three clearances, and an interception, conceding a pair of fouls in the process.
    Karl Ouimette
    Ouimette made his second appearance of the season for the New York Red Bulls, coming on in the 38th minute for Mike Grella, sacrificed after Matt Miazga picked up a pair of bookings inside the first 36 minutes to be dismissed from the inaugural New York derby between the Red Bulls and City on Sunday evening.
    Eight days after making his season debut, Ouimette was thrust into an electric encounter, though with City's lack of attacking success, he was rarely tested.
    The Terrebonne, Quebec-native did very well positionally, not giving the opponent a foot of space, and was on the receiving end of a talking-to after wrestling with Andrew Jacobson prior to an attacking free-kick.
    His most notable play of the match was a timely intervention on Kwadwo Poku, blocking off the forward's run and clearing any potential danger with a strong boot.
    A measure of how feeble the expansion side's attack was can be seen in Ouimette's numbers, required to make just five clearances, two interceptions, a pair of tackles, and a recovery.
    Of some concern, he completed just one of his four pass attempts; all long, hopeful punts up-field.
    After a somewhat shaky outing against New England last weekend, Ouimette showed, as he helped see out a 2-1 win over in-town rivals with a calm performance, that with Miazga set to join the US U20 side in this summer's World Cup, which begins at the end of this month, he is ready to step into that starting position if called upon.
    Ashtone Morgan
    Morgan was in the starting eleven for a sixth-straight match on Sunday as TFC fell to Houston – all seven of Morgan's appearances have come in the last seven matches, starting the last six after coming on against Columbus following Justin Morrow's red card.
    From his left-back position, Morgan did well to track a bursting Ricardo Clark run down the right-side of the box – Clark would wrongly be awarded a corner kick after his attempted cross found the side-netting.
    The Toronto, Ontario-native was more than willing to get forward, racing onto a slipped Altidore ball down the left to pop in a cross that came to nothing.
    Morgan would end the match having completed 27 of 43 passes, adding four recoveries, three clearances, two tackles, and an interception. That pass completion ratio is not great, but Morgan was constantly looking to spring Giovinco into space, so they are perhaps understandable.
    His post-match interview can be seen here.
    Kyle Bekker
    Bekker made his fourth appearance of the season for FC Dallas in their come-from-behind victory over Los Angeles on Saturday night – it was his first game-time in over a month.
    Coming on for Kelyn Acosta in the 60th minute, Bekker took up the deep-lying central midfield position, pairing up with Victor Ulloa in front of the Dallas back-line.
    The Oakville, Ontario-native would complete all but two of his 21 passes, while making two recoveries and an interception, but failed to really get involved in the Dallas comeback to a significant degree.
    There was one cringe-worthy play, as Bekker was easily by-passed by Gyazi Zardes in midfield, his pace, or more correctly lack thereof, proving a liability against an explosive attacker.
    Bekker has been in tough to find minutes in a competitive Dallas midfield, should he hope to win more playing time, he will have to do better to impress and earn that spot.
    The Rest
    Patrice Bernier, Wandrille Lefevre, and Maxim Tissot were all unused substitutes for Montreal in their 1-2 loss to Portland on Saturday night.
    Sam Adekugbe was on the bench for Vancouver on Saturday against Philadelphia.
    And Quillan Roberts backed-up Chris Konopka for Toronto FC on Sunday.
    Each week James takes a look at the contributions of Canadians in the league. He can be followed on twitter @grawsee and more of his writing is available at Partially Obstructed View
    Michael Crampton
    The reference I have seen is that Calgary police are encouraging reporters to contact them and report incidents of FHRITP, and that they have "a legal opinion" that the behaviour could fall under the scope of s. 175(1)(a) of the Criminal Code of Canada. Note: that's an opinion. Until an appellate court rules on this, setting a precedent that binds lower courts in its jurisdiction, it's just opinion. The police, and even Crown attorneys, don't get to define what behaviour is criminal in Canada. Frankly, I'd be shocked if the first person charged for this behaviour couldn't go all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada if they're properly funded and have good representation.
