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    Michael Mccoll
    Now no-one at the Whitecaps really wants to look that far ahead, at least publically. It's understandable. Call it jinxing things, call it taking it one game at a time and not wanting to be left eating crow. It's just the mentality that coaches and players always have.
    That's been the mantra the past month, where it was five cup finals, then four, then ultimately one. The Caps ended that spell with four shiny trophies and a replay!
    But it's hard not to look ahead at what could come after Dallas. A very winnable tie against Seattle, then you're just two games away from an actual Cup final. Carl Robinson's truly believes it's anyone's championship for the taking right now and there's no reason why the Whitecaps shouldn't be the ones to lift the trophy come December. He's fully aware of just what it would mean to the club to get past Dallas to kick everything off.
    "[There's a] fantastic mentality in that group of players that I've got," Robinson told reporters at Vancouver airport on Monday before flying down on a charter flight to Dallas. "A great camaraderie, spirit. It's the fun part now. It's a totally different season. Everyone's got a chance to win the MLS Cup and we're one of ten teams that has. We'll look forward to it but we know that it's hard work ahead, but it's a challenge that we'll go and meet full on.
    "Getting to the playoffs is good, but we don't stop there. We go ahead now and if we can get over this hurdle, and it's a very, very tough hurdle, what a game we've got. A battle against our rivals."
    The prospect of a playoff game against Seattle hangs heavily on the horizon. Seattle v Portland last season was an epic encounter that got Cascadia buzzing. The Caps want their part of that and for Jordan Harvey, it would be the ultimate playoff experience.
    "That's about as big as it gets for me," Harvey told AFTN on Monday. "Having a semi-final against your rival that's a bus ride away, I think that would huge. A freeway series! I grew up watching those in baseball with the Anaheim Angels and Dodgers. It would be fun."
    Andy O'Brien agrees with Harvey but still doesn't want to look too far ahead until the job in hand in Texas is taken care of.
    "The club has been crying out for a playoff game at home," O'Brien admitted. "There's a potential to create that on Sunday should we get through, but we've got to respect Dallas."
    "We've had the experience of being in the playoffs before, in LA. It's a game that we're looking forward to. I think we go there in more confident mood than we did do two years ago in a same position."
    The Caps have built some tasty feuds, possibly a better word than rivalries, with teams like Dallas and Real Salt Lake this season. While that may make for an entertaining battle, on and off the pitch, there's still nothing bigger and better for Caps' fans, players and pundits alike than to stick it to a Cascadian rival, and especially the self absorbed Seattle Sounders.
    Russell Teibert has been at the Caps long enough to experience epic playoff battles with Portland in the D2 days, but a MLS clash with Seattle would be on a much more immense scale. For him, being in the playoffs should see every player raise his game though, no matter whether it's a Cascadian or Conference rival they're facing.
    "We're talking about rivalries, we're talking about rivalries with Dallas," Teibert told reporters. "What a rivalry Seattle is, but we can't look that far ahead right now. We've got to take care of business down in Dallas.
    "It's a battle. You can see that every time we play each other it's a real battle. We know it's going to be a fight but these are the games you play for. These are the games you really get up for and if you can't get up for these, then you can't get up for any."
    Squizz
    This is to take nothing away from what was a solid performance against the reigning world champions on Tuesday night, especially given the absence of stalwart midfielder Diana Matheson (whose status will have a massive impact on Canada's hopes next summer). If not for a heartbreaking last-second defensive lapse, Big Red would have escaped B.C. place with a draw, after a dramatic stoppage-time equalizer from Sophie Schmidt.
    But here's the thing about tournaments -- what's "fair" doesn't come into the equation. At the end of the day, if you get the results, you move on. If you don't, you don't. Was Canada's 1-0 victory over France in the Olympic bronze-medal game two years ago a "fair" result, based on the run of play? Not at all. But at the end of the day, our ladies are the ones who can wear the medals.
    On Tuesday night, Herdman adjusted his tactics to accommodate the absence of Matheson. That, combined with the return of Desiree Scott to the starting lineup, made Canada a much more competitive side than they were in Saturday's 3-0 loss.
    What was also on display was Herdman's ongoing aptitude at identifying the right talent for his side -- Allysha Chapman effectively slid into Herdman's system, and while she's not necessarily a replacement for Lauren Sesselmann, the last seven days should make us feel a bit less terrified about the prospect of Sesselmann not recovering from her knee injury in time for the tournament.
    Jessie Fleming, the 16-year-old, demonstrated why Herdman -- and many others in the country -- have faith in her, future as a midfield spark plug with on-field vision that would be the envy of players twice her age. Speaking of which, it's distinctly possible that some day down the road, we'll look back at Fleming's career intersecting with Christine Sinclair's in the same way we consider Mario Lemieux's stint as a teammate of a young Sidney Crosby.
    And speaking of repaid faith, it's worth noting that Kadeisha Buchanan, who wasn't even in the CanWNT picture during that Olympic run, is already an unquestioned rock on the back line and well on her way to not only being a Canadian fan favourite, but a potential future captain of the team. Yes, she made a mistake on Japan's second goal, but find me one top-level player who's never made a howler of a play in their careers and I'll forward you a million dollars.
    Melissa Tancredi appears to be back to full fitness after being largely absent from the national team since London 2012, which is an encouraging sign given that she almost single-handedly bulldozed Canada through the group stage at that Olympic tourney.
    Tancredi, remember, had the tournament of a lifetime in London, which was one of the many stars that aligned in getting Canada to the podium. Sinclair, as has become Canadian lore, was at the peak of her powers. Jonelle Filigno cracked a perpetual-highlight-reel goal to solidify the team's quarter-final victory against the hosts. Throw in solid goalkeeping, bend-but-don't-break defence and a healthy helping of good fortune, and Canada found its way to that feel-good story.
    Let me be clear -- anyone making predictions right now about Canada's finish at next summer's World Cup, in either a positive or negative manner, is being foolish. Without knowing who Canada will match up with in the group stage (and who they'd potentially meet in the knockout rounds), predicting where they'll end up is less than pointless.
    Heck, even knowing who they'll play and evaluating their recent form isn't always instructive -- the team had high hopes after a hot run heading into the 2011 WWC, and finished dead last. Based on that, few would have given them a prayer of hitting the London podium a year later, yet there they are.
    As it stands right now, depth is a serious issue (when isn't it?), but if the group of players Herdman has at his disposal are healthy and willing to buy in, literally anything is possible for this team at the next Women's World Cup.
    This team could make the final, as Herdman keeps saying. This team could also fail to get out of the group stage. We just don't know. That includes you. You don't know.
    That's a testament both to the rapid growth of the global women's game, and a nod to the aforementioned capricious (and often cruel) nature of tournament play. After all, Team A might beat Team B 99 times out of 100, but if that 100th time happens to come during the knockout round of a big competition, that changes everything.
    Based on the four big friendlies this year, it is conceivable that Canada could defeat the USA, Germany or Japan. But also based on those games, it is clear that those three teams aren't ranked top of the world for nothing. At times, they appear to be operating on a completely different plane than the Canadian team does.
    Here is one pronouncement I am prepared to make at this point, though -- whatever happens at next summer's World Cup, locking up Herdman was the right move. No matter what happens at WWC2015, Herdman must remain the head coach of the women's national team.
    Sure, much of the support for him comes from the fact that he's an eminently likeable guy -- though as we've seen before in this country, cults of personality can be profoundly dangerous. But it's not just about his public persona (though that has its own role in growing the game here). As mentioned, his player evaluation has been spot-on thus far. He clearly has the buy-in and support of the team. And it's clear from the two years' worth of evidence we have that he seemingly always has a plan -- be it for a specific game or for the bigger picture as it relates to the integration of the different levels of the program.
    The generation that stepped onto the podium in London was full of remarkable talents. But by the time Herdman's contract is done, nearly none of those players will remain. Another unavoidable reality is that there exists a void between that golden generation and the next generation, the one that will be the backbone of Canada's squad at the 2019 Women's World Cup.
    Herdman's job is to bridge that gap, to integrate a new generation of players as the likes of Sinclair, Tancredi, Matheson, Wilkinson, Moscato, Sesselmann, McLeod, LeBlanc and others drift away from the national-team scene. We already have an idea of some names that may step into those roles. But there is much work yet to be done. Herdman must be permitted to see his plan through to completion.
    The 2015 Women's World Cup will be promoted in this country as a triumphant moment, the pinnacle for the women's program, a chance to build upon the London Games and ascend to the top of the mountain right here at home. This is what will sell tickets. This is what will fill youngsters' minds with dreams, and fill the players' hearts with motivation.
    In fact, the 2015 tournament is almost a transitional one. We'll see the London heroes with a celebratory last hurrah in their own backyards, and a number of youngsters will get the opportunity of a lifetime. This doesn't mean the team will bow out meekly; indeed, as has been said already, Canada is a good team and has the potential to make an impactful showing.
    Can Canada, right now, properly be considered in the same stratosphere as the Americans, Germans and Japanese on a consistent, month-by-month basis? The last few months have given us an answer -- no, they can't.
    Can Canada, some day, climb its way into that discussion as one of the world's top teams? That answer remains unclear -- and while next summer's World Cup will provide some key insight, it will not give a definitive answer one way or another.
    If, however, one day down the road, other nations start bringing Canada into their backyard to help them prepare for an upcoming World Cup, to see how they stack up against a team like ours -- that will be the clearest sign of all.
    Guest
    Part of his successes on defence comes due to the form of the 10 players around him. Andy O’Brien has quietly assembled a strong season. Matias Laba has started to receive league wide recognition as one of the league’s premier defensive midfielders. Harvey, Beitashour, Koffie, and Teibert have all shown consistency, and Ousted has silenced critics with his excellent command of the box.
    But his teammates cannot be credited for some of the unbelievable statistics Kendall has racked up, including a legendary Cascadia Cup winning performance in Seattle in which he had 4 interceptions, 6 tackles, 3 blocks, and a stunning 18 clearances. As of October 16th, Waston was dominating the league in clearances per 90 minutes at 12.31, nearly 4 clearances per game more than the second highest. And of course, Waston has scored two goals for the club.
    The goals have been no fluke either. At every corner, every free kick, everyone’s eyes are on Waston. Fans, teammates, and even opponents know he’s the target. But it’s one thing to know it’s coming, and it’s another to contain the motivated man mountain. Waston’s runs are good, even clever. His physical ability even better. But what makes Waston so deadly on set pieces is his absolute hunger, an ultimate lust to be the first to the ball. Kendall shows a complete disregard for his (or anyone else’s) well-being, and he almost appears to have unwavering faith that he will be the first to it, and he expects to put it on frame.
    No more evident was his set piece prowess than in the 70th minute in the do-or-die season finale on Saturday. After a bursting run down the left by a lively Kekuta Manneh, Pedro Morales whipped the ensuing corner just inside the six yard box. Kendall Waston was probably the fourth most likely player to get to the ball. Yet, over the top of not one, but two Colorado defenders, and over a fully sprung Hurtado came the flying Tico’s torpedo header. It was a goal that will be etched into fans minds for years as it vaulted the Whitecaps into the playoffs in dramatic fashion.
    If his defensive performances haven’t already won you over, his timely playoff clinching goal surely did.
    Yet defensive performances and epic goals aside, there is still another massive part to Kendall Waston, a part that hasn’t been spoken of much.
    Kendall Waston has quickly become the emotional leader for the Whitecaps.
    It’s something Carl Robinson has talked about at length: that he wants not just talent, but also good people. He makes a point of conducting character references on targeted players. It’s something that’s often overlooked. Take Toronto FC, for example. They have an embarrassing abundance of talent, yet they finished the year a fair way below the red line, and they never looked like a group of people playing the same game. The Whitecaps, however, have started to really come together, and it’s showing in the results column.
    And suddenly, Kendall Waston is at the middle of it. Without question, Pedro Morales will remain the captain. His gaudy game changing ability and amazing experience allows him to really decide the pace and direction of the game. Mauro Rosales has become a leader for the attackers, and has quietly shown some of the younger players how to play and act like a professional. And Russell Teibert has been the young Canadian leader, the flag bearer for the future of the club and a never ending generator of effort.
    Kendall Waston is different. He’s not yet the wise old soul who knows where and when to push the pedal. He’s not the crafty and cantankerous defender who easily balances on the thin edge of authorities’ attention.
    What he is, though, is a naturally charismatic and endearing figure. He’s relentless, positive, and just a little bit brash. He’s easy for fans to love, and even easier for opponents to hate. He’s quickly shown a knack for being able to jack up the intensity when becoming stale is the easier route. He’s made his share of mistakes, but they have yet to cost the Whitecaps in any measurable way. His mistakes don’t cause strife in the squad, but rather cause the squad to dig deeper to straighten out the course. He never appears willing to break, or even fade. He reacts to goals and wins as if he was born in blue and white. And when he does score, and when they do win, players run to Waston, and he becomes a focal point for the direction of the squad.
    It’s only been ten games, less than a third of a season, but Waston has quickly become the player who lifts the players (sometimes literally) around him.
    Winning an away playoff game in Frisco, on short rest, after such an emotional win against a very good FC Dallas team will be no small task. But with the control and intelligence of Morales, the wisdom and guile of Rosales, and now the unabashed heart and desire of Kendall Waston, it’s become hard to bet against the boys in blue and white. And should they be able to pull of something magical, there will no doubt be plenty more moments of players piling on the mighty Waston when the final whistle blows.
    James Grossi
    Issey Nakajima-Farran
    Nakajima-Farran returned to the Montreal starting lineup in their 1-1 draw against DC on Saturday – it was his fifth start and thirteenth appearance for the Impact and his first start since picking up a red card back on July 24 against Salt Lake.
    From the left-side of the midfield attacking three, Issey was incredibly active, getting up and down that side, swapping flanks with Andres Romero, and generally forcing the match forward. But first a painting he crafted for retiring teammate Marco Di Vaio, entitled ‘Taking Off the Tape’ was presented to the Italian veteran prior to kickoff.
    It took barely more than a minute for Nakajima-Farran’s first foray forward, getting on the end of a Calum Mallace ball to the near-post, sending his header over the bar. In the thirteenth minute, Issey would size up a right-footed shot from the left-corner of the box, only for his effort to skim the top of the bar at the far-side – the second of his three attempts at goal (the third would be blocked, squirreling out for a corner kick).
    Come the 26th minute, it was an interception by the Calgary, Alberta-native that helped bring about the opening goal,
    , directing his header forward for Di Vaio. Bobby Boswell would cut it out, but Dilly Duka recovered and played the striker down the left for a clinical finish.He completed over two-thirds of his passes, pretty good considering how he was trying to spring attacks against a solid DC defense. One such example was this neat little ball to find Duka, who in turn sprung Di Vaio, drawing a save out of Bill Hamid.
    Another measure of how active he was in searching out the ball was his nine recoveries; Issey also collected two interceptions, an indication of his willingness to get back and defend.
    Nakajima-Farran was
    , trying to cover both Eddie Johnson and Fabian Espindola on a short corner kick, losing out on a last-ditch lunge, allowing Espindola to walk in a hit a low drive that beat Evan Bush.Adding his totals for both Montreal and Toronto, Issey made seven starts and eighteen appearances in his first season in MLS, racking up two goals – both for TFC – a yellow card and a red one to match.
    Doneil Henry
