While waiting to catch the sky-train at Scott Road, I happened to bump into Steve Cooper from Delta.
He is heavily involved in the soccer community in and around Delta.
He along with some young female players from the area managed to grab some tickets to the match between the Whitecaps and DC United.
Everyone in his group was thrilled to be attending yet another game and be a part of the 17,288 on hand at the newly renovated BC Place Stadium along with an open roof for everyone to enjoy.
Steve’s group play for the U 15 Girls EA Sports BC Soccer Premier League or the EASBCSPL. They play out of South Fraser and Steve is the Head Coach.
In total eight (8) franchises were awarded in the league for starters, but that could grow, depending on how the league does in the future.
The home field is South Surrey Athletic Park, but this Sunday they travel to Victoria for a game to see how they match-up against the club from the Island. The league is a newly created league for top players from U13-U18 boy’s and girls.
It run’s from March to November to keep elite players from playing in the colder months in BC.
The Cap’s are looking at a repeat from the win they managed to pull-off last week and would love to play spoiler to DC United, who is in need of win’s to stay in the play-off hunt.
Both clubs are in separate divisions, with DC having 38 points, one ahead of Chicago while the Cap’s have 25 and are in the Western division in the MLS.
They started off with an impressive march down field to take the first goal of the game a short 45 seconds in the contest getting the first marker past the “keeper”.
The last meeting between these clubs saw DC come away with a 4-0 victory having Pontius score twice at RFK Stadium.
Also attending the game is Basketball Super-Star Steve Nash who held a press conference at half time in the press box to talk about the NBA and the Whitecap’s new home.
The second half started quickly for the Cap’s again as a short minute in, Long Tan put them up 2-0 on a close-in play in the box.
DC United made a quick sub in the 54th minute to try to get some attack in the game.
Not to be taken out of the game saw DC United score in the 57th minute off the foot of Brandon McDonald following a free kick narrowing the game 2-1.
In the 59th minute Long Tan was subbed and replaced by # 29 Eric Hassli to the delight of everyone. Camilo was replaced by Salinas in the 72nd minute.
The rest of the game was played with the thought of keeping the one goal lead and not letting DC back into the contest.
While it was great to have the roof open, some told me following the game; it did get a “tad” cool.
The Whitecaps hit the road for the next game and look at extending the winning streak from two to three.
Great game for everyone and a great atmosphere for everyone that attended a mid-week game – especially all the players from Delta club.
