WHITECAPS AND ISLANDERS DRAW 1-1

August 2, 2007 - Vancouver Whitecaps - 1
Puerto Rico - 1

Swangard Stadium, Burnaby, BC
Attendance: 5,352 (standing room sellout)

Vancouver Whitecaps FC came from a goal down to earn a 1-1 home draw with Puerto Rico Islanders on Thursday evening.

Match Photos - courtesy Josh Devins

Audio Highlights - courtesy TEAM 1040

Despite out-shooting their Caribbean island visitors 11 to six, it was the in-form Islanders that took the lead through a fine strike from Fabrice Noël on 64 minutes. That scoreline lasted 13 minutes, however, as substitute Alfredo Valente earned the Whitecaps their second straight draw in less than a week with his first goal of the season.

Thursday’s result took Vancouver’s winless streak to nine games and equals a club record that occurred over the two seasons of 1995 and 1996. Puerto Rico, meanwhile, took their unbeaten run to seven games with the draw.

Whitecaps head coach Bob Lilley made four changes to the side that drew 2-2 with arch-rivals Seattle Sounders last Friday night. Richard Goddard replaced Lutz Pfannenstiel in goal, while three of the club’s new signings earned their first starts for Vancouver. Josh Hansen and Alen Marcina replaced Jason Jordan and Jason McLaughlin in attack, while Brazilian midfielder Zé Roberto made his debut for the club following his move from Montreal Impact last week.

Islanders boss Colin Clarke, meanwhile, included former Whitecaps midfielder Jared Montz and defender Lars Lyssand in his starting XI. Lyssand joined Puerto Rico in a trade that saw Marcina initially head to Montreal in June before the striker completed his move home to Vancouver last week.

On a beautiful Thursday evening for soccer, a fourth straight sell-out crowd of 5352 packed into Swangard Stadium to see the Whitecaps dominate the opening 45 minutes.

The first chance of the game, however, fell to Puerto Rico in the fourth minute. Noah Delgado’s pass near the edge of the Whitecaps box found Petter Villegas. With a clear sight of goal, the Ecuadorian midfielder struck a low shot that just went wide of Goddard’s goal.

The following exchanges proved to be more even between the two sides, as the warm conditions had little affect on the competitiveness of the contest.

Vancouver’s first opportunity came on 15 minutes, as Marcina headed Lyle Martin’s volleyed cross from the right wide of the far post. The Surrey, BC, native then tormented his old club by forcing a corner with a close-range shot that was blocked away after Martin Nash found the striker with a forward ball in the Puerto Rico box.

Moments later, Lyssand fouled the man he was traded for in Marcina near the halfway line and received a yellow card from match referee Dave Gantar.

Lilley’s side created two decent opportunities shortly after the half-hour mark, with Nash swinging a free kick to the far post and finding the head of Donatelli. The Whitecaps midfielder put the ball back in front of the Puerto Rico goal, where Hansen forced a spectacular save from Islanders goalkeeper Josh Saunders with his goal-bound header. Kindel then tried his luck with a weaving byline run into the Islanders box seconds later, but the left fullback’s shot went wide of the near post.

Despite creating the one early chance, Puerto Rico had a tricky pair of strikers in the Haitian hit-man Noël and his attacking partner Willie Sims. Playing in another makeshift line-up at the back, Whitecaps captain Jeff Clarke did well to halt the dangerous advances of Noël after he beat Vancouver’s offside trap to a through ball.

The first half ended with the home side in the ascendancy, as Saunders had to make saves from a Kindel volley and a misconnected Lyall header. Nash then went the closest to scoring for Vancouver with an exquisite right-foot curler that struck the crossbar before Saunders claimed possession of the ball from Zé Roberto’s header on the rebound. “The game was a great experience for me,” the Brazilian newcomer said of his Whitecaps debut. “I wished we finished with a win, but a tie is good.”

The second half started with Puerto Rico again creating the first chance, but defender Marco Velez headed a far-post free kick wide of the target before Noël sliced a close-range effort wide of goal. At the other end, Marcina was left frustrated with an offside decision after trying to latch on to Hansen’s through ball in the visitors’ box.

Moments later, two Puerto Rico players needed treatment, with Sims initially being stretchered off after a nasty collision with Goddard on the edge of Vancouver’s box, while Lyall was adjudged to have fouled Saunders after connecting with a shot that left the Puerto Rico keeper needing the attention of the Islanders trainer.

Then on 64 minutes, Whitecaps fans were left stunned by a piece of striking brilliance from Noël. The Puerto Rico striker picked the ball up in the middle of the Whitecaps half before unleashing an unstoppable strike past Goddard to give the Islanders the lead. “I’m delighted with the result,” said Puerto Rico head coach Clarke. “We’ve probably got away with one a little bit tonight, as I thought Vancouver played well and created chances. They’ll feel a bit aggrieved that they didn’t get all three points, but we hung in there and defended well.”