    The actus reus of s. 175(1)(a) has two elements: (i) engaging in the enumerated behaviour; and (ii) causing a disturbance in or near a public place. R v Lohnes, [1992] 1 SCR 167, 10 CR (4th) 125, seems to be the controlling authority and states that the disturbance "is something more than mere emotional upset. There must be an externally manifested disturbance of the public peace, in the sense of interference with the ordinary and customary use of the premises by the public." I would suggest that is intended to be read as a fairly high threshold, and most of the reported cases seem to result in acquittals on the basis that the behaviour did not cause a disturbance.
    That's not to say that people aren't convicted of s. 175(1)(a) offences. I can't know, but I'm sure many accused do plead guilty when there is incontrovertible evidence that their behaviour did cause "an externally manifested disturbance" such as a scuffle, fight, riot, or damage to someone else’s property. The legal opinion referenced by the Calgary police likely relies on Lohnes’ acknowledgement that “the interference with the ordinary and customary conduct in or near the public place may consist in something as small as being distracted from one's work.” It’s easy to see how FHRITP could be slotted into this characterization. On the other hand, a threshold as low as momentary distraction opens the potential scope of s. 175(1)(a) substantially and it’s important to note the qualifier “may” in the Court’s decision.
    Secondly, there are without doubt Charter concerns that would arise in the sort of prosecution under s. 175(1)(a) that is apparently being contemplated by some Canadian police forces. To the best of what I can see, there is virtually no appellate court case law applying the Charter to prosecutions under s. 175(1)(a). A lower court, however, gave fairly broad protection to the accused in R v Stewart, [2000] WWR 395 (MBPC). There it was held that "abusive comments shouted at police (or anyone else) do not in themselves constitute the offence of cause disturbance" [sic]. The arrest of the accused, for engaging in enumerated behaviour the police believed to be a violation of s. 175(1)(a), was found to be unlawful because a reasonable person would not have believed it was creating a disturbance. The fact that this decision was not appealed suggests that the Crown, at least in Manitoba at that time, did not feel they had a strong enough argument to make it worth pursuing, or it was not in the public interest to do so.
    For those who seem to misunderstand: freedom of expression is protected in Canada by s. 2(b ) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Like most modern rights protecting documents, however, the Charter allows the government to justify infringements of the protected right if it can establish that the limit is reasonable, “prescribed by law”, and “can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.” In Stewart, in the absence of an offence, even police instruction to stop singing an offensive song was found to be an unjustified interference with accused’s rights under s. 2(b ). That said, due to the pervasiveness of the FHRITP problem, I would hesitate to state that the limit on expression could not be justified by the Crown under s. 1 of the Charter if the Crown is successful in showing that it caused a disturbance. Until a case is litigated all the way to the Supreme Court, a process which would take years, we can’t really know.
    There is a certain unfortunate irony to this state of the law. Were a reporter, or a bystander, to physically confront an individual after the reporter had been subjected to FHRITP, the reporter, or bystander, may be uttering a threat or committing an assault, but that would be a disturbance and likely open the person who engaged in the FHRITP to criminal prosecution under s. 175(1)(a). In a sense, FHRITP might only become criminal conduct once it actually creates the problem s. 175(1)(a) is designed to prevent.
    Finally, to be clear, sexual harassment is not a crime in Canada unless the conduct falls under some other offence in the Code. Use of the phrase “sexual harassment” in a criminal context confuses potential legal remedies that are available through civil actions, or complaints to the relevant human rights or labour tribunal. Neither of these avenues results in a criminal prosecution, conviction, or record for the defendant. Criminal harassment is an offence in Canada, defined in s. 264 of the Code, but the behaviour it criminalizes is closer to what we would call “stalking” in ordinary speech. Further, the prohibited conduct criminalized in that section, specifically listed in subsection (2), is only criminal if it causes the complainant to reasonably fear for their safety or the safety of anyone known to them. It would be a reach to attempt to extend the ambit of that section to the FHRITP problem.
    The broader question that needs to be asked is whether FHRITP is the sort of problem that is best addressed by the criminal law. Our society has slipped into a mode where very often our first response to antisocial behaviour is to think of ways we can criminalize it. As extra-legal mechanisms of social control such as family, church, or community have seemed to weaken there is a presumption that the only way to regulate behaviour is through the use of criminal law. Sometimes the result of this attitude is even flipped, by people trying to rationalize or defend antisocial behaviour, who suggest that if something isn’t a crime it’s improper for others to consider it wrongful.