    Henry made a second-straight start for Toronto FC in their 1-0 loss in New England on Saturday – it was his nineteenth start and 21st appearance of the season.
    Alongside Steven Caldwell in the centre of the defense, playing as the left-sided of the duo, Henry was again impressive, if caught out on one or two occasions.
    But he made headlines midweek when it was revealed that he had been sold to a Cypriot club in a deal involving Kia Joorabchian and played the 2014 season on loan in Toronto – a rather bizarre turn of fate. There is apparently a possibility that he will still be with TFC, on loan, next season, though developments – and their timely revelation – could potentially happen at any moment.
    Back to the match – Henry was on the ball a lot in Toronto’s more controlled 4-3-3 system, completing a majority of his mass of passes, though his ability to play long balls out of the back was again lacking – they accounted for a majority of his incompletes – though he did pick out Gilberto on one occasion, the ball eventually being put out for an attacking throw-in.
    The Brampton, Ontario-native was again a force at the back, collecting six clearances, five interceptions, five recoveries, and tackle on the night, while making one big stepping-block to cut out a troublesome run by Charlie Davies, whom he and Caldwell kept under tight wraps all match, but Henry was caught out by a ball over the top from Lee Nguyen for Kelyn Rowe, who mercifully chipped his attempt over the bar.
    Henry was also guilty of not playing to the whistle,
    rather than closing down Nguyen, who scored the game’s only goal.He would end his fifth season in Toronto with one goal and eight yellow cards. Undoubted the most successful academy product the club has produced thus far, if Henry leaves, he will do so with seventy league appearances for the club, 55 of which came as starts, having scored two goals and collected three assists.
    Patrice Bernier
    Bernier maintained his starting position for a second-consecutive match in Montreal’s draw on Saturday – it was his twentieth start and 26th appearance of the season.
    Stationed at the base of the midfield, alongside Calum Mallace, Bernier was again impressive on the ball and solid in preventing DC from operating in those troublesome areas in from of the back-line. The Brossard, Quebec-native misplaced ten of his forty-odd passes and proved particularly adept at swinging the ball into those wide positions, regularly picking out Krzysztof Krol on the left to spur attacks up that side, including one play when he made a neat back-heel to the full-back before getting leveled by Lewis Neal.
    Bernier was involved in the wars, making a good interception on one play, only to get flattened by Eddie Johnson in pursuit; a foul call was not forthcoming – though on four other occasions he did win fouls. The Montreal captain, who passed the armband to Marco Di Vaio on his special day, added thirteen recoveries, three tackles, two interceptions, and a pair of clearances to his tally.
    He was one of several Impact players to give Di Vaio a solid hug as he left the pitch for the final time in his storied career.
    Post-match, he spoke of the legendary Italian’s time with the club, commenting: “Marco brought us to another level in this league and was always a leader amongst us. It was an honor to play with him and to have my name side by side with his in the Montreal Impact`s history.”
    Remarking, “Even though he played at a higher level before, he never came here with a bad attitude. He was always happy and professional with everyone he met. He has a passion that he transcends on to everyone. We want him to stay, but all we can do now is appreciate his time spent with us and salute his successful passage here in Montreal.”
    Bernier is one of several Montreal players whose contract will be up at the end of the season, but there is little doubt he will re-sign, despite his production dropping off this season with no goals and just three assists, having averaged six and four over his first two seasons in the league.
    Russell Teibert
    Teibert started a twelfth-consecutive match for Vancouver as they saw their push to the playoffs come to fruition with a late 1-0 win over Colorado on Saturday – it was the 22nd start and 29th appearance of the season for the player.
    Stationed at the base of the Whitecaps midfield alongside Matias Laba, Teibert was heavily involved in the build out of the back, while helping to keep Colorado from putting any serious dents in those post-season aspirations.
    His passing was again solid, if unspectacular, completing all but seven attempts, but again he was unable to force the play forward – not really his role, anyways – four of those incomplete passes came in the attacking half.
    But with Vancouver in need of a goal, the Niagara Falls, Ontario-native was replaced by Kekuta Manneh in the 56th minute.
    Like Bernier, his offensive production stagnated this season, failing to score a single goal and collecting just two assists after his breakout 2013, where he scored twice and racked up nine assists, likely in part to his newfound defensive role with the club under the tutelage of Carl Robinson, himself a tenacious defensive-minded midfielder.
    Kyle Bekker
    Bekker returned to the TFC starting lineup in their loss at New England on Saturday – it was his thirteenth start and twentieth appearance of the season.
    Greg Vanney opted to try something a little different in Toronto’s final match, taking to the field in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, depending on how one looks at it, with Bekker playing that central attacking midfield role. In recent weeks, Bekker has been playing more advanced than he has in previous outings, granted the attacking license to get forward and press high, rather than tracking deep into his own third – to mixed results.
    The most obvious measure of his advanced position was that he had three shots – two on goal and one blocked – considering he only had fifteen all season that is a marked increase, though none of his efforts caused Bobby Shuttleworth much trouble.
    His first, spreading a quick ball wide out to Dominic Oduro on the right before making a surging run into the box to receive a return pass, was nice, but he sent his tight-angled effort straight at the keeper rather than spotting the back-side run of Gilberto, who may have been in a better position.
    The Oakville, Ontario-native’s passing was clinical, missing just nine of over forty attempts, but he was not able to either get on the ball or do much with it in the final third – New England is not the sort of opponent to give opposition a lot of time on the ball, especially with Scott Caldwell and Jermaine Jones both on the pitch.
    Bekker was able to contribute defensively, making four recoveries and two interceptions – not bad considering how ball-hungry the Revolution are – and he made one key clearance, blocking a sneaky Lee Nguyen ball into the goalmouth. His clearance caught Michael Bradley in the face before trickling out for a corner.
    He ends his sophomore season in MLS with new marks for starts and appearances, but has yet to register a single point; though he did pick up his first booking. No doubt a disappointment, but there is plenty of room for growth and there has been some progression from season one to two, albeit less than many had hoped for.
    Karl Ouimette
    Ouimette made his first appearance in six weeks, coming in for Montreal season-ending draw with DC on Saturday – it was his ninth start and eleventh appearance of the season.
    A part of a young four-man back-line that featured three Canadians, Ouimette, paired with Wandrille Lefevre in the centre, took up the right-sided slot and helped to keep a potent DC attack under wraps for the majority of the match.
    Defensively the Terrebonne, Quebec-native accumulated some impressive numbers, collecting eight clearances, seven recoveries, four tackles, and three interceptions, once vitally arriving to clear a dangerous DC passage with a thumping clearance.
    Both he and Lefevre were caught out on one occasion, both stepping up to pressure Eddie Johnson, allowing him to slip Fabian Espindola in behind, but the attack fizzled out.
    Wandrille Lefèvre
    Lefevre returned to the starting lineup after a four-match absence in Montreal draw against DC United on Saturday – it was the thirteenth start and fifteenth appearance of the season.
    Taking up his usual left-centre-back position, alongside Karl Ouimette, Lefevre was incredibly busy, contributing twelve recoveries, eleven clearances, five interceptions, five tackles, and a block, but his usually superb passing was a little off, completing less than half of his attempts – though to be fair the French-born defender often attempted to spring attacks with long, low-percentage balls.
    Like Ouimette, he bit a little too hard on one play, rushing towards Eddie Johnson, opening up space for a DC attack. He was also spared a potential handball penalty concession by an offside flag late in the match.
    Sam Adekugbe
    Adekugbe was forced into the crucial season-decider for Vancouver in the 33rd minute when Steven Beitashour went down injured – it was just his fourth appearance of the season, the first in nearly two months, and his third as a substitute.
    Despite being thrown in the deep-end, the London-born left-back did very well, getting up and down his side with ease, combining to build up that flank, and putting in a defensive shift with two tackles, a recovery, a clearance, and an interception.
    But perhaps his most important play was an intelligent passage of defending, inserting himself in-between Charles Eloundou and the ball on one Colorado odd-man break, drawing a foul by cutting in front of the attack to quell the threat.
    Maxim Tissot
    Tissot returned to the starting lineup, making a third-straight appearance after a pair of solid substitute outings – it was his seventh start and twentieth appearance of the season.
    Returned to his original left-back spot – he has spent a lot of time playing as more a left-winger – Tissot was lively, but a little less-so than normal – apparently he was dealing with a stomach bug that would eventually force him off, to be replaced by Krzysztof Krol in the 59th minute.
    The Gatineau, Quebec-native was not able to get forward as much as he normally would, perhaps the effect the aforementioned illness, but he did hit one nice corner kick – a skill set he has been allowed to display more often of late.
    Having doubled his starts and trebled his appearances, Tissot will end the season with two goals to his name – similarly double his output from last season.
    Post-match, club manager Frank Klopas commented on Tissot and the performance from the younger players: “Max had a solid game. He had something in his stomach that was bothering him so he gave it his all and it came to the point where he couldn’t continue. The younger generation, are guys that we can rely on but they have to understand that it takes hard work to continue to develop and grow and one of the positive things that we can look at from a club standpoint, is the future USL PRO team that will be created. These games are crucial for the reserve player`s that don’t get to play on a regular basis with the MLS team so that they can stay fit and sharp. I think that will be a big plus for the organization and there was no better guy for them to learn from than Marco Di Vaio.”
    Tesho Akindele
    Akindele was again left out of Dallas’ starting lineup on Saturday as they fell 0-2 to Portland - it was the fourth time in the last five matches that he has come on as a substitute and his 26th appearance of the season, eighteen of which were starts.
    Coming on the 73rd minute to replace David Texeira with Dallas trailing by a goal, Akindele was energetic, but could not help his side find a way back into the game and Portland doubled their lead shortly after he entered.
    Blas Perez nearly found him with a little ball to the near-post on one occasion, but Portland full-back Jorge Villafana was able to cut out the pass; the Calgary, Alberta-native did find a late chance, meeting a corner kick in the 95th minute, but his header was just over the bar.
    Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé
    Gagnon-Lapare was a late substitute for Montreal on Saturday, coming on in the 92nd minute to make his fifth appearance of the season, but just a second from the bench.
    In doing so, the Sherbrooke, Quebec-native made himself a place in football trivia lore, becoming the final player to replace Marco Di Vaio as a substitute.
    The Rest
    Kyle Porter, Maxime Crépeau, Louis Beland-Goyette, Ashtone Morgan, and Chris Mannella were on the benches for their respective sides.
    Vancouver will be the sole Canadian representative in this season’s rendition of the MLS Cup Playoffs. By finishing highest amongst the three Canadian clubs, they will also represent the nation in the 2015-16 CONCACAF Champions League, as the Voyageurs Cup reconfigures its timing for next season.
    All quotes and videos courtesy of MLSsoccer.com
    Each week James takes a look at the contributions of Canadians in the league and the league as a whole.
    You can follow James on twitter @grawsee or read more of his writing at Partially Obstructed View
    Duane Rollins
    Five years ago when I first came up with the format for the TFC season review the idea was that it would subtly change each year depending on how things went. Although always five parts, the first three would be tweaked ever so slightly.
    Part 1: What went right?
    Part 2: What went wrong?
    Part 3: What went really wrong?
    Part 4: Player report card
    Part 5: Where do we go from here?
    In seasons where things didn't end well the format would be as above. During good years we'd start with what went wrong before talking about what went right and what went really right.
    So, what's gone really, really wrong?
    The fact that we've never had to adjust the the format. There's still two parts wrong.
    With that...
    What went right?
    It's always hard to talk about good things at the end of a TFC season. It's especially hard when it's the eight straight year that you're grasping at straws looking for the silver lining. It leads you to writing cliches instead of depth, actually!
    However, it is important to realize that there are some positives. The instinct to blow everything up again is strong, but the cold, logical truth is that would be possibly the most damaging thing they could do. Cathartic for two minutes, sure, but ultimately it accomplishes nothing.
    The front office talks a lot about the importance of building around a solid core of players. Many will sniff at that because they either don't believe TFC has a core, or don't believe the current front office is capable of building the right core. That's fine. You're entitled to believe that and you may be right. However, for the purpose of this conversation -- at this time of the conversation -- we're going to ignore those questions and instead focus on whether or not TFC is actually trying to do what it says in this regard.
    The reason that's important is, on a theoretical level, they're dead right. We've been screaming it from this space since 2008 and it's hardly a complicated concept. It is a concept that TFC has ignored in the past, however.
    TFC made a big splash by adding stars this year. Stars aren't what people mean by a core. Stars are what you add to a core to put you over the top. However, they also added a couple pieces to what truly does constitute a core.
    Guys like Joe Bendik, Marc Bloom, Justin Morrow, Jonathan Osorio and Collen Warner are MLS average guys. Guys that fill out every single roster in the league. And guys that TFC has, in the past, thrown away for next to nothing in an effort to chase sexier things.
    TFC is the equivalent of the 40 year old dude that dumps his wife because a pretty 22 year old touched his arm at Starbucks. Based on the way the club operated in regards to non-star players over the past year there is evidence their wandering eye is no longer.
    Are those guys exciting? Will they be superstars? Well, probably not. Osorio and Morrow will probably be moderately above replacement level, the rest probably at it. However, as long as the club doesn't tread water by dumping these type of guys once again they can get down to the business of building upon that core.
    One way they can do that is through the draft and academy. On the academy side we've seen success with Jordan Hamilton proving his pro potential first at Wilmington and later in Portugal. He's likely a year away yet, but there is real potential there.
    Closer to home the TFC senior academy won the Ontario League1 championship with an undefeated season. On its own that doesn't mean anything, but it does suggest they might be doing something right.
    When it comes to the draft they did a lot right. Despite drafting at a spot where not much should have been expected, TFC managed to select a player in Nick Hagglund that actually had the most appearances of anyone drafted in the 2014 draft.
    That's the potatoes of TFC's draft. The gravy was Daniel Lovitz. Simply put, the second round of the draft is next to useless. The median appearances of players drafted last year in the second round is actually zero (ave is 3.3). Lovitz had 17 appearances.
    Lovitz was a useful player that added creativity and width off the bench. Hagglund looks like a guy that's going to be a replacement level MLS defender for the next 5-6 years. That's a home run in the context of a MLS draft in 2014. It's a grand slam home run from the 11th pick.
    When you factor in that the draft was very much Tim Bezbatchenko's baby this past year -- Ryan Nelsen basically parachuted in at the combine after most of the work was done -- you have to have some hope that something useful can come out of Toronto's selections in next year's draft where they have four first round selections, including three in the first 11 picks.
    Lastly, for those that like to keep things simple, the Reds did literally improve. They were 12 points better in 2014 and had their best season, points wise, in history. It wasn't enough and it cost a lot to get there, but it's a bit disingenuous to completely ignore.
    Michael Mccoll
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    James Grossi
    Three candidates this week, beginning, fittingly, with
    to go out as he spent much of his career, finishing with aplomb after being sprung by Dilly Duka. earns the second nod with his blistering finish, sealing Portland’s result in Dallas, in part due to the lovely build-up from Gaston Fernandez. And finally, , who equaled that hallowed 27-goal mark with his brace on Sunday, the historic goal was emblematic of his finishing this season.On to the results:
    Midweek Result in a Sentence (or Two)

