Soccer
One For The Show
One might think that the Whitecaps were frustrated in part of the cancellation of the game last week in Edmonton due to the “snow”, but such wasn’t the case.
The Whitecaps FC fielded a young squad and battled back to earn a 1-1 draw with FC Edmonton in front of 15, 000 plus fans at BC Place.
This was the first leg of the 2015 Amway Canadian Championship semi-final and if this is any indication, the rest of the games will be just as exciting.
Edmonton FC scored first in the fourth minute and from there the match was a long drawn out slow affair due to numerous injury delays.
After missing earlier in the match Edmonton FC striker Tomi Ameobi put the North American Soccer League outfit ahead in the fourth minute.
While some fans had left the match unable to return it was the 87th-minute that saw Gershon Koffie give the Caps the much needed jump earning a 1-1 draw.
This obvious gives the Caps jump as they head into the second leg of the Amway Cup back in Edmonton – hopefully with no snow this time!!!
Koffie played the role of ‘Captain” and was one of the more experienced players in the starting lineup for the Cap’s.
As predicted Carl Robinson made a number of changes after the weekend win over Philadelphia Union, which added some additional punch to the roster.
Tim Parker who is a rookie defender was the only player who started both matches.
Parker’s centre back partner Christian Dean was one of three players making their first starts of 2015.
Whitecaps started Paolo Tornaghi who made his debut and showed the much needed toughness to the backend, while Canadian midfielder Kianz Froese also made his start.
The English striker combined with Ritchie Jones to force a turnover deep in Whitecaps FC territory before calmly slotting it passed a sprawling Tornaghi from close range.
When teams face injuries it’s a concern for any coach and Carl Robinson watched patiently as in the 17th minute left back Sam Adekugbe limped off with a right ankle sprain.
Robinson was forced to use an early substitution sending Jordan Harvey into the match.
For a while it looked as though the ‘Caps became calm and focused on the task at hand, which was to win.
The Cap’s got their first chance in the 24th minute when Deybi Flores (18) shoveled a one-two with Darren Mattocks before hammering a strike just wide.
A short time later Froese headed the ball from Nicolas Mezquida sending a free kick over the goal.
The 50th minute saw goalkeeper Matt VanOekel come up with a quality save off the boot of Erik Hurtado from the penalty spot.
Mattocks was denied a short time later from a similar area and the 66th minute saw Mattocks release Hurtado into the box with a header from midfield.
It wasn’t until the 87th minute when the ‘Caps broke through when a deflected Harvey cross fell to Koffie in the centre of the box – GOAL!!!
The away goal gives FC Edmonton an advantage, but everything is still to play when they meet again Wednesday, May 20 at Clarke Field in Edmonton.
You can catch the action and call of the game at 7 pm Pacific Time on Sportsnet ONE.
The team that scores more combined goals between the two games will advance to face Montreal Impact in the two-leg final (with away goals serving as the tiebreaker).
The Whitecaps FC return to league play in a much-anticipated Cascadia derby vs. Seattle Sounders FC.
The match starts at 4 pm PT on TSN1.
WFC2 are also in action on Sunday at UBC Thunderbird Stadium.