VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC vs SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC
BC PLACE, Vancouver, B.C.
May 19, 2012 (WEEK 11, MLS Game #99)
2 p.m. PT (TSN/RDS2; KONG/KOMO2)
The first meeting of the Cascadia Cup for 2012 is ahead when Vancouver Whitecaps FC entertain Seattle Sounders FC on Saturday afternoon at BC Place. Whitecaps FC saw a three-game winning streak put to an end last time out in league play, a 4-1 defeat by the New England Revolution - though they snatched a late draw at midweek in the first leg of the Canadian Championship. Sounders FC saw their five-game winning streak also put to an end last weekend, a 1-0 home loss to Real Salt Lake.
REFEREE: Kevin Stott. SAR (bench): Frank Anderson; JAR (opposite): Brian Poeschel; 4th: Yader Reyes
MLS Career: 220 games; FC/gm: 25.7; Y/gm: 3.7; R: 58; pens: 45
DOWNLOAD FULL GAME GUIDE (PDF)
LINE-UPS:
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
1.Joe Cannon; 12.Young-Pyo Lee, 15.Martin Bonjour, 6.Jay DeMerit, 4.Alain Rochat; 28.Gershon Koffie, 27.Jun Marques Davidson, 20.Davide Chiumiento; 7.Sebastien Le Toux, 22.Darren Mattocks, 17.Omar Salgado
Substitutes: 18.Brad Knighton, 3.Jordan Harvey, 8.Etienne Barbara, 11.John Thorrington, 16.Matt Watson, 29.Eric Hassli, 37.Camilo Sanvezzo
Seattle Sounders FC
35.Bryan Meredith; 5.Adam Johansson, 31.Jeff Parke, 34.Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, 8.Marc Burch; 10.Mauro Rosales, 6.Osvaldo Alonso, 27.Alex Caskey, 15.Alvaro Fernandez; 17.Fredy Montero, 7.Eddie Johnson
Substitutes: 33.Andrew Weber, 16.David Estrada, 20.Zach Scott, 21.Cordell Cato, 24.Roger Levesque, 25.Andy Rose, 26.Sammy Ochoa
INJURY REPORT:
- VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC - OUT: GK Brian Sylvestre (R knee surgery); QUESTIONABLE: FW Atiba Harris (R quad contusion)
- SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC - OUT: GK Josh Ford (R knee stress fracture); MF Steve Zakuani (R leg fracture); DF Michael Tetteh (L hamstring strain); FW Babayele Sodade (R knee ACL tear); DOUBTFUL: GK Michael Gspurning (R hip strain); DF Patrick Ianni (lower back pain); MF Brad Evans (R calf strain); PROBABLE: MF Alvaro Fernandez (R quad strain); DF Leo Gonzalez (L quad strain)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
- SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: VAN: Eric Hassli
- SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: SEA: Fredy Montero, Eddie Johnson ... VAN: Jun Marques Davidson; Gershon Koffie
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (2 meetings): Whitecaps FC 0 wins, 3 goals ... Sounders FC 1 win, 5 goals ... Ties 1
AT VANCOUVER (1 meeting): Whitecaps FC 0 wins, 1 goal ... Sounders FC 1 win, 3 goals ... Ties 0
RETURN MATCHES:
- 8/18: Seattle Sounders FC vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC, 1 p.m. PT (TSN2/RDS2);
- 9/29: Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. Seattle Sounders FC, 6 p.m. PT (NBC SN/TSN2/RDS2)
LAST YEAR (MLS):
6/11: SEA 2, VAN 2 (Rosales 81; Alonso 84 - Hassli 29, 85)
9/24: VAN 1, SEA 3 (Camilo 22 - Evans 33; Montero 63, 67)
- It's the first match this season for the Cascadia Cup, the Pacific Northwest rivalry formed by the three clubs in the Pacific Northwest (also Portland Timbers).
- Sounders FC came away from Empire Field with a victory last season, winning 3-1. The teams played to a 2-2 draw in their first MLS meeting, June 11 in Seattle.
- The clubs have a rivalry dating back to 1974 in the old North American Soccer League, and continuing through the A-League and USL First Division.
- Coaches record: Martin Rennie vs. SEA: first game ... Sigi Schmid vs. VAN: P2 W1 L0 D1
VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC
Vancouver Whitecaps FC saw their three-game winning streak come to a swift end, going down to a heavy 4-1 defeat by the New England Revolution on Saturday evening at Gillette Stadium. Whitecaps FC are in fourth place in the Western Conference with 17 points from 10 games.