    Salt Lake closed out their season with a strong 2-0 result over Chivas, ending Los Ameri-Goats two-game winning streak, but not without a spot or two of controversy. The first goal came from a soft penalty call, Bobby Burling whistled for daring to put his hands on the back of Alvaro Saborio, who converted from the spot; Kyle Beckerman added the second after some nice interplay, but not until after Marvin Chavez was sent off for kicking the ball towards a referee’s assistant.
    Results in Brief

    Friday night’s match was a dead rubber, but neither side took that as an excuse to avoid putting in an effort, each with their own reasons to end the season on a positive.
    For Chicago, the night was as much about honouring the stellar career of Logan Pause, a true club legend, as it was about a result. Houston were playing their final match under Dominic Kinnear, the only manager they had ever known.
    It was the Dynamo who burst out of the gates, the pace of Omar Cummings causing no end of trouble for the Fire defenses, culminating in a goal for the Jamaican in the 18th minute. Having seen several fast breaks come to naught, it was a corner kick that led to the opener, Brad Davis hitting an in-swinging delivery from the right that Cummings made contact with as he retreated off the goal-line, guiding his header down towards the far-side from the middle of the box.
    Seeing that lead into half-time, the Dynamo would pay for their wasted chances in the second, as Frank Yallop read his side the riot act during the interval. Houston would play a role in crafting their own demise when Jermaine Taylor and Tyler Deric got their signals crossed on a long ball forward from Matt Watson, the goalkeeper hesitating as the defender implored him to come off his line to collect. Grant Ward was able to muscle his way into the situation, getting a touch as Deric arrived and regaining his feet quickest to be first to the loose ball, prompting Deric to bring him down with a desperate lunge. Jeff Larentowicz would step to the spot, right-footing low to the keeper’s right with Deric going the other direction.
    Pause would make his emotional departure from the match in the 79th minute, garnering all the applause and congratulation his long one-club career warranted and his teammates would ensure he went out in style, when Florent Sinama-Pongolle nabbed the first goal of his MLS career in the 91st minute.
    Ward again played a crucial role, beating Andrew Driver down the right before sending a cross towards the near-post, where it was met by the Frenchman with a downward header to the short-side, powered past Deric having cut in front of AJ Cochran.
    With the result, both clubs would finish exactly where they started, ending the night in ninth and eighth place in the Eastern Conference, respectively.

    Saturday began with a match of crucial import, as it would determine who would take home top spot in the league and the accompanying silverware, as well as home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
    Shorn of the suspended Omar Gonzalez and the with Robbie Keane absent as a precaution – dealing with nagging injuries with the match to be played on turf – the Galaxy would have their hands full, needing a win to seal first in the West; the Sounders needed only to draw.
    It was a close, tense affair, most notable through the first seventy minutes for the six yellow cards flashed by the referee, culminating in a bout of handbags in the 71st minute after Clint Dempsey was flattened by Marcelo Sarvas, drawing a crowd, resulting in cards to Sarvas and Gonzalo Pineda.
    The breakthrough would finally come in the 85th minute when Marco Pappa was found unmarked down the left-side of the box by Obafemi Martins after a quick free-kick cut open the LA defenses. Martins began the play himself with a rapid restart, playing over to Dempsey, who returned a pass to the Nigerian before taking a clattering for his troubles, Martins then spotted Pappa, the Guatemalan squeezing his right-footed finish under Jaime Penedo.
    Pappa would seal the afternoon with his second of the match in the final minute of play, picking the pocket of Penedo to break in on an empty net, scooping a left-footed finish past the recovering figure of AJ DeLaGarza in the 95th minute to send the home side in rapturous celebrations.
    The 2-0 win would see Seattle take the top spot, winning their first Supporters’ Shield and their second trophy of the season, having won the US Open Cup in September – they will face the winner of the knockout round in the conference semifinals that begin on the weekend. LA would have to settle for second place; eager for a rematch in conference finals should it come to fruition.

    The afternoon continued, switching over to the Eastern Conference, where first-placed DC travelled to Montreal, who themselves were bidding a fond farewell to a retiring player.
    Marco Di Vaio joined the club midway through their inaugural 2012 season following a storied career in Italy. Over his three seasons in MLS he would go on to score some 34 goals in his 76 appearances, leading them to their first – and thus far only – playoff appearance in the 2013 season.
    A prematch tribute, including the presentation of a painting by teammate Issey Nakajima-Farran, gave way to the match, and as the fates would have it, it was Di Vaio who opened the scoring in the 26th minute.
    Nakajima-Farran cut out a Jared Jeffrey ball, prodding a header forward in search of Di Vaio, but Bobby Boswell was able to block that attempt. His header in turn fell to Dilly Duka, who alertly played forward for Di Vaio, springing the still-spritely striker in down the left-channel.
    Di Vaio, as he has so many times before, burst down that side before beating the keeper, Bill Hamid, with a right-footed finish, squeezing his shot in at the short-side for his ninth goal of the season.
    The striker was not satisfied with that, drawing a further good save out of Hamid at the start of the second half and requiring a last-ditch intervention from Sean Franklin to deny him a second in the 52nd minute. In a perfect encapsulation of Di Vaio’s career in MLS, having scored once, he remonstrated with the assistant referee who dared raised an offside flag, preventing him from yet another look at goal.
    Montreal seemed content to sit back, looking to spring counterattacks, more often than not searching out Di Vaio on the break, but that somewhat casual approach would bite in the 86th minute, when Fabian Espindola played a short-corner kick to Eddie Johnson on the attacking left, catching the Montreal defenders napping.
    Nakajima-Farran was the only Impact player nearby and he was easily bypassed when Johnson played into the path of Espindola’s curling run, walking across the top of the area before unleashing a left-footed drive that snuck past Evan Bush at the near-post, leveling the match at ones.
    Di Vaio would close out his night with one final attempt on goal, a cheeky chip from well out, before being replaced in the 92nd minute, leaving the pitch for the final time to a hero’s applause, taking Man of the Match honours, as the tributes and thanks continued afterwards.
    Playoff bound and with last season’s woes firmly behind them, the dropping of points may yet prove costly for DC, who passed up the chance to take second-spot overall and potentially home-field advantage in the final, depending on who moves on from the West. Montreal end the season with joy in their hearts, if doomed to finish last in the league on points.

    The evening continued with another dead-rubber, as New England could neither move up, nor down, having secured second-place in the East, while Toronto’s fates were sealed with last weekend’s draw against Montreal.
    Set to begin the playoffs in good form, the Revolution sent a first-choice side onto the pitch in front of a massive crowd of thirty-thousand plus spectators, but Toronto held their own through the first half-hour, Gilberto nearly giving them the lead when his nothing shot rattled the bar, until a moment of controversy gave the hosts the advantage in the 35th minute.
    Jermaine Jones spotted the run of Chris Tierney up the left-flank, lifting a ball forward for the advancing full-back, who appeared to have strayed offside. The Toronto defenders turned to chase, slowing as they spotted the assistant referee’s flag raised, allowing Tierney to pick out Lee Nguyen with a pull-back to the top of the area, in turn slotting a right-footed finish into the Toronto goal.
    Now, reportedly the referee waived away the flag as Dominic Oduro flicked on the Jones ball, but Tierney was offside from both the initial and flicked touches, even if they were deemed separate phases of play; confusion reigned, cancelling out any good work from Toronto.
    Stung and reeling, Toronto would nearly concede a second in short order, Kelyn Rowe drawing a good save out of Joe Bendik two minutes later; the remonstrations with the official would continue into half-time.
    With both sides resigned to the result, the second half passed without major incident, aside from a potential Steven Caldwell handball which was not penalized, perhaps in the spirit of reconciliation for the earlier confusion.
    Nguyen’s goal, his eighteenth of the season, would prove the difference between the two sides; strengthening his MVP candidacy with his ninth game-winner of the campaign. For TFC the season would end with enhanced bitterness, more fuel to their officiating complaints, while they miss the playoffs for the eighth-straight season.