    But police investigation, criminal prosecution, and supervision by corrections are expensive and time-consuming processes that engage important legal rights designed to protect the accused from illegitimate abuses of state power. As broader swathes of behaviour become regulated by criminal law the system becomes overloaded and incentives increase to cut corners on those rights or draft and interpret laws in ways that make prosecution easier. The result is a situation where, due to the breadth of behaviour captured, massive portions of the population are committing “crimes” all the time, but selective prosecution is used to decide who is labelled criminal. Rather than legislatures and courts deciding who is sanctioned, we hand that power to police and prosecutors.
    Consider the interpretation of s. 175(1)(a) that the Calgary policy are evidently proposing. If accepted, any person who (i) by fighting, screaming, shouting, swearing, singing or using insulting or obscene language, (ii) by being drunk, or (iii) by impeding or molesting other persons, causes momentary distraction to someone working in a public place, would now be committing a crime. Yell something that causes a window cleaner to turn his head, even if it’s not vulgar, and you’ve committed a crime. Sing a song that distracts a hot dog vendor and you’ve committed a crime. Block the path of a courier walking on the sidewalk while you conduct a television interview and you’ve committed a crime. Obviously not all of those examples would ever result in charges or prosecution. But ask yourself, who will be prosecuted? If all the behaviour meets the legal definition of the crime, why are some people excused? And should it be the police and prosecutors who get to make that decision? That is why appellate courts have been so careful to not allow an expansive definition of what constitutes a disturbance.
    On the other hand, instead of being ineffective, compare the criminal approach with how fast extra-legal approaches to antisocial behaviour have been able to act. As the video went viral the perpetrator and the men interviewed were quickly publically shamed. Toronto FC announced that they would attempt to identify the individuals and that they would be banned from BMO Field. Allegedly, one of them has already been fired from his job. All of that without the involvement of the police, Crown attorneys, or the court system.
    Now, any of those responses may result in different legal processes being engaged, such as civil defamation proceedings, a Charter challenge to MLSE’s right to ban someone, for otherwise legal expressive behaviour, from a municipally owned facility they operate, or a complaint to a labour tribunal, but in each case the onus is now on the individuals affected. They’ve already been sanctioned, and would have to use non-criminal legal processes if they feel they have a legitimate interest in seeking redress. And there’s no certainty that they’d be successful in any of those venues. Rather than not working, alternative methods of social control were faster, less expensive, and arguably more meaningful than a protracted criminal prosecution. A prosecution which would likely result in a fairly negligible punishment, if any, for a first summary offence conviction. Again, considering all of this, is FHRITP a problem best dealt with by the criminal law?
    And TFC plays a game against the Impact tonight. After two straight losses, and a deflating home opener, I hope they win.
    Guest
    Until next time, have a great soccer!
    @24thminute
    @KevLaramee
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    Guest
    Yes they did beat TFC in a home and away series, but it never was done with a statement victory on enemy territory. Montreal is going into Wednesday night’s game with a 1-0 advantage , thanks to a 1-0 win at Stade Saputo last Wednesday.
    Is a one goal advantage enough against a team that will have a star filled lineup? Can the Impact, who are struggling really badly in league play but garnered great results in home and away series lately (CCL), hold the home side to a clean sheet? Can IMFC get that valuable away goal and get that statement win that can re-spark your team?
    I believe so yes, so yes to all of the above. Call me an optimist, call me crazy, but I do feel the now famous Concacaf run of the Impact and all the experiences of playing in games with no tomorrows will be beneficial for the Bleu-Blanc-Noir. The style of play that is and was the most successful in the last couple of months is obviously the counter attack style, having an advantage, a slight one but an advantage still, heading into the second leg does give IMFC an opportunity to go back to the style that saw them make their way in the Concacaf Champions League and can give a player like Dom Oduro a very good chance to get open and free on that counter.
    Of course Montreal has to possess the ball more then against Club America, but the onus of play is definitely on Toronto FC, being behind on aggregate and also struggling in league play. You can expect TFC’s biggest star to play on Wednesday, even if they are pretty quiet about it, the Voyageur’s Cup but especially the CCL is on Toronto’s radar, like Collin Warner was telling me after the first leg.
    It is not going to be easy, Montreal will have to absorb a lot of pressure, they will have to contain players like Altidore and Giovinco but especially Michael Bradley. If Bradley is allowed to dictate the pace of play in the midfield like last week, it will be a long night for the Impact.
