Match Report:

By Alan Douglas/whitecapsfc.com

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency captured the USL Premier Development League Western Conference title with a comprehensive 4-1 win over Tacoma Tide in Fresno, California, on Sunday evening.

As was the case in Saturday's 3-1 victory over San Fernando Valley Quakes, Residency striker Randy Edwini-Bonsu was the hero, as he scored two goals and set up a third.

The two regular season encounters between these Northwest Division rivals had both been explosive affairs. Tacoma won big on home soil with a 4-0 result at the start of June, as the Washington State club handed Thomas Niendorf's youngsters their worst defeat of the season.

Three weeks later, Vancouver returned the favour, crushing Tacoma 5-1 at Simon Fraser University - much to the chagrin of the Tide coach, who is none other than former Whitecaps star Fran O'Brien.

Sunday's clash was the all-important rubber match, with the Western Conference championship on the line. With both teams playing their second game in as many days - and far from home at Fresno's Chukchansi Park with the temperature past 36 degrees Celsius - it was as much a test of character and resolve, if anything else.

Residency assistant coach Steve Meadley, who remains in charge of the side while Niendorf is away on a scouting mission, made only one change from Saturday's winning side, as he started Nick Webb in place of his twin brother Mason.

The game plan was to go after Tacoma with quick passing to try and get speedy front-runners Alex Semenets and Edwini-Bonsu in behind the defence. It worked to perfection. Coach Meadley said afterwards, "they stepped up like you wouldn't believe, and we absolutely outworked them. Simple fast football, and Tacoma couldn't deal with it. Randy and Alex were both standouts; quick one and two-touch passes, they got in behind, and bang, it's a goal. After all the hard work that all these kids put in day in and day out, today was their reward. They did the club proud!"

The first good chance went to Semenets on 13 minutes, as his shot was blocked by Tide keeper Jordan Jennings and deflected away for a corner kick. Moments later, Nick Webb sent a header just wide, and then Edwini-Bonsu also missed by inches with a good shot.

On 20 minutes, Ethan Gage almost caught the Tacoma keeper napping with a 50-yard effort, but Jennings managed to scramble back and deflect it wide.

Tacoma were then forced to make an early substitution, as Brayton Knapp came on after just 20 minutes, and he almost opened scoring a few minutes later with a shot from the top of the Whitecaps box that went high.

Vancouver had most of the play however, and on 27 minutes, they nearly found the opener, as a shot from Gagandeep Dosanjh took a deflection and came back off the post!

Chances were coming fast and furious now. At the half-hour mark, Tacoma's Spencer Schomaker forced a good save from Simon Thomas off a free kick. The Whitecaps counter-attacked quickly, with Edwini-Bonsu breaking in, but only for Jennings to parry the shot wide.

It seemed only a matter of time before a goal would come, and on 41 minutes, it finally arrived. Edwini-Bonsu got behind the defence, side-stepped Jennings superbly, and scored.

It was 1-0 at halftime.

Tacoma had their best spell of the match to start the second half, but failed to beat Residency goalkeeper Thomas. He turned back a shot from Daniel Scott on 51 minutes then made a kick save off a good shot by Ruben Orozco on seven minutes later.

Vancouver then struck for two quick goals to take complete control of the match. The first on 64 minutes was a brilliant solo effort by Edwini-Bonsu, as he dribbled past two defenders before firing his shot past Jennings and in at the far post.

Two minutes later, some quick passing between Semenets and Edwini-Bonsu tore apart the Tacoma defence and put Semenets in on goal. He rolled his shot home to make it 3-0.

Tacoma had no answer for Vancouver's pace up front, and Edwini-Bonsu had several more chances to add to his tally, but could not put them away. Eventually, the striker was replaced by the fresh legs of Drew Russell, who promptly scored Vancouver's fourth goal on 86 minutes.

It was all over by this point, and the only thing left was for Thomas to keep a clean sheet for the shutout. Somebody must have jinxed him, however, as Tacoma scored in the final minute when Schomaker headed home to make it a 4-1 final.


Whitecaps Residency now advance to the PDL semifinals, where they will meet the Central Conference champions Thunder Bay Chill in all-Canadian clash at Chapples Park in Thunder Bay, Ontario, on Saturday, August 2.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC have announced that they will pursue one of two Major League Soccer (MLS) expansion franchises set to be added to the league by 2011. Fans are encouraged to visit whitecapsfc.com/mls to register their support for a Whitecaps MLS franchise and help show the rest of North America what Vancouver and British Columbia have to offer.

Goal Summaries:
VAN - Randy Edwini-Bonsu 41'
VAN - Randy Edwini-Bonsu 64'
VAN - Alex Semenets (Randy Edwini-Bonsu) 66'
VAN - Drew Russell 86'
TAC - Spencer Schomaker 90'

Match Stats:
Shots: Vancouver 12 – Tacoma 11
Saves: Vancouver 4 – Tacoma 4
Fouls: Vancouver 3 – Tacoma 3
Offsides: Vancouver 1 – Tacoma 1
Corners: Vancouver 3 – Tacoma 2

Cautions:
Vancouver: Marcus Johnstone 87'
Tacoma: Taylor Mueller 46', Brayton Knapp 54', Rory Agu 82'

Ejections:
Vancouver: none
Tacoma: none
 
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Residency
1.Simon Thomas; 3.Navid Mashinchi, 5.Anthony DiNicolo, 15.Antonio Rago, 27.Stefan Leslie; 6.Ethan Gage, 33.Nick Webb (35.Sahil Sandhu 61'), 8.Philippe Davies; 17.Alex Semenets (16.Marcus Johnstone 86'), 9.Randy Edwini-Bonsu (18.Drew Russell 81'), 14.Gagandeep Dosanjh

Subs not used: 12.Karm Shergill, 34.Mason Webb

Tacoma Tide
1.Jordan Jennings; 2.Mark Lee, 12.Tucker Maxwell, 15.Dennis Sanchez (9.Brayton Knapp 21'), 23.Daniel Scott; 6.Chase Tangney, 13.Raphael Cox (11.Cam Vickers 73'), 16.Ruben Orozco, 19.Taylor Mueller; 10.Rory Agu, 21.Spencer Shomaker

Subs not used: 18.Max Walker, 3.Machael David