    Swapping back to the West, the round continued with a pair of matches that would determine which side would be the tenth-club to compete in the playoffs this season. Vancouver entered the weekend in fifth spot, but Portland sat a single point behind – the Whitecaps would host Colorado next, but Portland had to keep the pressure on with a win in Dallas.
    Desperate and eager, the Timbers took the match to the hosts from the off, Darlington Nagbe drawing a pair of fine saves out of Chris Seitz inside the opening twenty minutes. Against the run of play, Dallas nearly took the lead in the 38th when David Texeira made good contact with a Je-Vaughan Watson cross, necessitating a fine diving save from Donovan Ricketts.
    But it was Portland who took the lead in the 43rd minute when Nagbe again drove towards the Dallas goal, unleashing a right-footed shot from the top of the arc. Nagbe had astonishingly managed to go the entire season without a goal to his name, but when his effort deflected off the blocking figure of Zach Loyd and found the right-side of the Dallas goal, all the wasted energy was forgotten – MLS tends to be rather generous when it comes to awarding goals instead of own-goals, even if the latter was likely more warranted in this case.
    The Timbers had their goal, but Dallas had hopes and dreams of their own, as a win or draw would see them retake third-place from Salt Lake, thereby avoiding the midweek knockout round threat. Twice Dallas would have the ball in the back of the net over a three-minute span after an hour of play, only for a pair of refereeing decisions to deny them of the credit.
    The first came in the 63rd minute when Fabian Castillo was adjudged to have helped Michel’s free-kick into the net with his hand – he was shown a yellow card for his cunning; while in the 66th minute, the official deemed that Castillo had let the ball trickle beyond the end-line before sending a cross into the middle that was headed in by Blas Perez. The handball was an obvious infraction; the second decision far less clear.
    Portland, having ridden those challenges, would seal the result in the 82nd minute when Gaston Fernandez cut around the pressure of Victor Ulloa to play up to Max Urruti with the outside of his boot, setting up a right-footed blast that left Seitz no chance at a save, putting the pressure on Vancouver to get a result. Dallas would be forced to settle for fourth-place and the midweek play-in match, against either Cascadia club.

    Portland’s result forced the pressure onto Vancouver, who needed to win in order to retake the final spot in the West and ensure their place in the playoffs. Colorado’s season ended some time ago, entering the final match day winless in thirteen and having lost their last eight away games; only pride was on the line for them.
    Carl Robinson had done his best to keep his side focused on their own business, withholding news of Portland’s win until half-time, but the nerves were evident in the first half, as the Vancouver attack sputtered to find a breakthrough. Their two best chances in the half came from right-sided crosses, Kendall Waston getting on the end of a Mauro Rosales ball and Darren Mattocks onto a Pedro Morales one, but neither could keep their efforts on target.
    The Rapids acquitted themselves well throughout, opening up the match in the second half with an audacious long-range attempt from Charles Eloundou, seeking to catch David Ousted cheating off his line. Robinson changed tact, bringing on the speedy Kekuta Manneh for the defensively-oriented Russell Teibert before the hour-mark; Manneh would rattle the bar two minutes after his introduction, cutting in from the left before sending a right-footer off the woodwork.
    The goal would finally come in the 70th minute when Waston rose up, leaping over both Nick LaBrocca and Shane O’Neill to get on the end of a left-sided Morales corner kick, making just enough contact to force the ball down and over the goal-line; celebrating with an appropriate level of excitement – what a midseason addition the big Costa Rican has proved to be.
    Colorado would force a lump or two to stick in the throats of their hosts, testing Ousted with a pair of late chances that would have ended playoff aspirations then and there. But Vancouver held on for the result, clinching their second-ever playoff berth, while cruelly knocking out American neighbours Portland; they will face another difficult play-in round match – having lost in LA last time, this time in Dallas on Wednesday.

    With Saturday answering the major questions of Supporters’ Shield and Playoff spots, Sunday would be left to determine positions in the East. Up first was a rematch between Columbus and Philadelphia with the Crew hoping to surge into third spot, avoiding the midweek challenge. The Union had their season ended two weeks ago when Columbus scored three unanswered goals in the waning moments of their meeting, dooming Philadelphia to another playoff-less season.
    The home side wasted no time getting putting their guests to the sword. Justin Meram stung the palms of Zac MacMath after just seven minutes, while Jairo Arrieta struck the bar in the 12th minute with a first-time hit on a Waylon Francis cross from the left. He would not waste his next look a minute later.
    Wil Trapp played to Ben Speas, who hit a ball down the left-channel for Arrieta to chase, shattering the offside trap in the process, sending his teammate in alone on goal. Arrieta calmly walked around MacMath, shading to the left, before coolly slotting a slow-rolling left-footed finish into the open net.
    That lead stood until the 85th minute, thanks to some vital interventions from Columbus keeper, Steve Clark, only for Philadelphia to do some late damage of their own, returning the favour of weeks gone by with Zach Pfeffer notching his first MLS goal as the clock ticked down.
    The play began with an alert throw-in from Sheanon Williams that caught Columbus napping, picking out Sebastian Le Toux ghosting behind the Crew defenses deep on the right. Le Toux cut back a pass to Amobi Okugo, who snuck the ball towards the near-post, where it kicked off the in-step of Michael Parkhurst before falling into the path of Pfeffer making a sharp run to the near-post, tucking a right-footer through the legs of Clark.
    But as with their last meeting Columbus would have the last laugh, finding the winner in the final minute of play: Tony Tchani received a return ball from Francis on the left to get a shot on goal. His effort was blocked, falling to Bernardo Anor for a simple right-footed tap in from a foot out, beating MacMath to the loose ball by a fraction of a second.
    The win would vault the Crew into third-place in the conference, but they would have to await the result of the round’s final match before knowing their playoff fate for certain.

    In between the two Eastern matches, an all Western-affair pitted Chivas and San Jose against one another, in a match that would determine who would occupy the basement in the Western Conference standings.
    Montreal had already sealed up the wooden spoon, finishing the season on 28 points from 34 matches; both the Earthquakes and Chivas entered level on thirty points, the winner avoiding that unwanted fate.
    For Chivas the match held added significance, as this would be their final match in MLS; the club would be shuttering its doors, going on hiatus, its future uncertain – MLS announced this morning (Monday) that the club would officially cease operations, with an announcement set for Thursday regarding the future of the LA market. For the past few weeks manager Wilmer Cabrera had insisted that they see out the season with positivity, winning two of their last three matches, and that impetus served them well in the opening passages of play.
    In the sixth minute, Leandro Barrera was allowed to walk in from the left, working around Pablo Pintos to send a ball into the middle, Cubo Torres would collect the service, sending a low shot to the short-side, requiring an alert foot save from Jon Busch, who touched it onto the post.
    Torres would again strike the woodwork in the 32nd minute, himself walking in unfettered from the left to hit a tight-angled shot that caromed off the base of the far-post. The rebound fell to Felix Borja, left-footing a finish into the open net having reacted quickest to the loose ball, scoring his third goal in the last four matches.
    Neither side would put together further chances and Chivas were allowed to end their season – and perhaps existence – on that desired high, having won three of their last four matches to move into seventh in the West. San Jose, who look forward to next season in a spanking new ground with a new manager, must look to put a woeful end to a tough 2014 in the rearview, having closed the season with a club-record fifteen-game winless streak.