HIGHLIGHTS: Revs rout Whitecaps in Foxborough
LAST MATCH
- Eric Hassli started and finished a sweeping Whitecaps FC move after five minutes to open the scoring. The French striker chested down to Davide Chiumiento, prompting Chiumiento's ball down the right channel to SÈbastien Le Toux. Hassli made a timely run through the middle and thrashed home Le Toux's pullback.
- But the home side were level in the sixth minute. Blake Brettschneider's shot from inside the Whitecaps penalty area deflected off Young-Pyo Lee's back. The ball fell kindly into Lee Nguyen's path and he curled his effort into the lower left-hand corner.
- Nguyen playing a critical role in the second goal after 24 minutes, slotting a diagonal ball into Saer Sene on the outside of the penalty area. The French striker turned Vancouver defender Alain Rochat in the area and tucked home the go-ahead tally.
- The Revs made 3-1 eight minutes later. Sene crossed the ball in from the right side and Carlyle Mitchell couldn't find a way to deal with the service. The ball fell to Joseph, and he lashed home from the penalty spot.
- The Revolution completed the scoring on 72 minutes. Chris Tierney lofted a throw-in straight into Nguyen's path 25 yards from goal. Nguyen weighed up the ball and then volleyed into the far corner to cap his perfect night.
- Whitecaps FC head coach Martin Rennie made four changes to the team that came back for a 2-1 victory against the San Jose Earthquakes at BC Place. Carlyle and Jordan Harvey came into the back four for Jay DeMerit and Martin Bonjour, Davide Chiumiento started in midfield for Matt Watson, and Eric Hassli returned as striker in place of Camilo.
- VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC (4-3-3): Joe Cannon - Lee Young-Pyo, Carlyle Mitchell, Alain Rochat, Jordan Harvey - Gershon Koffie (Etienne Barbara 80), Jun Marques Davidson (Floyd Franks 89), Davide Chiumiento - Sebastien Le Toux, Eric Hassli, Omar Salgado (Darren Mattocks 62).
TEAM NEWS
Whitecaps react to Hassli wonderstrike
- Whitecaps FC have recorded six shutouts this season in their 10 games. In their three losses, they've conceded 10 goals.
- "I think that generally we do defend well and don't give up too many goals and we need to get back to that. You're going to lose some games in MLS and we know that," said Whitecaps FC head coach Martin Rennie. "Where this team is at right now we're going to get some wins and we'll have some disappointments along the way. But how we respond is important and how we responded last time we lost was to win five in a row."
- Carlyle Mitchell made his first start of the season, coming into central defense. Alain Rochat also made his first start at center back, after four starts on the left of the back four.
- "I didn't think that (center back) partnership worked out for us tonight," said Rennie. "Obviously, tonight the big thing I think that stood out for me was the leadership that was missing with leaving guys back in Vancouver." Said Davide Chiumiento: "We made a lot of defensive mistakes, and we didn't focus well defensively on the field. With these kinds of mistakes, you just have to learn. It was a disappointing night - they scored four goals, and after a good start like that, it is a painful way to lose."
- After going his first seven league appearances without a goal, Eric Hassli has now scored in back-to-back games, and has three goals in his last four matches in all competitions.
- "It was an excellent goal, and if you analyze the game, there were a lot of positive position and ball movement and things like that," said Rennie. "But I think sometimes when you're a couple of goals behind, it's easy to play in, to pass the ball, and it just wasn't there for us tonight."
- Chiumiento returned to the starting lineup after missing two matches, then coming on as a late substitute against San Jose.
- "I played really free offensively, and personally I felt I did well," Chiumiento said. "But with a 4-1 end result we can't be happy, and it's a team sport. Personally, I felt we had some good positioning, and you could say at the end it was good. But we made mistakes defensively and that's a problem for the whole team, and so we will have to improve."
- Lee Nguyen was originally acquired by Whitecaps FC following a weighted lottery over the offseason, but then waived in March. Picked up by the Revolution, he scored twice and added an assist against his former club.
- "He showed the difference between the highs and lows in soccer," Rennie said. "A few weeks ago, the low of not being wanted by a club, and the high tonight, of being, I'm sure, man of the match, winning the game, scoring two goals, getting an assist. And even more importantly for him, against the team that didn't keep him, so well done to him."
