Marc Weber
Men must rebound in second leg at home to Montreal
As of Wednesday, the good news for the Vancouver Whitecaps men was that they were still first place in the USL First Division at 7-3-1, two points up on the Charleston Battery.
But it has been a grim few days for Teitur Thordarson's side, which fell 3-0 Friday at the Rochester Rhinos, then followed it up Tuesday with a 2-0 away loss at Montreal in their Nutrilite Canadian Championship opener. Both goals came in the first half.
"We had a bad game in Rochester and, against Montreal, overall it was not a good game," said Thordarson on Wednesday. "The reason for that is not easy to find out.
"We were not defending very well in the first half against Montreal and I'm not talking only about the defenders. The second half was very good, so I was happy with that."
The loss to the Impact will likely prove to be a devastating result in their bid to qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League, as logic dictates Toronto FC of MLS is the team to beat. Toronto already has a win over Montreal.
"Of course it's bad to lose this first game here, but we have a chance already next week to make it up," said Thordarson.
The Whitecaps host the Impact in the return Nutrilite match on June 25. Games against Toronto follow on July 1 (away) and July 9 (home).
First up, though, it's back to league play, as the Miami FC Blues (3-6-5) visit Swangard Stadium this Sunday at 7 p.m. Vancouver handed Miami a 1-0 loss on the road May 16.
The women's Caps (5-1-2) precede that game, taking on front-runners Pali Blues (6-0-0) at 4 p.m. It's a rematch of Sunday's meeting in California, where Pali won 4-0.
© The Vancouver Province 2008