    The final match of the 2014 regular season saw Kansas City and New York take to the pitch at Sporting Park in a game that would determine the final standings in the Eastern Conference.
    Should they win, Kansas City could retake third in the conference, avoid the midweek knockout round, and make amends for falling out of the Champions League midweek in Costa Rica. For New York home-field advantage in the midweek test was at stake, unable to overtake Columbus who had moved into third on Saturday.
    Despite the absence of Thierry Henry, it was the visitors who took the lead after fifteen minutes, but not without controversy, as Kansas City begged for a foul call when Jacob Peterson was brought down. Tim Cahill would play on, finding Eric Alexander in the middle, who in turn attempted to thread Bradley Wright-Phillips in down the left-side of the area.
    Kansas City right-back Kevin Ellis would stretch to get a touch on the ball, succeeding in only slowing it down, as it fell into the path of Wright-Phillips, who opened his hips to finish with a deft right-footer across Eric Kronberg in the KC net – it was his 26th goal of the season, one shy of the all-time single-season record.
    Wright-Phillips would join the 27-goal club in the 70th minute when Roy Miller sent a ball up the left-side and Wright-Phillips chased down Aurelien Collin, getting into a tangle with the defender, pressuring a turnover as the ball fell kindly for him. Sidestepping the challenge of Matt Besler, Wright-Phillips cut inside before sending a low right-footer to the short-side, beating Kronberg once more.
    The Kansas City keeper would come up big in the 83rd minute, denying Wright-Phillips his hat-trick and a new record by staying big as the New York striker attempted to lift a finish past the keeper.
    The result confirmed that the Eastern knockout round would consist of a rematch between the two clubs, in New York on Thursday, once mighty Sporting falling into fifth spot with just two wins in their last ten matches.
    CanCon
    The extended review of the Canadian performances will be posted tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon.
    Eleven players saw the pitch this round, eight as starters and a further three as substitutes. Impressively five Canadians featured in Montreal’s starting eleven, including three-quarters of a youthful back-line that kept a dangerous DC side off the scoresheet for eighty-plus minutes.
    Top three spot this round go to Issey Nakajima-Farran, Doneil Henry, and Sam Adekugbe, who was drafted into emergency duty in a must-win game when Steven Beitashour went down early with injury.
    Overheard
    Plenty of colourful statements after last week’s silence, beginning on Wednesday night with Salt Lake’s Nat Borchers, who admitted he would be keeping an eye on the weekend results: “But I watch all the games. I'm an MLS nerd.”
    As Houston’s season ended, Brad Davis admitted Dominic Kinnear’s departure weighed heavy on the club: “As soon as we were knocked out, and found out Dom was leaving, we have been kind of focused on that, to be totally honest, I wish it wasn’t announced to the end of the year, but it is what it is. It’s been a difficult situation to try to manage, and handle. I think the guys have tried to do their best and gone out there and been great professionals. I am proud of the team for that.”
    Sigi Schmid heralded his Seattle side winning the Supporters’ Shield in his inimitable understated style: “At the end of the day, I think the Shield is another feather in the cap of our organization. I think people forget that we’re still a very young organization. We’re only six years in, and now we’ve won four Open Cups and a Supporters’ Shield. That’s five trophies in six years. …I think it’s a reflection of our consistency.” Ending with: “I’m really proud of our group; we’ll enjoy it today and tomorrow, then it’s back to work.”
    Greg Vanney summed up much of the last two months of the season with his observation on the controversial call that decided Toronto’s match in New England: “That moment was an emotional kick in the groin for us. It’s unfortunate; that was a clear offside from the guy who’s supposed to make the call, the linesman who lifts the flag and has the flag up; the guy is clearly two yards offside. I’ve seen the replay already and the center referee, who was not in position to make the call, tells him to put the flag down.”
    Marco Di Vaio summed up his career thusly: “Good conclusion. I finished well, with what I prefer to do during games: scoring goals, giving emotions to fans, to myself, living those emotions with the family, my parents, everyone here, was incredible.”
    While Jon Busch had a different outlook on 2014: “To me, this was a terrible season. It hurt. It hurt a lot that we couldn’t find a way to get out of this and to right the ship. I’ve been around a long time, and usually every team goes through tough times during the season, but you always find ways to get out of it. Unfortunately, this year, we just could not find a way to get out of it. For me, that drove me crazy. It’s going to motivate me -- it should motivate the rest of the guys -- so it never happens again.”
    Chivas’ Wilmer Cabrera closed out the season with prideful dignity: “It’s been a tough year for us; it’s not a secret. But if you go with reality, you’re as good as your last game. We battled and pushed for a good result. If we review what we have done, in October we won three games out of four. We started building something at the end. I would like to give credit to the players for never giving up.”
    See It Live
    Bradley Wright-Phillips was
    – apparently it’s a thing now - by previous members, Roy Lassiter and Chris Wondolowski.Logan Pause’s final match witnessed a teary-eyed fan chanting, “Thank You Logan”.
    The assorted tributes to Marco Di Vaio were worth a view, as well.
    A selection of the best saves of the week: Dan Kennedy on Joao Plata; Sean Johnson on Omar Cummings; Joe Bendik on Kelyn Rowe; Donovan Ricketts on David Texeira; Jon Busch on Cubo Torres; Luis Robles on Dom Dwyer; and finally, Eric Kronberg denying Bradley Wright-Phillips the record.
    Late breaking news: MLS has announced that both Houston and Kansas City would be returning to the Western Conference for the 2015 season, equaling the conferences to ten sides each, as Chivas disbands and New York City and Orlando City join the league.
    Controversy
    Plenty of controversy this round:
    The penalty call on Bobby Burling was rather harsh – not much of a shove to the back of Alvaro Saborio; while Marvin Chavez’ red card, though stupid, could have been overlooked as well. That same match featured a very debatable offside call on Saborio that denied him a second goal of the match.
    Tyler Deric was carded for handling outside the area, but did he?
    Then there was the
    , freezing Toronto, allowing Lee Nguyen to score the opener; Steven Caldwell's handball was overlooked, assuaging any hard feelings (well, some of them at least).Dallas had two goals ruled out in short order against Portland, Fabian Castillo’s handball was sneaky, but obvious upon replay; whether the second had gone out of play before Blas Perez put it in was another matter entirely – very tight decision. Clip was not available, but will likely be included in Simon Borg’s Instant Replay due out later today.
    And finally, what about the
    that led to New York’s opener in Kansas City?Upcoming Fixtures
    The hunt for the MLS Cup begins next week with the play-in matches for each conference scheduled on Wednesday and Thursday. The West sees Dallas host Vancouver on Wednesday, while the East pits Sporting against Red Bull in New York.
    The Playoffs proper begin on Saturday, mere days after the knockout round has been completed, with the conference semifinals. Saturday sees the two and three seeds in each conference met in the first legs, with Columbus hosting New England and Salt Lake welcoming Los Angeles. Sunday will feature the first overall seeds, Seattle and DC, travelling to the winners of the knockout rounds.
    Wednesday: Dallas-Vancouver. Thursday: New York-Kansas City.
    Saturday: Columbus-New England; Salt Lake-Los Angeles. Sunday: winner of New York/Kansas City-DC; winner of Dallas/Vancouver-Seattle.
    Thanks for following along with the review for yet another MLS season; must admit it’s a bit of a relief to be done, but fret not, the review will keep going strong, covering each round of the playoffs.
    All video & quotes courtesy of MLSsoccer.com
    Each week James takes a look at the league as a whole.
    You can follow James on twitter @grawsee or read more of his writing at Partially Obstructed View
    Michael Mccoll
    Rennie used that April radio interview to blow his own trumpet for his achievements with the Whitecaps and to clearly have a not-so-veiled dig at what Robinson would have to achieve to be classed as what he felt was a successful replacement.
    "I kind of feel fine about how it ended," Rennie told Matt Sekeres in the interview. "I think that as a coach, you always think that given more time you could do more with it. The team I inherited was the worst team in MLS. It improved quite a lot in the first year and it improved again in the second year.
    "I felt that when I started we were probably about 40 points from being first in MLS and when I finished there we were nine points from being first and that's a massive, massive improvement. I'm a pretty harsh critic of myself and there's things that I'm sure I could have done better and I know that I could of, but I also think that generally there was a lot of success there and there was a solid platform now to build a good club.
    "So as long as they go on now and continue to develop, I think it was 11 wins then 13 wins, so they need to go 15, 16 wins to show that development and then you've got a solid MLS team. In Major League Soccer, it's a very, very tight league. You're not going to win every game and you're probably, even if you have a great season, lose 10 or 11 games a season, so I feel good about it."
    So let's just review what Rennie's achievements actually were and how Robinson actually stacks up with them.
    He took the worst team in MLS in 2011 and got them to the playoffs a year later. An excellent accomplishment, even though some felt that they eventually backed in. At the time, we said we held no sway with that. They didn't back in, they got in due to their early season form and the points they put up on the board.
    Rennie achieved the playoffs in his first season, so has Robinson after basically rebuilding the team. If you look at the starters for the Caps against Colorado, three were brought in by Rennie and six by Robinson (two players, Jordan Harvey and Russell Teibert, predated both).
    In 2012 under Rennie, Vancouver had an 11-13-10 record and 43 points. They made the playoffs with four points to spare, scoring 35 goals and conceding 41 along the way. They got their first MLS away win in Rennie's first road game in charge and got three for the whole season. The Caps kept 12 clean sheets over the season and eventually finished 5th in the West, 23 points behind the Supporters Shield winning San Jose Earthquakes, and were 11th overall in the MLS combined points standings.
    They failed to win a match against their Cascadian rivals, with three draws and three defeats, obviously failing to lift the Cascadia Cup. They also failed to lift the Voyageurs Cup and clinch a spot in the Champions League.
    A year later in 2013, Rennie guided the Whitecaps to their then highest ever MLS points total of 48 and their most ever number of wins, 13, but it still wasn't enough to get Vancouver into the playoffs and they fell three points short. Their overall record was 13-12-9 as they finished 7th in the West and dropped to the 13th best record overall in the MLS combined points standings.
    They scored their most ever goals in MLS with 53 but conceded their second highest total so far with 45, keeping seven clean sheets. They got their first ever win over a Cascadian rival and actually managed two that season, both over Seattle, including their first Cascadian away win. Still no joy in the Voyageurs Cup, blowing their opportunity to wrap it up at BC Place.
    So now we move to Carl Robinson's first year in charge.
    He's finished his rookie regular season with a 12-8-14 record and 50 points. That the highest points total so far, not just by the Whitecaps in MLS, but any Canadian club. Those 12 wins included three on the road and three against their Cascadian rivals (two of those being away victories).
    Rennie said in that radio interview that there would have to be 15 or 16 wins to show a continued improvement, which was of course just nonsense. Yes, the number dropped by one from last season to, which means nothing when you look at the fact that Vancouver still produced their highest ever MLS points total to finish 5th in the West and produced their highest ever finish in the Supporters' Shield standings of 9th.
    To finish the ninth best team in MLS, unbeaten against all Eastern Conference opposition and only losing three matches to those teams above them in the West (two to LA and one to Dallas), is one hell of an achievement for Robinson in his first year as a head coach. And, as we keep saying, all without an actual striker for more than half the year!
    Rennie said that even in a "great" season you'd lose 10 or 11 games. This season the Caps lost 8. The second best record in all of MLS.
    Still no Voyageurs Cup, but there is a CONCACAF Champions League spot to look forward to next year for the first time. And back to back Cascadia Cup in the bag.
    But the improvements to the Whitecaps under Robinson are measured in more than just stats, so let's move away from the numbers.
    Robinson promised to make the team younger and to develop youth. Now to many, including us, we took that to mean homegrown Residency talent of current and recent years. That was how it was looking preseason and you did feel it was going to be a major developmental year if that's how things panned out.
    They didn't and Robinson made shrewd signings to go with what was already there. Of the 28 players currently on the Caps MLS roster, 18 are 24-years-old or younger. That's one hell of a building block for future seasons and eight of those are 'homegrowns', including the latest additions of Kianz Froese and Marco Bustos.
    These players have all gained invaluable experience this season. Some will move on to pastures new in a few weeks time, but they'll be replaced by others (the likes of Mitch Piraux and Ben McKendry are waiting in the wings). Rennie talked a good game about young players but there was very little evidence of his development of them.
    There's also the harmony in the dressing room. It's certainly the best I've ever seen since covering the Caps from 2008. When you have experience players like Andy O'Brien and Pedro Morales describing it as "special", and a new addition like Mauro Rosales saying it's the best dressing room he's been a part of, the management need to get a lot of credit for building that with the addition of the right personnel.
    Back on the pitch, Robinson has brought a refreshing attacking mindset on the road, in general. Still not perfect and maybe still a bit one dimensional and easily read at times, but a major improvement in the entertainment factor. And it's brought results too.
    Things are by no means perfect. Robbo has perhaps been too loyal to some of his players this year, giving them too many chances that they simply haven't taken. He's shielded them from the flak that they perhaps needed to be hit with.
    Then there's the whole inability to land a striker, which still may ultimately cost them in the postseason, and the team has been a bit too predictable in their style of play on occasion and easily countered.
    But a rookie manager will make such mistakes and he will learn, and Robinson has done that as the season progressed.
    Martin Rennie and his team (of which Robinson was obviously a part) do deserve major kudos for turning the Whitecaps around from the worst team in MLS in a disastrous inaugural season in the league. Sometimes I don't think people gave them the proper credit or fully understood just what a big achievement that was. MLS parity rules help to some extent but the players and management still then have to get the job done.
    But give me Robinson's Whitecaps any day of the week.
    The players are more talented and exciting. The attitude throughout the squad is so much better. There is a real buzz at training and a real team spirit and that has transferred onto results on the pitch. There's been actual youth development.
    There's still a lot of work to do and the Western Conference is only going to get even tougher next year with the likely additions of Sporting KC and Houston at the expense of the clusterfuck that was Chivas USA.
    Robinson still has that difficult second album phase ahead of him that signalled the end of his predecessor. He's set the bar high with this rookie season and it's not over yet. Following it up next year is a big ask of any manager and Robinson will know that. Once you achieve success, there's no looking back and limited allowance for future failure.
    Having never won in Dallas, the Caps could realistically go one and out again in the playoffs. It would feel like such a major anti-climax after the intensity of the last five games, but whatever happens, how the Caps move on is the key now.
    And under Robinson, you can only have hopes for the future. Now the pressure really begins.
    Michael Mccoll
    You can find his full gallery from the game HERE.


    Marie Hui sings the anthems in with the fans


    After a slow start, Sebastian Fernandez nearly opens the scoring but Clint Irwin comes up big


    Steven Beitashour picks up a hamstring injury giving Sam Adekugbe another chance to shine


    Into the second half and substitute Kekuta Manneh makes room before crashing one off the bar


    Manneh is in the thick of the action again, as he wins a corner and the crowd gets loud


    Kendall Waston heads home to make it 1-0 and the Caps players and crowd go wild!


    The big man enjoys his moment


    Erik Hurtado is played in and nearly makes it 2-0


    But one goal is enough and jubilation ensues at full time


    Kendall Waston carrying the team!


    The Caps salute the crowd


    Pedro Morales may be tired, but he ain't flagging!