    Montreal lost to Portland 2-1 Saturday, Toronto lost to Houston 1-0 on Sunday, so both team are coming off losses.
    Toronto is 5th in the Eastern Conference with 9 points after 8 games played for a ppg of 1.13.
    Montreal is 10th and last in the Eastern Conference with 2 points after 5 games played for a ppg of 0.4.
    This will be the 22nd edition of the 401 Derby, Montreal’s record in the derby; 5 wins, 10 losses and 6 draws with 19 goals for and 29 goals against.
    Here is the results of all the 401 Derby games in history:
    graphic source: Wikipedia
    Competition Date Home team Result Away team Attendance Recap
    2008 Canadian Championship May 27, 2008 Montreal 0–1 Toronto 12,083 July 22, 2008 Toronto 1–1 Montreal 19,872
    2009 Canadian Championship May 13, 2009 Toronto 1–0 Montreal 19,811 June 18, 2009 Montreal 1–6 Toronto 11,561
    2010 Canadian Championship April 28, 2010 Toronto 2–0 Montreal 21,436 May 12, 2010 Montreal 0–1 Toronto 10,737
    Major League Soccer April 7, 2012 Montreal 2–1 Toronto 23,120 [2]
    2012 Canadian Championship May 2, 2012 Montreal 0–0 Toronto 13,405 [3] May 9, 2012 Toronto 2–0 Montreal 15,016 [4] Major League Soccer June 27, 2012 Montreal 0–3 Toronto 14,412 [5] October 20, 2012 Toronto 0–0 Montreal 16,151 [6] March 16, 2013 Montreal 2–1 Toronto 37,896 [7]
    2013 Canadian Championship April 24, 2013 Toronto 2–0 Montreal 11,043 [8] May 1, 2013 Montreal 6–0 Toronto 14,931 [9] Major League Soccer July 3, 2013 Toronto 3–3 Montreal 21,700 [10] October 26, 2013 Toronto 1–0 Montreal 13,211 [11]
    2014 Canadian Championship May 28, 2014 Toronto 1–1 Montreal 18,269 [12] June 4, 2014 Montreal 1–0 Toronto 13,423 [13] Major League Soccer August 2, 2014 Montreal 0–2 Toronto 16,655 [14] October 18, 2014 Toronto 1–1 Montreal 15,242 [15]
    2015 Canadian Championship May 6, 2015 Montreal 1–0 Toronto 12,518 [16] May 13, 2015 Toronto Montreal Major League Soccer June 24, 2015 Toronto Montreal August 29, 2015 Toronto Montreal October 25, 2015 Montreal Toronto
    Michael Crampton
    Three games is the most that Toronto FC has ever won consecutively in MLS action. It first happened back in the spring of 2008 under John Carver, and then again in the early weeks of short Paul Mariner’s tenure in 2012. No other TFC coaches have managed the feat, and the team has never won four league games in a row.
    Suffice to say, winning has been too rare in Toronto. Even this streak will come with an asterisk if the Reds were to manage to get to four straight victories, as the midweek loss to the Montreal Impact in the Canadian Championship has already interrupted the sequence of wins in all competitions.
    The bottom half of the Eastern Conference is proving to be as weak as pundits expected in pre-season. In addition to equaling the winning streak record, points in the home opener would also keep TFC pushing away from the struggling sides lurking below them and onto the heels of the respectable portion of the East’s standings. The difference might be marginal, but if the Reds can stay in the mix with the upper-half a playoff position will take care of itself. Until Toronto finally succeeds in crossing that threshold, the doubts created by years of failure create extra pressure the club would do well to avoid. With 17 home games amongst their remaining 27 league matches, Toronto FC has a chance to be a feel good story through the summer if they can simply avoid the sort of extended summer slide that derailed seasons in the team’s early years.
    Standing in the way of the TFC Sunday is the Houston Dynamo. Newly re-installed in the Western Conference, after four years in the East, the even bigger change is the appointment of a new head coach. Former Burnley, Bolton Wanderers, and Wigan Athletic manager Owen Coyle has replaced the only coach the Dynamo ever had, Dominic Kinnear, for the 2015 season.
