Vancouver Whitecaps Residency News Release -- www.whitecapsfc.com
Sunday, June 12, 2011
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- A breezy Sunday afternoon saw the Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency (4-1-2) earn a 2-1 home win against the Portland Timbers U-23s (4-4-1) in the USL Premier Development League on Bell Pitch at Empire Field.
Coming off a 2-1 victory over British Columbia rivals the Victoria Highlanders last weekend the young ’Caps were looking for a strong effort against the defending PDL champions, having added some Major League Soccer flavour to their roster for this PDL Northwest Division clash.
With Wes Knight, Long Tan, Russell Teibert, and Blake Wagner in Residency head coach Richard Grootscholten’s line-up, the Resdiency team looked to field an offensively-minded squad to match the a powerful Portland attack, which had produced 16 goals in eight league matches - the second most in the Northwest Division.
Both sides got off to a good start, but it was the ’Caps who created the game’s first chance. Teibert took a Tan feed and sailed a strike over the Portland crossbar on a beautiful left-footed volley in the 14th minute. The Timbers U-23s replied with an attack of their own three minutes later, as striker Brent Richards took a Portland cross and just missed converting the opportunity.
In what quickly became a back-and-forth affair, Carlos Marquez had a wonderful opportunity in the 22nd minute to notch the game’s first goal, but Timbers U-23s goalkeeper Garrett Staples was on hand to make one of his two saves on the day.
It was on 29 minutes that the game’s first goal was produced by two Vancouver MLS players. Showing incredible patience and touch, Knight fed a perfect cross to the head of Tan, who scored for the second consecutive PDL match in East Vancouver and hand the Residency team a 1-0 halftime lead.
That advantage was quickly taken away, though, as Portland came storming out the gate to start the second half. Just three minutes after the break a corner from the Timbers U-23’s Sean Morris was knocked home by Ryan Kawulok, despite the efforts of ’Caps goalkeeper Callum Irving.
Whitecaps FC substitute Caleb Clarke came on in the 61st minute and had an almost immediate impact, converting a strike after a marvellous pass from Ben Fisk in the 67th minute to restore Vancouver’s lead.
Several substitutions by both sides saw the pace of the action maintained as Portland pushed back for the equalizer. Clarke seemed to be a one-man force for the ’Caps at the other end as he came close with a headed chance in the 79th minute. The final minutes saw the Timbers U-23s make one last push to find an equalizer, but the Residency team were able to secure a hard-fought 2-1 victory and extend their unbeaten streak in the PDL to six matches.
Although happy with the result, Grootscholten saw plenty of room for improvement in his squad, who find themselves in second place in the PDL’s Northwest Division after seven matches played.
"The 2-1 result is good, but we’re not satisfied with the way we played," he told whitecapsfc.com. "We like to play possession out of our backline and Portland played us with pressure high up the pitch, and we’re not really used to that. Some of our players panicked a bit, but that’s why we play these games. That’s why we talk with the players and show them the video of these games. I thought the last 30 minutes were much better, as we got our confidence back by putting fresh players in and we controlled the game until the end."
Whitecaps FC Residency will have a week to prepare for next Sunday’s PDL home match against the Washington Crossfire. The game will take place at Coquitlam’s Percy Perry Stadium at 4 p.m. PT. The Timbers U-23s, meanwhile, return home to host Tacoma Tide next Saturday night.