    Captain Chile and Captain Canuck


    An ecstatic Carl Robinson in his postgame presser

    You can follow Tom on Twitter, where he goes under the name Residual Image.
    Aaron Campbell
    The Good:
    Can't Put Pedro & Kendall In The Corner
    First thing first, great run by Kekuta Manneh to get the corner for the Whitecaps. As soon as Pedro runs over to the corner you could hear the supporters start buzzing. It's almost like they knew something special was about to happen.
    Erik Hurtado made a great play by drawing defenders to the front post and letting Waston follow right behind him with a free run.
    Even though Waston over jumped the height of the cross he was still able to get head to ball and score the biggest goal in the Whitecaps' MLS history.
    10 games in for Waston and he has become a fan favourite and is on his way to DeMerit level of fame.
    The Average:
    21,000
    Out of the 17 MLS home games, the Whitecaps sold out 11 of them. They averaged just over 20,400 fans to a game this season. If they are to host a home playoff game versus Seattle you have to think the FO will open up the lower bowl for 26,000.
    This season was a great step in the proper direction. I believe they are still a year or two away from getting the tarps off for good. They have created a demand and the market is coming in the direction they want.
    The Bad:
    Darren Mattocks
    The game was full of Mattocks being out of proper position, coming back to the ball and giving up too soon during a build up.
    This might have been his last MLS regular season game in the white and blue for the Whitecaps. In my opinion it was one of his worst outings this season.
    Too many times he gave up on a play if the ball didn't come right to his feet. And the times when it did he had horrible passes and touches and just turned it over.
    Manneh and Hurtado came on to the pitch and made impacts in their limited minutes. That is something Mattocks hasn't done in weeks.
    There will be trade value for him this off season, even at a salary of $220,000. Whitecaps should be able to get a decent return on him.
    Steve Pandher
    The Caps dominated the possession and had the majority of chances through the first half, with Waston just missing on a header from a Mauro Rosales free kick. Five minutes later Rosales would setup Pedro Morales with a chance but the Chilean would send his shot wide of the target.
    Just before the half hour mark it looked as though Sebastian Fernandez would find the breakthrough as he made a strong run into the box, but a nice charge by Clint Irwin would deny any goal.
    A minute into injury time the visitors had their best chance of the opening half as Charles Eloundou was sent in on goal and after cutting inside, sent in a shot at the near post which Ousted was able to knock it away.
    Vancouver continued to press in the second half and had a couple of solid chances just before the hour mark. A strike from Morales forced Irwin into making a save and then second half sub Kekuta Manneh created a great opportunity for himself later but his shot struck the crossbar.
    With 20 minutes to go in the match the Whitecaps finally struck for the important goal when Waston scored his second goal of the season. He connected on a corner delivered by Morales, sending the 21,000+ fans at BC Place into a frenzy.
    The Caps had a chance to double the lead when Morales sent in substitute Erik Hurtado on a partial break but once again Irwin was able to cut down the angle preventing the goal.
    In the final moments Ousted had to earn his shutout as Gabriel Torres had two dangerous volleys from outside the box that tested the keeper. Fortunately for the Caps Ousted kept the ball out on both chances, earning the Caps a 1-0 victory and a playoff spot.
    Once again the Whitecaps didn’t make it easy for themselves waiting until the 70th minute to get the winning goal. There were a number of chances that they were able to create but there was a lack of finish in the final third.
    A positive for the team going into the playoffs is their ability to score off set pieces, considering how much it was weakness going into the season, which is vital considering how much tighter defending gets in the playoffs.
    The Caps also end the regular season with a 392 minute shutout streak and four straight cleansheets by Ousted, something that should help the Caps in the postseason.
    They will attempt to get their first win of the playoffs on Wednesday when they travel south to face FC Dallas in the Western Conference knockout round.
    Final Score: Vancouver Whitecaps 1 - 0 Colorado Rapids
    Attendance: 21,000
    Vancouver Whitecaps: David Ousted; Steve Beitashour (Sam Adekugbe 33), Andy O’Brien, Kendall Waston, Jordan Harvey; Matias Laba, Russell Teibert (Kekuta Manneh 56), Mauro Rosales, Pedro Morales, Sebastian Fernandez; Darren Mattocks (Erik Hurtado 67) [subs Not Used: Paolo Tornaghi, Johnny Leveron, Gershon Koffie, Nicolas Mezquida]
    Colorado Rapids: Clint Irwin; Marvell Wynne (Davy Armstrong 42), Zat Knight, Shane O’Neill, Chris Klute; Marlon Hairston, Nick LaBrocca, Dillon Serna (John Neeskens 73), Carlos Alvarez; Gabriel Torres, Charles Eloundou (Deshorn Brown 61) [subs Not Used: John Berner, Grant Van De Casteele, Gale Agbossoumonde]
    Scoring Summary:
    70' - VAN - Kendall Waston (Pedro Morales)
    Match Stats:
    Shots: Vancouver 17 - Colorado 10
    Shots on Goal: Vancouver 5 - Colorado 5
    Saves: Vancouver 5 - Colorado 4
    Fouls: Vancouver 10 - Colorado 14
    Offsides: Vancouver 7 - Colorado 5
    Corners: Vancouver 2 - Colorado 3
    VANCOUVER WHITECAPS
    CARL ROBINSON
    On making the playoffs:
    "It's a fantastic achievement for the group of players I've got. I couldn't be more proud of them today because we've probably been written off a few times this year when things didn't go our way."
    On securing a treble of Cascadia Cup, Champions League spot and now playoffs in consecutive weeks:
    "We've not been bad over the last few games. I think today was probably the story of our season in 90 minutes because we played very well at times, we had a few half chances we didn't take, then we started to get edgy a little bit.
    "I made the decision to make early substitutions and then the big man scoring the goal. I think it was fitting that David Ousted kept us in it with two fantastic saves in the last three or four minutes because god knows what I would have done if one of them had gone in!"
    On the atmosphere before the winning goal:
    "In the three years I've been here, I've never experienced an atmosphere like I experienced today and they're part of helping suck that ball in the net because I did believe, part of me, that we might not score, if I'm being totally truthful with you, because we had a few half chances. But we stuck to pour beliefs and the boys kept going. It's credit to the organisation, the supporters and that group of players in there."
    On facing Dallas now in first round of playoffs on Wednesday:
    "I'm not satisfied now because we have a massive game on Wednesday that I firmly believe we can go on and win.
    "Dallas have finished above us, so they're probably favourites for the tie. They're at home. We've got nothing to lose. No-one expected us to get into the playoffs except me, that group of players and the club. We had a quiet belief about us, without an arrogance and we did. Now we're in it, who knows? Spin that wheel."
    Why do you think you can go into Dallas and win?
    “The reason why I said I think Portland would win today, Dallas are unbeaten in eight at home. They’re a very very strong team and Oscar’s done a great job there, and I knew Portland could probably get under their skin a little bit. Dallas finished above us so they’re probably favourite for a tie and they’re at home. We got nothing to lose. No one expects us to get in the playoffs except me and that group of players on the club. We had a quiet belief about us without an arrogance. We did and now who knows. Spin that wheel.”
    On telling players the Portland result:
    “I let them know at halftime to be fair. I said to the guys on Thursday, staff included, I wanted them to turn their phones off as soon as they came in. You know what young players are like. They come in and they’re on that Instagram and Twitter, and one of the smart-alecs said “well we play music on it” and I said “listen, I’m old, but not that old. I’m not stupid. Turn it off because if you don’t it’s a $500 fine.” It’s a bit harsh at the time and I’m sure a couple of them went home and thought about it, but I didn’t want their focus to move from our game, because it was a massive game for us where we needed to be 100 percent and concentrate. They’ve done that. I watched it in my office if I’m being honest, which wasn’t a good thing so I went out there and I thought they would win so I said to them, coming in, I think Nathan had said to me that they had won 2-nil, so I made the decision to let them know at halftime or not. I protected them, throughout the season, but I wanted them to know what we needed to do so I said to them, without telling them what happened, I said, “boys, we need to score a goal.” And they said right, and I think they understood, well I hope they understood that, because that’s certainly what happened, and we got the goal.”
    On importance of Kendall Waston to the team since coming to Vancouver:
    “I hoped he would, but I probably didn’t think it would happen this year. The plan was for next year, but he’s been an awesome signing. It’s a credit to him as well as character because the boys love him. He’s very aggressive, maybe too aggressive at times, but he’s a pleasure to work with.”
    Thoughts on putting Manneh in for Teibert then having to defend:
    “[Teibert] has got a bundle of energy, and he was playing well, but I wanted Kekuta to come on. So I tried to go as attacking as I could to hope to get that goal and as soon as we did, I’m looking and we’ve made all our subs, and I’m trying to drop Pedro deeper than Mauro so Pedro and Mauro were my two tough tackling midfielders once Rusty’s gone off, which is never going to be a good thing, but credit to them. We dug deep, because we had to dig deep, because I knew Colorado would come. They’re not going to roll over. They’ve got pride.”
    What factors lead to the postseason?
    “Credit to David and the back four players, but I’ve said all along that we defend from the front and we attack from the back. I knew what we had, what I had in there, that group of players, and we were lacking probably a goal scorer. We have players who can score goals, not probably enough goals for me. Like I said, we haven’t scored enough goals, but we’ve worked hard defensively, and we have to do that because as they all say, championships are won from the defence. I didn’t want to do that, but once the window closed, we decided to go that way, it just gave me the opportunity for me to give my younger players more time. I have to work with what I’ve got, which is why when they got criticized, I would never criticize them because they’re a brilliant group of lads and today was about them and I know what we lack. We’ll address that in the offseason to make the group strong because we’ve got a fantastic culture in there and they’ve really developed that.”
    KENDALL WASTON
    First thing going through his mind after he scored:
    “I was thanking God because it was a nice opportunity to score and thank him that I scored because we were working very hard from the beginning of the game. We knew we had to win today because Portland won so that was a big effort for all of my teammates. From the beginning we were working hard and looking forward to the win.”
    If he has scored a bigger goal in his career:
    “I think the biggest is going to be after, not today. So now we are just thinking of Dallas, and hopefully on Wednesday we do very good because we wanted to get in, in the playoffs.”
    If he know the goal was going to go in when he rose up for the header:
    “Yes because yesterday I was practicing with Pedro (Morales) after training and I knew he was kicking the ball in that spot. So I just tried to get a good distance from the guy who was defending me and hopefully I get there, and I could head it properly and get it in.”
    How he feels about the rise of Costa Rican soccer:
    “In my country this last year was good since the World Cup. I’m very happy for my country because that makes it get bigger in soccer. Personally, I try to be the best every day because I want to make history in this club. But now we are just thinking of Wednesday.”
    On having his wife watch the game today for the first time:
    “Very special because I had my wife and kid here to watch me. They’re always supporting me and today was a special day and thank God they’re here to watch it.”
    On the CONCACAF Champions League next season:
    “We got the notice that we’re in the Champions League for next year, that is good for us because we could play other tournaments, international tournaments that’s important to each player and it’s a good experience for us.”
    On the atmosphere in the stadium today:
    “Today was loud. Everything was pretty, and the supporters are like our 12th player for us. Without them we cannot play like this and hopefully we can win Wednesday so the semi-finals are here again.”
    DAVID OUSTED
    What was going through his head when he made a save during stoppage time:
    “Please catch it? Something like that. And please blow the whistle was the other thought. I’m ecstatic we got the win and are in the playoffs now. I think we deserve it, these last five or six games I think people reacted fantastically and we’ve shown we can play against the best and play good football.”
    On the strength of the Whitecaps’ defence:
    “I think we’re a hard team to score against. Now we need to score a couple of goals and it will all come together. But being hard to score against is really important going into a tough playoff.”
    What the mood was like going into the second half of the game:
    “Same as before the game. We knew we needed to win. I had the sense Portland was going to go there and make it hard for us and win. And they did. So credit to them. So we knew what we had to do. And I think the second half we did a professional job.”
    On what Kendall Waston has meant to the team:
    “Tremendous goal scorer. He’s just got a hunger and passion to get those balls and get his head on it so fantastic from the big man.”
    On the play of Sam Adekugbe:
    “So tough to come into this game, a high stakes game. But Sam showed all year he has the quality to be here.”
    On the play of Jordan Harvey:
    “We can put Jordan anywhere and he’ll do a solid and great job. And he showed that all year that he’s really reliable either side.”
    On the matchup against Dallas:
    “We had a decent performance a month ago. I think we have a chance to go there a win. They’re a good team and they’ve showed that, that’s why they’re in the playoffs but we have to go in and see if we can find our style of play there and get a win.”
    PEDRO MORALES
    How he’s feeling:
    “I feel so so happy, today was a difficult game. I think they played a complicated game. But in the second half I think we had more passion for the win. We had the motivation more. Kendall did a good job. I’m so happy for him, for the team, for the people here and for the fans. Now a good game in Dallas on Wednesday.”
    On the pressure building throughout the game:
    “I think there was so much pressure but I feel confidence in the team I think the people got more excited with Kekuta’s (Manneh) opportunity for a goal.”
    On the noise level from the crowd:
    “When we were coming here in halftime, the crowd was leading the way. I think in the second half the mentality changed maybe. But now we have a good game Wednesday and have a physical mentality. We need to find what’s necessary for the players, the team, and the fans. Today was very good for the fans.”
    COLORADO RAPIDS
    PABLO MASTROENI
    On how defensively sound his squad has been the last few matches:
    “I think, the last couple of games, we’ve really been working on our shape. I think, more importantly, Zat Knight has brought a tremendous amount of leadership, a tremendous amount of communication, and really has grabbed that back line by the scruff of its neck and really organized them really well and brought some of the young players along. Just a really pivotal player in that role that’s really shored up the back line and also made it easier for the guys in midfield.”
    On what he takes from the season:
    “The season was obviously long, but what I think you take away is that you go through fits of good form and fits of bad form, and what I think is most important is that you never lose the identity of who you are and who you want to be. As a Colorado Rapid for many years, I think the most important thing is representing who we are as Coloradoans. That’s working hard every day, bringing your lunch pail to work, believing in each other, working hard for your teammates, never giving in, and I think tonight was a performance that is reflective of the type of characters and personalities we’ll have next year, on the field in 2015. That’s the reflection of the club moving forward.”
    On the youth movement in Colorado and their roles moving forward:
    “I think, at times, they’ve carried more weight than they should have through the year, but they’ve always stepped up and played big. I think the experience that they’ve gained this year, especially in a game like tonight, with playoff implications for the opponents, who are at home, in a tough place to play, they raised their levels and really played well. I think these types of experiences are going to be invaluable for next year. I think, overall, they’ll continue to be focal points of our group and hopefully we’ll take a bit more burden off of them next year.”
    NICK LABROCCA
    Thoughts on the match:
    “I thought we battled, I thought it was a close game. I think our chances mostly came in the second half – we just kept plugging away, kept trying to play more and more, kept battling, and then the game started opening up for us. Then, they got their set piece goal.”
    On the Rapids’ defensive improvement over the past few games:
    “I feel like we got a little loose in the back, we exposed ourselves, and we weren’t playing together as a team. We opened too many gaps, so I think that’s what our focus was, but, at the same time, we’re going to defend as a team, we’re not just going to sit in, we’re going to press when we can.”
    On what they can take going into next season:
    “I think that this is all collective, I think, how we finished the last couple of games, we battled, we worked together, we worked for each other, and that’s what makes championship teams – not individuals. Individual performances win games, but that team cohesion, that team battle, that’s what wins championships.”
    DAVY ARMSTRONG
    Thoughts on the team’s performance:
    “I thought we battled. We didn’t get the outcomes we wanted to, but sometimes the game just doesn’t go our way. We were in the fight, we were in everything, it was just off of an unlucky set play. So, it was good.”
    On the team’s defensive improvement:
    “We’ve been working on being more compact, staying with the team, dropping whenever we see pressure coming, and just being smarter. We’re not really flying out there, just being compact as a team. So, we’ve been working on that, which has helped us a lot, and it’s just unlucky that we fight hard for so long and then we just give it up on just a half-second of a set play.”
    On the back line the outlook for next season:
    “We’ll just take the fight that we had towards the end of the season, refresh, and come back at it. We have a good team - youth that is good, compact, and strong together. We have a good bond with each other, and I feel like we’ll have that going into next season, which will be good for us.”
    Duane Rollins