- On Wednesday, a late Eric Hassli volley gave Whitecaps FC the equalizer for a 1-1 draw with Toronto FC in the first leg of their Canadian Championship final. Ryan Johnson gave TFC the lead on 66 minutes, heading home a pinpoint cross from Julian de Guzman.
- Here's the Whitecaps FC team: Joe Cannon; Young-Pyo Lee, Martin Bonjour, Jay DeMerit, Alain Rochat; Matt Watson (Davide Chiumiento 69), Jun Marques Davidson, John Thorrington (Darren Mattocks 86); Sebastien Le Toux, Etienne Barbara (Eric Hassli 56), Camilo Sanvezzo
SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC
Seattle Sounders FC saw their club-record five-game winning streak come to an end, falling 1-0 to Real Salt Lake on Saturday evening at CenturyLink Field. Sounders FC are in third place in the Western Conference with 22 points from 10 games.
HIGHLIGHTS: RSL snatch a win from Seattle at CenturyLink
LAST MATCH
- The game's only goal came in the 50th minute. Picking up the ball in midfield, RSL's Luis Gil dropped a ball over the Sounders FC backline that Fabian Esp"ndola volleyed with his left foot from about 16 yards out, beating goalkeeper Bryan Meredith to the far post.
- Sounders FC head coach Sigi Schmid made three changes to the team that posted a 2-0 defeat of FC Dallas at FC Dallas Stadium. Adam Johansson came in at right back for the suspended Zach Scott, Brad Evans started in midfield for Osvaldo Alonso, and Fredy Montero came back into the team in place of Alex Caskey.
- SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC (4-4-2): Bryan Meredith - Adam Johansson (Alex Caskey 82), Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Marc Burch - Mauro Rosales (Cordell Cato 75), Andy Rose, Osvaldo Alonso, David Estrada (Alvaro Fernandez 58) - Eddie Johnson, Fredy Montero.
TEAM NEWS
Sounders Scouting Report: Vancouver Whitecaps
- Sounders FC saw their club-record five-game winning streak come to an end, allowing their first goal in 322 minutes (tied for fifth-longest this season in MLS), and allowing their first goal from open play since Ryan Johnson's goal for Toronto FC in the season opener - a span of 798 minutes.
- "Five games in [15] days is a little bit of a haul, but at the end it's not an excuse. We had enough chances in the first half that we needed to get a goal," said Sounders FC head coach Sigi Schmid. "I think a tie would have been a fair result tonight, probably, because they maybe had a little bit more in terms of possession in the second half. Overall, I can't fault our guys for what they've done over the last five games."
- Sounders FC will again face a busy stretch with the Vancouver match starting another three-game week, with a home game vs. Columbus on Wednesday preceding next weekend's trip to Chivas USA.
- While Bryan Meredith was beaten for a goal for the first time since coming in between the posts for Michael Gspurning, Sounders FC have still allowed just four goals on the season - by far the best defensive record this year in MLS. Just two other clubs have allowed less than 10 goals this season (Sporting KC, 7; Houston, 9).
- "I thought Meredith did fine. I don't think there was much he could do on the goal," Schmid said. "Gspurning, it's a week-by-week thing. This was a week of him just having basically inactivity and then next week we'll start to do some activity and ramp it up and then we'll see."
- Osvaldo Alonso returned to the lineup in place of Brad Evans as rookie Andy Rose made his third consecutive start in the Seattle midfield.
- "We've had a lot of guys that are carrying little nicks and strains, we're playing a lot of young guys out there," said Schmid. "You look at our team and you look at what Andy Rose did tonight, we bring in [Alex] Caskey and Cordell Cato off the bench, so they're all young players and players that don't have a lot of games in this league and we're still able to be right there."
- Alvaro Fernandez was able to make his first appearance since April 7, coming off the bench for the final half-hour. "I thought it was good. He got through it. He felt good, so I think he should be ready to play full-out next week," said Schmid.
- Fredy Montero returned to the starting lineup after coming on as a halftime substitute vs. FC Dallas. He and Eddie Johnson started as the first-choice strike pair for the first time since the May 2 game vs. LA.
- "We showed the fatigue in the second half. I thought in the first half we were dangerous, but in the second half we got tired," said Johnson. "I know for myself - not having enough energy to successfully get to any of the crosses that were successfully crossed into the box. On any other night, we can get something out of that game."