    At one point Coyle was known for producing entertaining sides on limited budgets but his record in the past few years has been, at best, unspectacular. The Dynamo’s selection raised eyebrows around the league as it bucks the trend of prioritizing MLS knowledge when hiring new coaches. The list of failed foreign managers in MLS is long, but probably overstated due to the spectacular flameouts of coaches like Ruud Gullit, Aron Winter, Carlos de los Cobos, and John Carver. The truth is that there have been many mediocre North American coaches in the league’s history, and foreigners like Hans Backe, Gary Smith and even arguably Marco Schallibaum all achieved different degrees of success in difficult environments. Houston will be hoping that Coyle is more like the latter than the former.
    So far, however, results have been mixed, and trending towards disappointing. The Dynamo have one more point than TFC, but sit one place off bottom in the Western Conference. With a win, the Reds would move ahead of Houston in the combined Supporter’s Shield standings and knock the Dynamo’s points-per-game ratio below one. A PPG that poor would keep a side well out of the playoff race historically. Even with more spots open as a consequence of expanding the playoffs to 12 teams, the Dynamo will not be relevant under Coyle unless that number improves substantially.
    Winless in their last four, the Dynamo will hope that TFC’s long road trip to start the season has left the Reds vulnerable. For Toronto, opening the rebuilt BMO Field with a win, however, would be an important step to convincing justifiably sceptical fans that the club has finally assembled a team that can compete over the course of an entire season. Three game winning streaks shouldn’t be very special. For Toronto FC, each step towards a playoff spot would be.
    Guest
    A wounded animal is a metaphor commonly use when referring to struggling teams, but Philadelphia Union arriving to BC Place presents an opportunity more akin to a pesky bug needing to be squashed than an adversary making a fight or flight decision.
    The Union enter the game on Saturday with only a single win on the season at home, a game in which to win they needed to score a goal off a player’s ass. More recently they were thumped by Columbus 4-1, and then lost at home to the not-so-mighty TFC.
    Couple that with the fact that internal strife appears to grow within the club, as they’ve given their World Cup keeper Rais M’Bolhi an extended vacation away from the team, have a catalogue of injuries including their number 2 and 3 keepers, meaning they will be starting ex-Whitecap third stringer Brian Sylvestre.
    A home match to Philadelphia is not a game the Whitecaps should win. It’s a game they must dominate.
    Following that, the Whitecaps have the Voyageur’s Cup Semi-Final matches home and away with FC Edmonton (barring further wild weather in the Canadian Championship) to pad the stats and to try and get the good feelings going, with a massive tilt with Western Conference favourites Seattle playing middle log in a FC Edmonton bonfire.
    While a home derby match with Seattle is hardly a game you can ever handicap, the Whitecaps have played well against the leagues ugliest kits in recent times, Vancouver’s typical strong defence in the middle of the park and quick and accurate counter-attacks is a very good method to dull the rave green.
    Follow that up with a game in Colorado against another poor Rapids squad (despite historical struggles in Commerce City) and then a home game against a RSL squad that has already given 3 points to Vancouver, and the pathway is laid for a May which could vault the Whitecaps into a position that would make the lengthy road trip in June due to the Women’s World Cup seem far less desperate.
    The table is set and the only thing that is needed is a little momentum.
    Octavio Rivero has been everything you would hope for, but you get the feeling that there are more goals available for the newcomer. Meanwhile, Pedro Morales has been the subject of criticism for continuing struggles on the road and a less than overwhelming stat line, but despite his occasionally lacklustre play he has still been contributing and is usually good for a couple moments of brilliance able to swing results in the Whitecaps favour.
    Hopefully assisting Pedro will be the emergence of a secondary creative threat. Mauro Rosales appears to be regaining his feet after the early season ankle injury, Kekuta Manneh has been his usual electric-then-invisible self, Nicolas Mezquida has started to settle in but has yet to show he can dictate the flow of a game, and recent addition Cristian Techera has yet to get enough game time to show if he can be the wide creator the Whitecaps have been looking for.
    It may prove to be a critical stretch for the Whitecaps’ season. Should they plod through the month picking up plucky points and fail to gain confidence, June could be a long month which could see the Whitecaps stray towards the bottom end of the playoff line.
    However, there’s plenty of fuel for a real hot stretch, and if some of the Whitecaps attacking players can show some impetus, perhaps it will be the spark for a really scorching year.
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