    Oh Henry

    By Duane Rollins, in 24th Minute,

    As first reported on the @24thMinute Twitter feed last week, Doneil Henry has been sold.
    To where, you might ask? Well, that's the thing. We don't know.
    Toronto FC isn't saying, other than to say it's in Europe. When CSN reached out to MLS...crickets...
    No one in Europe cares enough about a little known and at times struggling Canadian defender to talk about him.
    So, we're left on our own devices. Normal sources in Toronto were as blindsided by this as the fans were. Outside of that world, in the shadows around the "I know a guy who played with a guy who played with x" world, there is more meat to chew on.
    Not enough to report with 100 percent certainty, but, in light of today's news, it's enough to share with the usual caveats attached.
    The suggestion is he's going to Cyprus (or is at least currently owned by a team in Cyprus--more on that in a bit). That's fairly solid. CSN was told AC Omonia, a consistent Europa League club, is who owns Henry. That info corresponds with a document CSN was shown, but was not able to verify, several months ago that seemed to show Henry as being property of the club.
    Complicating this are suggestions that were made today that the club that does own Henry could still sell him on again. If that were to happen, TFC would get some of the transfer. Or, Henry could return to Toronto again. No one knows.
    Murky stuff. The brash commercialism of it is way beyond the comprehension of most North American sports fans. The idea that you would sell a prospect, period, is hard for NA fans to wrap their head around. This is a plot to a bad episode of Castle.
    The instinct may be to throw your hands in the air and just assume TFC is TFCing again. They might be, but this is more complicated than simple MLSE incompetence.
    On one level, the Reds might actually be clever here. After all they sold a player but still got the benefit of having him on the roster. We don't know how much, if any, allocation money TFC is getting (or when they'll get it). However, it should be some. And, selling a player like Henry is standard operating procedure in world football. He wanted to experience Europe. Without knowing the fee we can't evaluate whether TFC did a good job here. We can conclude that the simple act of selling isn't bad, however.
    Other than optically, of course. Why they didn't tell anyone is staggering. It's also very MLS. Our friends in New York have never met a secret not worth keeping, or information not worth controlling.
    You, as a fan, find out only as much as they want you to and only when they want you to.
    MLS is, after all, as much of a marketing machine as it is a football league. There was nothing gained by informing fans Henry was sold. So, why tell? That's not something many fans, nor CSN, may like. However, MLS doesn't really care.
    And that's how we get to the following inconsistency: DeAndre Yedlin, is a young, homegrown player that was sold to an European team before being indefinitely loaned back to MLS. That move is being heralded as an amazing piece of business that underlines how great MLS' development is.
    But, Doneil Henry, a young, homegrown player sold to an European team before being indefinitely loaned back to MLS is an example of incompetence?
    Guess it depends on how you market it, eh?
    I'll allow readers to decide for themselves why MLS embraced the Yedlin move and hid Henry's.
    James Grossi
    Patrice Bernier
    Bernier returned to the Montreal starting lineup in their 1-1 draw at Toronto on Saturday for the first time in a month and a half, having just returned from a bout of plantar fasciitis last week – it was his nineteenth start and 21st appearance of the season.
    Lining up alongside Calum Mallace at the base of the midfield, Bernier was a dominant force in the middle, even if his usually accurate passing was a little off – completing roughly half of his attempts, though in fairness many incomplete ones were of the longer variety, trying to spring attackers behind the Toronto defenses from deep.
    Raw numbers rarely tell the whole story, but by way of evidence they can be indicative, as such Bernier racked up a jaw-dropping sixteen recoveries, six interceptions, four clearances, and three tackles – a stunning 27 defensive interventions.
    He had one attempt at goal, sending a long-range effort wide in the 75th minute, but his real impact came in his quelling of Toronto attacks and spring of Montreal ones. He intercepted a weak ball in the centre of the pitch, playing up to Dilly Duka that led to a Jack McInerney chance in the first half and it was his lovely, long cross-field ball that found Andres Romero streaking down the left that led to Felipe’s equalizer in 39th minute.
    The Brossard, Quebec-native was not done there, hitting a curling free-kick to the back-post for Hassoun Camara in the second half that led to a handball shout and devising a quick restart from a later dead-ball that found Issey Nakajima-Farran leading to a Marco Di Vaio chance as the match wound down.
    Bernier’s leadership was also evident, trying, without success, to talk Baldomero Toledo out of an early booking for Camara – the defender would be sent off for his second yellow later – and mixing it up with National Team compatriot Dwayne De Rosario as the two sides debated the merits of Jackson’s yellow card – each shoving the other.
    Post-match he commented: “It was a good performance. Against Toronto, it’s always special for a Montrealer. It’d been a month since I played. The last game was [with Canada] against Jamaica, here in Toronto, and we won 3-1. It went well, and I'm glad, all the more so given that I’d only returned to training last week.”
    Adding: “Emotions are let loose sometimes, and you try to control the game, you try to help the referee as well, but you can see it goes overboard sometimes, especially in those games. There were a few red cards, but in the end, it didn’t go overboard so much. For me, it was one of the more exciting and emotional games we had against Toronto.”
    Doneil Henry
    Henry too returned to the starting lineup for Toronto on Saturday against Montreal for the first time after a six-match hiatus – it was his eighteenth start and twentieth appearance of the season, though more importantly (if rumours are to be believed) it may well have been his final home match for the club.
    Paired with Steven Caldwell in the centre of defense, taking up the left-sided role, he was tasked with keeping the tireless running of Jack McInerney under wraps. With Toronto taking the initiative and Montreal looking to spring quick breaks, Henry was required to mop up a lot of half chances, making nine recoveries, five interceptions, three clearances, and two blocked throughout the ninety mintues.
    The Brampton, Ontario-native was a little late to spot Felipe’s trailing run on Montreal’s goal, both he and Caldwell dropping back with the runner rather than protecting the vulnerable top of the box, but he made amends with that error with a good recovery-intervention when Felipe chipped McInerney in early in the second half, doing just enough to rush the striker into clipping his finish off the face of the bar.
    With TFC in desperate need of the points late and some time with the National Team at full-back, Henry pressed high up the right later in the match, getting involved in the oft-impotent attack. His first pass into the box showed all the finesse one would expect of a centre-back in attack – easily cut out by Patrice Bernier – but his second was rather nice, scooping the ball over the tackle of Felipe before bypassing Bernier to play in Dwayne De Rosario down the right-side of the box; unfortunately De Rosario blazed his effort over the bar.
    Perhaps indicative of change in the future, Henry was one of the few Toronto players who ventured to the South End to applaud the fans after another disappointing season. Henry has been the success story of the nascent TFC academy and has a lot of room for further growth in his game.
    Jonathan Osorio
    Osorio started a sixth-consecutive match for Toronto in their draw on Saturday – it was his 24th start and 27th appearance of the season.
    Allowed to take up his preferred central-role, playing ahead of Collen Warner with Michael Bradley suspended, Osorio was good, but was unable to make use of the full pitch, opting instead to stay deep, often taking up the Bradley-role of dropping very deep to pick up the initial pass out of the back. The consequence of which was that he did not have a single pass in the final third of the pitch, which is a criminal misuse of his skills with Toronto desperate for goals.
    The Toronto, Ontario-native was indeed key in TFC’s ball movement, completing all but eight of his approximately forty passes, but it would have been nice if some had been in more dangerous areas of the pitch.
    Despite that reserved nature, he did help spring two notable attacks – laying a skipping ball down the right for Mark Bloom that led to Luke Moore’s fade-away header at the back-post that was cut out by Matteo Ferrari and playing a scoop pass in midfield to Moore that led to the counterattack that drew a fine foot save out of Evan Bush at the back-post on Dominic Oduro – likely TFC’s best scoring chance of the match.
    His night would come to a premature end in the 93rd minute when he was dismissed with a very harsh red card from the referee, who had obviously tired managing the game midway through the second half and chose to instead start sending everybody off – it was the first red card of his MLS career and just his third bookings. No doubt Osorio caught Felipe with a foul, but did it warrant a red card? Video evidence is inconclusive, but it is worth pointing out no Montreal players were particularly angered by the challenge, as they were by Jackson’s on Eric Miller some minutes earlier.
    Unless it is rescinded, which is unlikely given the Independent Review Panel’s silence on Nick Hagglund’s bizarre red the previous week (there is little reason to stir the pot and overturn cards when the matches are meaningless), Osorio will have played his final match of 2014, ending the season with three goals and five assists after scoring five and garnering a single assist in his rookie campaign, making six further starts, but one less appearance than he did in 2013.
    Post-match he discussed a plethora of subjects, sharing his thoughts on the match: “It was a difficult game. Obviously they came out with a lot of energy. You could kind of feel that. They definitely wanted to end our playoff hopes. To be fair they played pretty well. We played pretty good too. I thought we had many chances, especially in the first half. Unfortunately we gave up that goal and we couldn’t get the next one in the 2nd half.”
    On the red card: “As Felipe was passing the ball I just kind of reached in with my foot and I kind of got him a little bit. I don’t know if it deserved red card but I did get him. It was a foul.”
    On Felipe’s goal-celebration: “I was waiting to get a goal myself because I had something up my sleeve but it’s okay it happens.”
    And finally on the fan’s impatience, speaking truth in the face of much pressure: “We understand the fans are impatient now because it’s been a long time since the club started and we’ve never been in the playoffs. We have to look at the reality and the reality is we’re still a club making changes. We went up a step from last year and if we can continue building that, pretty soon we will be a team fighting for a championship.
    “We definitely do have the players, maybe we’re missing some pieces but I think more it’s about the team being together longer. The more we get to practice with each other, the more fluidity we’ll get in our team and the better we will be.”
    Russell Teibert
    Teibert retained his starting position for Vancouver in the 0-0 draw in San Jose on Saturday night for the eleventh-consecutive match – it was his 21st start and 28th appearance of the season.
    Once more alongside Matias Laba at the base of the midfield, Teibert had a solid outing, covering tons of ground and was nearly perfect in his passing, competing all but four of some fifty attempts.
    It was a rather quiet match on the whole, but the Niagara Falls, Ontario-native had one crack from long range that strayed wide and hit a spectator, who dropped like a stone and he played numerous balls into the wide areas, hoping to spur attacks, finding Erik Hurtado one on occasion, who could not see out the chance.
    He was guilty of over-committing on one occasion, biting hard and blazing past Khari Stephenson’s touch allowing a blistering shot from the top of the box that was well-saved by David Ousted.
    Teibert looked forward to Vancouver’s final match – the one which would determine if they will make this year’s playoffs - in his post-match comments: “We said that we had five cup finals to play in, and we’ve won three and tied one. This is the last cup final that we’re going to have to play in before the playoffs, and we’re going to approach it like we have the past four games. I think if we stick to our game plan and everybody focuses on their tasks, individually and collectively, I know we can get a result.”
    Issey Nakajima-Farran
    Nakajima-Farran began his return to Toronto on the bench, coming on for Dilly Duka in the 73rd minute to make his fifth-substitute appearance in Montreal’s last six matches after an impressive outing for Canada against Colombia on Tuesday – it was his twelfth appearance of the season for the Impact, all but four coming as a sub.
    Lively and full of confidence, the Calgary, Alberta-native took every opportunity to close down TFC players on the ball, helping to prevent the home side from finding the game-winner they needed. He nearly got a winner himself when Patrice Bernier played a quick free-kick to him, running at Steven Caldwell before playing to Marco Di Vaio down the right. Joe Bendik would deny the striker’s attempt and the rebound trickled beyond the reach of Nakajima-Farran at the back-post with the net gaping – it would have been sweet justice for how his midseason transfer between the clubs was handled.
    He spoke post-match about returning to Toronto: “I’ve got close friends on the other team so I always wish them the best but at the same time it’s bittersweet because of how the situation went down. As much as I want to prove myself to them against them for what they did, but this is MLS, but I have mixed feelings because I have close friends on the other side.”
    And on how everything has played out for him this season: “Well, they didn’t really play out too well for me. As soon as I settled down in Montreal, I haven’t been playing as much ever since the red card. I’ve been playing here and there but no more than an hour in the past 10 or 15 games I guess. It’s been frustrating and very unexciting time for myself, but, everything has been going great with the national team. I’m very thankful for Benito (Floro) and especially all the guys that surround the national team so it’s been a great season for that.”
    Dwayne De Rosario
    De Rosario entered Toronto’s draw from the bench in the 57th minute, replacing the goal-scorer Warren Creavalle with TFC in search of an equalizer – it was the eighth-straight appearance for the veteran, all but the first coming from as a substitute; he has made nineteen appearances this season, four of them starts.