The goal sparked changes from Lilley on 67 minutes, as the three new faces in Marcina, Hansen, and Zé Roberto - who picked up a head injury moments earlier - were replaced by Jordan, McLaughlin, and Valente.

Valente looked particularly bright from the moment he stepped on the pitch, and it was the Whitecaps midfielder that restored parity on 77 minutes, as his low shot beat Saunders, hit the inside of the far post and rolled into the net for 1-1. “I’ve been trying to get that first goal off my shoulders all year,” Valente told reporters. “It would have been nice if it was a winning goal, but I’ll take the equalizer. Anytime I came off the bench, I’ve always wanted to make a difference and bring a little bit of energy on the pitch. It’s good to come in and contribute.”

The goal brought the Whitecaps fans back to life for the final stages of the game, with Jordan missing the target with his far-post header from Nash’s free kick, while at the other end, Villegas caused a brief moment of panic with a strike that flew just wide.

Another Whitecaps substitute in Jay Alberts tried his luck from near the Islanders box on 88 minutes, but his effort sailed over Saunders’ crossbar before the fourth official showed that four minutes of stoppage time would be played.

In that four minutes, Saunders needed to make another save off his own crossbar from Donatelli’s far-post header before the final whistle was blown by referee Gantar. “The frustration is mounting,” Kindel said of the result. “It’s more frustrating if you combine it with last week against Seattle as well. We’ve shown pretty good resolve for a team that is winless in nine. It’s amazing how upbeat training has been and how guys are still really fighting to get through this. Everyone can see that this process is going pretty well, it’s just the end product that we are not totally ecstatic with right now.”

Despite claiming a draw on Thursday, Lilley remains upbeat that better days are ahead for his team. “We’re creating good chances right now and felt we were unlucky not to have three or four goals tonight,” Lilley told reporters after the game. “We’ve got to keep doing what we’re doing. If we keep playing like this, I can promise you we won’t be tying these games, we will be winning them instead. Once that momentum starts, we will be hard to get off that track. We still have seven games left in the season to get better, and right now, I like the direction we are going in.”

The result keeps Puerto Rico above Vancouver in the USL-1 standings, with the Islanders having a game in hand on the Whitecaps. The Caribbean side now face another difficult test at Seattle on Saturday evening.

The Whitecaps, meanwhile, have a week to prepare for two games in as many days, as they visit USL-1 leaders Portland Timbers for a second time this season on August 11 before hosting struggling Minnesota Thunder the following day.

SCORING SUMMARY

64' Puerto Rico 0-1 Fabrice Noël
Noël attacking up the middle ripped a 25-yard shot past goalkeeper Richard Goddard.

77' Vancouver 1-1 Alfredo Valente (Martin Nash)
Nash fed Valente breaking into the box down the left and he picked the far bottom corner for his first goal of the season.

FINAL GAME STATS

Shots: Vancouver - 11 Puerto Rico - 6
Saves: Vancouver - 0 Puerto Rico - 4
Fouls: Vancouver - 10 Puerto Rico - 8
Offsides: Vancouver - 5 Puerto Rico - 2
Corners: Vancouver - 5 Puerto Rico - 2

Referee: Dave Gantar

Cautions: Vancouver - Marcina 61' - Puerto Rico - Lars Lyssand 24', Edwin Miranda 30'

Vancouver Whitecaps FC:
30.Richard Goddard, 24.Lyle Martin, 13.Geordie Lyall, 28. Diaz Kambere (6.Jay Alberts 73'), 8. Steve Kindel; 7.Martin Nash (20.Dave Morris 88'), 2.Jeff Clarke, 14.Tony Donatelli, 17.Zé Roberto (9.Alfredo Valente 67'), 11.Alen Marcina (26.Jason Jordan 67'), 18.Josh Hansen (15.Jason McLaughlin 67')

Vancouver subs not used:
29.Lutz Pfannenstiel; 22. Nigel Marples

Puerto Rico Islanders:
7.Josh Saunders; 2.Lars Lyssand, 4.Marco Valez, 12.John Krause, 33.Jay Needham; 5.Noah Delgado, 7.Edwin Miranda, 10. Petter Villegas (9. Alberto Delgado 87'), 17.Jared Montz (13.David Johnson 73'); 11.Fabrice Noël, 24.Willie Sims (14.Taiwo Atieno 69')

Puerto Rico subs not used:
23.Michael Behoinick; 15.Mauricio Segovia, 25.Jeremie Piette; 20.Victor Herrera

Winning 50-50 Ticket: Yellow 0948065

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