Match Report:

By Simon Fudge/whitecapsfc.com

In the third game of a five-match road spell, NASL Conference leaders Vancouver Whitecaps FC (8W-3L-11D) played to a goalless draw at Athletic Club of St. Louis (5W-10L-6D) in the USSF D-2 Pro League on Friday evening.

In what was the fourth and final regular season meeting between these two NASL Conference rivals, Teitur Thordarson's side took their unbeaten streak away from home in the league to eight matches (3W-0L-5D) after battling to another stalemate at the Anheuser-Busch Center in Fenton, Missouri.

Friday's result meant the Blue and White concluded their four-match series versus St. Louis with an undefeated record of 1W-0L-3D. The draw also extended Vancouver's undefeated run in USSF D-2 to four games.

The Whitecaps made three changes to the side that started last weekend's 2-2 draw with the RailHawks in Carolina. The most notable change was youngster Alex Semenets earning his first competitive men's team start, as he replaced Cornelius Stewart in the Vancouver attack. Takashi Hirano also earned his first start of the season at left fullback for Zurab Tsiskaridze, while Blake Wagner returned to the left side of midfield in place of youngster Russell Teibert.

On a typically hot and humid summer's night in the American Midwest, it was the visiting Whitecaps FC that made the brighter start to a first half that struggled to come to life before the break.

Just three minutes in, Philippe Davies got himself in a fine position to register his second goal in as many games. The right-side winger, however, was unable to make a proper connection with his strike, with St. Louis able to scramble the loose ball clear for a Vancouver corner.

The Whitecaps kept pressing forward and created more good chances. Nizar Khalfan was off-target with a strike on nine minutes before captain Martin Nash forced a save from St. Louis goalkeeper Alec Dufty with a header from Davies' byline cross a minute later.

For a time, there was a sense that a Vancouver goal might soon come. Davies tried his best on 12 minutes to create a chance for strikers Khalfan and Semenets, but neither forward was able to get on the end of his low cross from the right flank. Four minutes later, a neat attacking run by Semenets towards the St. Louis box produced a 'Caps corner from his defected shot.

The early spell of Whitecaps pressure soon faded in the Missouri heat, as both sides had to work their way through an uneventful spell of play. Vancouver seemed the happier of the two sides with proceedings, as St. Louis did not trouble their Canadian adversaries until the latter stages of the half.

For the most part, Whitecaps goalkeeper Jay Nolly had a simple evening in goal. His first notable stop came from the foot of Brazilian midfielder Gauchinho on 36 minutes. Two minutes later, St. Louis had the ball in the back of the Whitecaps net, but the goal was blown down after striker Jeff Cosgriff was adjudged to be in an offside position after initially scoring on the rebound.

It meant both sides went to halftime tied at 0-0.

As darkness descended for the second half, Thordarson refreshed his attack by replacing Semenets with Stewart before the game's restart.

Instead, it was the home side that had the early chances in an equally subdued second 45 minutes. Gauchinho rolled a shot wide on 54 minutes before July's USSF D-2 Player of the Month, Mike Ambersley, had his effort saved easily by Nolly three minutes later.

Vancouver's reply was to create a more dangerous-looking chance on 62 minutes. Khalfan's run and cross from the right just missed the streaking Stewart in front of the St. Louis goal.

It brought a spell of Whitecaps pressure, with Luca Bellisomo setting up Davies for a tight-angle shot on 65 minutes. Much like the position he was in when he scored against Carolina last weekend, the winger's effort this time struck the legs of several St. Louis players before Dufty was able to claim possession of the ball.

With the match entering the dying stages, it seemed a mistake or a bit of fortune might lead to a winning goal. St. Louis tried their best to unlock the sturdy Whitecaps rearguard, but Salvaggione and substitutes Brad Stisser and Anthony O'Garro all had shots that failed to cause Nolly much concern.

As the two minutes of time added on played out, both sides had to settle for a share of the spoils from what was an underwhelming regular season contest.


Though an away result never goes amiss, Thordarson felt a Whitecaps victory was there for the taking. "With a little bit of luck, we could have won this game tonight," he told whitecapsfc.com. "I thought we started the game very well and created some good chances, but then it became a bit of a tougher contest in the last part of the first half. We then came back a little bit in the second half and took the game to them by creating more opportunities. In one way, this was a good result because it is a point on the road against a side that have won against good teams like Montreal and Portland recently. However, I felt we had chances that we should have scored on, while St. Louis didn't really create much of anything. That's why I feel we should have pulled it out and got the three points here this evening."

The Whitecaps will continue their latest road spell next weekend, as they make their first visit of the season to Blaine, Minnesota, to take on USL Conference club NSC Minnesota Stars on Saturday night, August 14. AC St. Louis are also in league action that same Saturday evening, as they play host to Portland Timbers.

Scoring Summary:
none

Match Stats:
Shots: Vancouver 6 - St. Louis 6
Saves: Vancouver 3 - St. Louis 3
Fouls: Vancouver 14 - St. Louis 9
Corners: Vancouver 7 - St. Louis 3

Cautions:
50' - VAN - Luca Bellisomo
60' - STL - Troy Cole
85' - VAN - Greg Janicki

Vancouver Whitecaps FC
1.Jay Nolly; 22.Takashi Hirano, 2.Nelson Akwari, 14.Greg Janicki, 8.Wes Knight (4.Chris Williams 34'); 23.Blake Wagner (77.Zurab Tsiskaridze 80'), 3.Luca Bellisomo, 7.Martin Nash (20.Ethan Gage 58'), 15.Philippe Davies (13.Alex Elliott 84'); 26.Alex Semenets (39.Cornelius Stewart 45'), 29.Nizar Khalfan

Subs not used: 31.Simon Thomas, 12.Russell Teibert

Athletic Club of St. Louis
1.Alec Dufty; 21.Mark Bloom, 5.Jack Traynor, 2.Zach Bauer, 6.John Lesko; 11.Chris Salvaggione, 3.Troy Cole (4.Tim Velten 75'), 13.Gauchinho, 7.Luke Kreamalmeyer (8.Anthony O'Garro 84'); 15.Mike Ambersley, 20.Jeff Cosgriff (17.Brad Stisser 72')

Subs not used: 22.Chad Becker, 9.Elvir Kafedzic, 10.Hagop Chirishian, 23.Ryan Moore