    Given a free role, De Rosario ranged all over the pitch in an effort to find a way through the Montreal defenses, though he was nominally stationed on the right of the midfield.
    Shortly after entering, he nearly picked out the run of Gilberto with a long ball down the left-channel, but his delivery was slightly over-hit, skidding to Evan Bush who cleared away the threat. The Scarborough, Ontario-native had a glorious chance to get the winner himself, after Doneil Henry silky-skills played him in down the right-side of the area, but his right-footer sailed woefully over.
    His run into the area even later was overlooked by a Gilberto headed pass, opting instead to try and find Luke Moore to little effect.
    De Rosario had several run-ins with his Canadian associates, marking Issey Nakajima-Farran on a free-kick, tangling and bundling him over in the process and exchanging shoves with Patrice Bernier after Jackson’s booking.
    The veteran exhibited he still has plenty of fire, responding to getting hacked down by Hassoun Camara with a back-heel, leg-hook, can-opener, earning a yellow card for his troubles – it was his first booking of the season.
    Kyle Bekker
    Bekker’s run of three-straight starts came to an end on Saturday, returning to the bench from which he made his introduction in the 68th minute, replacing Collen Warner with TFC chases a victory – it was his nineteenth appearance of the season and seventh as a substitute.
    Taking up the deep-lying central role, Bekker was good, but wasted his chance to play the hero, sending his last-second free-kick sailing high onto the roof of the net.
    The Oakville, Ontario-native did have his moments, making the interception that led to Dominic Oduro’s chance on the counterattack and hitting a lovely corner kick that Gilberto should have done better with, but it was not to be; his frustration when his free-kick floated away was obvious.
    Tesho Akindele
    Akindele was back on the bench for the start of Dallas’ eventual 0-1 win in Colorado on Saturday – it was his 25th appearance of the season, eighteen of which have been starts.
    It was the third match in the last four in which he was used as a substitute, perhaps Oscar Pareja is trying to get the rookie some rest before the playoffs begin, plus Dallas’ other offseason acquisitions – David Texeira and Andres Escobar - have found their form, making inclusion in the starting lineup a more uncertain prospect.
    Entering the fray at half-time, replacing Texeira, the Calgary, Alberta-native was full of his usual running, unfortunately it was a pretty uneventful match. Dallas took the lead in the 56th minute from the penalty spot and then Colorado were reduced to ten men in the 79th minute, all but ending the contest.
    Despite that awesome ‘Vote for Tesho’ campaign video, his Rookie of the Year bid will have suffered some in that his production has dropped off of late – his last goal came in that hat-trick nine matches ago; since then he has picked up a pair of assists.
    The transition from the short college season to the lengthy professional one always weighs heavy on young players, perhaps a further reason for his lack of starts recently.
    Maxim Tissot
    Tissot entered Montreal’s draw in Toronto in the 82nd minute, replacing Andres Romero with fresh legs as the Impact looked to end TFC’s season – it was his nineteenth appearance of the season; all but six of which have come from the bench.
    Taking up the left-side of the Montreal midfield, the Gatineau, Quebec-native was tasked largely with matching the speed threat of Dominic Oduro down that flank, making at least one crucial intervention on the tricky Ghanaian to see out the result.
    The Rest
    Ashtone Morgan, Maxime Crepeau, Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé, Sam Adekugbe, and Kofi Opare were unused substitutes on the bench for their respective sides.
    Mark Watson and Nick Dasovic were relieved on their managerial duties in San Jose last Wednesday when it was announced that the rumoured return of Dominic Kinnear to his former stomping grounds would be coming to fruition next season. Despite the shockingly public nature of the back-room machinations, Watson ‘took the high road’ in his comments to the San Jose Mercury. Hopefully the duo will land on their feet; who knows, Toronto could be looking for a new management team in the near future.
    All quotes and video courtesy of MLSsoccer.com
    Each week James takes a look at the contributions of Canadians in the league and the league as a whole.
    You can follow James on twitter @grawsee or read more of his writing at Partially Obstructed View
    Michael Mccoll
    Portland Timbers are in Honduras right now, all set to play CD Olimpia in their final CONCACAF Champions League group game. A win, a draw and even a narrow one goal defeat, will see the Timbers go through to the quarter finals, which even I will grudgingly acknowledge is quite an achievement for the great unwashed. Hopefully one the Caps themselves will at least emulate next season.
    Our Whitecaps Best Case Scenario week kicks off in Tegucigalpa (which looks like a horrible autocorrect gone wrong episode but actually isn't). What we want to see is threefold.
    First of all, we want to see the Timbers lose. Badly. Although I'll settle for 2-0. We don't want to see our Cascadian rivals win anything or any games, and especially not advance and get prestige in the Champions League. Secondly, we want to see a rough, tough battle. Lots of kicking taking it's toll in the best Honduras way. Let's leave some walking wounded for the Timbers ahead of Saturday's crucial clash at Dallas. And finally, we want to see horrible, strength sapping conditions for Portland, followed by some flight scheduling nightmares that delays their return to the US for as long as possible.
    A day later and the action moves to Utah, with Real Salt Lake winding up their season three days before any other team in MLS in a scheduling quirk forced by having an odd number of teams in the league.
    Now lets lay our cards out on the table right away. We want the Whitecaps to face RSL in the playoffs. I feel that not only is it the most winnable road game between the two options, but it's also a trip I will gladly make. Trying to get to Frisco for the Dallas game just doesn't appeal and I want to stay Ebola free!
    So whilst a Salt Lake loss or draw at home to Chivas on Wednesday would, on first reflection, be the ideal option for the outcome of this match, that's actually just what we don't want to happen from a Whitecaps point of view.
    Anything but a win for RSL will keep them firmly rooted below Dallas in fourth place in the West. The end result that we want but at the wrong possible time. Such an outcome would mean that Dallas have clinched third and avoided a first round playoff knockout game, all with one game to spare. That frees them up to play a weakened team in their last game of the regular season, resting some key players. Normally we wouldn't care but considering their opponents are Portland, we need Dallas to go into this game having to must win to secure that third spot, so that means we need RSL to get the three points on Wednesday night.
    So as we move into an exciting Saturday, that'll hopefully be two results down, three to go.
    And we first head a little bit closer to home, with all eyes on the Supporters' Shield showdown between Seattle Sounders and LA Galaxy at 11.30am on Saturday morning. A horrible time and a horrible match for us. The last thing I want is Seattle to win the Supporters' Shield, especially in front of their idiot fans. They'll be unbearable. Even more so than usual. But, sadly that's what we'll be rooting for - a Sounders win or draw.
    Why? I hear you scream. Well frankly, I'm looking ahead. When the Caps beat Real Salt Lake in the first round of the playoffs, who would you rather they face in the Western semi final? An LA side we've struggled to take one point from this season and one in which we simply can't seem to win at their gaff, or a Seattle side that are on Vancouver's mantelpiece?
    Let's keep LA for the Western Conference final, or even better still, hope that Dallas put them out before that point.
    Then we come to the real big one - Dallas v Portland.
    If our plan has gone well so far, then Dallas will head into this one needing to win to grab that third place (unless they want to avoid LA in the semis and see Seattle as the easier route too!). A draw wouldn't be a disaster as it would still leave the Whitecaps needing just one point of their own to claim the playoff berth, but we want a Dallas win. A victory that will seal Vancouver's fate with their own one game to spare.
    A Dallas win sends Vancouver into the postseason without doing anything and will mean that Carl Robinson can rest some key players, especially the ones like Harvey, Laba, Morales and Teibert who are all just one more booking away from suspension. Rest Rosales too and keep him fresh. The perfect situation for the Caps. Except, of course, they will have started their own game before Portland have finished, so that resting needs to come at half-time. Still a big boost though.
    But whatever happens in the Dallas-Portland game and whatever Vancouver need to get in that last game to secure the playoff spot, we want to see the team end with a win and some goals. The Caps need one of the strikers (and I don't care which one it is at this point) to catch fire, find the back of the net and head into the playoffs in form and full of confidence.
    So there's our dream next five days. Just to recap, we're looking to see....
    - A Timbers collapse against CD Olimpia
    - A Honduran bloodbath
    - A Real Salt Lake win over Chivas
    - A Seattle Sounders win over LA Galaxy
    - A Dallas win over Portland
    - A Vancouver win over Colorado
    - Another final game hat-trick from a Caps striker
    A lucky seven? Let's hope the footballing gods are looking down in our favour.
    Squizz
    “We’ve brought players that have that experience but also have that blend of youth,” Herdman said in a CSA news release. “I think that it’s an important feature as we look for the right group that will take us through the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2015.”
    Spoiler alert, on two fronts -- one, John Herdman didn't actually say those words (yeah, I know, really pulling the curtain back on the press release game here). And two -- he's already got the right group. He has his group, and we know who that group will be. If you've followed the women's program over the past 18 months, you've probably correctly guessed 90% of the roster even without reading it.
    But what the heck, for reference's sake, here's the roster for those two Japan games:
    GK- Stephanie Labbe | SWE / KIF Orebro
    GK- Erin McLeod | USA / Houston Dash
    D- Kadeisha Buchanan | USA / West Virginia University
    D- Allysha Chapman | SWE / Eskilstuna United DFF
    D- Rhian Wilkinson | CAN / Comètes de Laval
    D- Sura Yekka | CAN / Brams United
    D- Emily Zurrer | SWE / Jitex BK
    D- Carmelina Moscato | USA / Seattle Reign FC
    D- Rachel Quon | USA / Chicago Red Stars
    M- Jessie Fleming | CAN / London NorWest SC
    M- Kaylyn Kyle | USA / Houston Dash
    M- Ashley Lawrence | USA / West Virginia University
    M- Diana Matheson | USA / Washington Spirit
    M- Sophie Schmidt | USA / Sky Blue FC
    M- Desiree Scott | ENG / Notts County FC
    F- Adriana Leon | USA / Chicago Stars
    F- Christine Sinclair | USA / Portland Thorns
    F- Melissa Tancredi | USA / Chicago Red Stars
    F- Josée Bélanger | CAN / Comètes de Laval
    F- Jonelle Filigno | USA / Sky Blue FC
    Surprised? Nope, me neither. Karina LeBlanc's not there, but that's almost assuredly a logistical issue of some kind. Barring injury, she'll be on the World Cup roster. Between her, Erin McLeod and Stephanie Labbe -- who's had an outstanding season in Sweden -- Canada has an embarrassment of riches at the goalkeeper position.
    The only possibly unfamiliar name is Allysha Chapman. The 25-year-old defender represented Canada at the 2008 U-20 Women's World Cup and has been with the senior team once before, back in 2009. An alumnus of LSU -- which quite loftily describes her as "the most decorated defensive standout in the history of the LSU Soccer program" -- Chapman played all but one game this season for Eskilstuna United in Sweden, notching two goals along the way.
    Including players like Chapman and Rachel Quon is Herdman's attempt to build some ready-made depth in the absence of the versatile Lauren Sesselmann, still recovering from a knee injury. And while teenager Kadeisha Buchanan is the team's undisputed breakout star of the last two years, it remains to be seen whether fellow youngster Sura Yekka is ready to step into prime time on a regular basis.
    And while we're at it, two of their also-already-familiar teenage counterparts -- Jessie Fleming and Ashley Lawrence -- continue to make their case for inclusion on next year's big-tournament side. That quartet, along with defender Rebecca Quinn, likely represent the teens with the best shot at cracking the World Cup roster.
    If I had to pick one who'll likely make it, it's Buchanan. If I had two, well, then it gets tougher -- and that's what these kids will be fighting for against Japan.
    Otherwise, we've got our well-known conquering heroes from London 2012, including Melissa Tancredi, continuing to carry the torch for Big Red. And let's be clear -- this is no issue of past-it veterans clinging desperately to their spots, to the detriment of the program. The likes of Matheson and Schmidt have torn it up in NWSL. Desiree Scott is called "destroyer" for a reason, and she's just hitting her athletic prime.
    Christine Sinclair and Melissa Tancredi may no longer be at the peak of their powers -- remember, it was the remarkable coincidence of both of them hitting their peak powers at precisely the same time that lifted Canada to the Olympic podium -- but they're both still pretty darn fine players.
    So, no, this isn't a matter of most of these players competing for their spots on the team, because you could probably pencil in Canada's starting XI for its World Cup opener today, and barring injury or other freak occurrences, probably get it pretty much right. Aside from the fringe starters and the kids, who'll be fighting for places, we pretty much know who and what this team is.
    No, this is about a group of players who've tasted blood -- or bronze, as the case may be -- and liked it. They want more. They want to show London wasn't a one-off, or a fluke occurrence. They want to show they can hang with the world's best not just this month, but next summer when it matters the most.
    Will they do it? Well, I'll say what I've said all along -- Herdman's oft-repeated goal of being in the Women's World Cup final seems preposterously lofty (bordering on disingenuous), especially given that this team finished dead last in the 2011 tournament.
    But then again, I also wouldn't have given the team -- much as I may love them -- much of a chance of striking bronze in London either, and look what happened there.
    At the end of the day, the prognostications from coaches and media members mean nothing. It's all about what the players are capable of doing on the field, when the heat is on... and our clearest sign yet of Canada's chances will come in a few short days, against the reigning world champs.
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