Match Report:

By Simon Fudge/whitecapsfc.com

Vancouver Whitecaps had to settle for a disappointing goalless home draw with Minnesota Thunder on Sunday evening.

Looking to bounce back from Friday's 1-0 defeat to the Islanders in Puerto Rico, the Whitecaps could only gain a point from their latest encounter at Swangard Stadium, despite playing a large portion of the match with an extra man after Minnesota's Andres Arango was sent off late in the first half. Vancouver would also finish the contest with ten men after centre back Omar Jarun received two yellow cards of his own on the night. The draw leaves the Whitecaps two points behind USL First Division leaders Puerto Rico, with two games remaining in their regular season campaign.

Though they soaked up a lot of pressure during their last away match of the regular season, some resilient defending and good goalkeeping from Nicolas Platter earned Minnesota another valuable point towards their hopes of making the USL-1 playoffs. The draw was the Thunder's third straight and took their unbeaten run to four matches.

Whitecaps head coach Teitur Thordarson made two changes to the side that started Friday's game in Puerto Rico. Justin Moose returned to the Vancouver starting line-up, as he replaced Lyle Martin on the right-hand side of midfield. In attack, Charles Gbeke returned from his spell on the sidelines with concussion to partner Eduardo Sebrango up front. Minnesota's interim head coach Donny Gramenz, meanwhile, made four changes to the side that started Friday's 1-1 draw with the Impact in Montreal. Defender Arango, midfielders Kevin Friedland and Luchi Gonzalez, and striker Nathan Knox all came into the starting XI for the visiting side.

On beautiful early September night for soccer, a sold-out Swangard crowd of 5,288 saw the Whitecaps look the brighter of the two sides, with Thordarson's men showing no ill effects of a day-long journey back from Puerto Rico the day before.

The first chance came as early as the third minute, but Sebrango struck Gbeke's lobbed pass wide of the target before the Cuban hit-man brought an early save from Platter with his goal-bound header after connecting with Alfredo Valente's cross from the left three minutes later.

Minnesota's first chance came on 11 minutes, but Knox was unable to direct Melvin Tarley's low cross on target at the far post after Tarley had dispossessed Jarun near the edge of the Whitecaps box.

Vancouver responded with quality chances at the other end. On 18 minutes, Martin Nash forced Platter into a good save with his low drive before the Minnesota number one did even better to stop Gbeke's downward header four minutes later after the former Montreal forward had connected with Moose's cross from the right. On 29 minutes, Valente made a surging run into the Thunder box before getting on the end of a pass from Gbeke. The midfielder's first shot was blocked before his second effort hit the Thunder side-netting.

Then a disappointing moment for the home side on 33 minutes, as Jarun collected his eighth booking of the season after bringing down Stephen deRoux near the edge of the Whitecaps box. The Palestinian international's first yellow card meant he would miss one of Vancouver's final two regular season games.

The booking came when Minnesota had a decent spell in the match, with Whitecaps goalkeeper Jay Nolly saving a Ricardo Sanchez free kick on 35 minutes before the Mexican midfielder saw a fierce strike from the edge of the Vancouver box deflect wide of the target four minutes later.

Then a turning point to the match on 41 minutes, as Minnesota were reduced to 10 men after Arango received his second yellow card for a professional foul on Moose, who looked to break out of his own end on the counter-attack.

It made no difference to the 0-0 scoreline by halftime, as both sides headed to their respective dressing rooms for a well-deserved break.

A man down, the Thunder went with a more defensive line-up of 4-4-1 after introducing defender Kevin Taylor for the more attack-minded Sanchez to start the second half, as they looked to keep the Whitecaps from scoring.

The initiative, meanwhile, remained with The Blue & White to break through and take the lead, and on 51 minutes, Geordie Lyall forced another good save from Platter with a low shot after a spell of good Whitecaps pressure.

With knocks and fatigue setting in after a busy weekend of action, Thordarson made two substitutions of his own to freshen up his side around the hour mark, with Martin replacing Takashi Hirano and Mason Trafford taking the place of Lyall. On 69 minutes, Gbeke made way for Nicholas Addlery, as Vancouver kept searching for the opening goal.

Seven minutes later, it was substitute Addlery that headed Moose's cross from the right just wide before strike partner Sebrango made way for Jason Jordan.

An even better Whitecaps chance came on 77 minutes, but Platter did well to knock Jordan's close-range flick over his own crossbar after the striker got on the end of Martin's header back towards the goalmouth following a fine Valente cross. Two minutes later, Valente volleyed Addlery's cross from the right high and over the Minnesota crossbar.

The Whitecaps man advantage was then lost on 83 minutes, as Jarun received his marching orders after fouling deRoux for a second time to earn a second yellow card and a resulting red card. The sending off means Jarun will miss Vancouver's final two regular season matches. "Losing Omar is very bad for us because we don’t know if Wesley Charles will be ready for the next game," Thordarson said after the game.

As the match entered the dying stages, the Whitecaps remained the side searching for the winning goal. Moose, however, was unable to make more of Steve Kindel's cross, as he volleyed the midfielder's delivery over the Minnesota crossbar on 87 minutes.

Two minutes later, Gonzalez looked to have solid claims for a Thunder penalty when he went down under the challenge of Trafford in the Whitecaps box, but referee Fabrizio Romano waved Minnesota's strong appeals away.

Six minutes of stoppage time were then played, and although the ball spent most of its time in the Minnesota third of the pitch, the visitors came closest to snatching all three points when substitute striker Brian Cvilikas struck the post with a well-timed volley from Thunder defender Mark Schulte's long cross-field free kick.


The final whistle brought smiles to the faces of the Thunder squad, while disappointment was written all over the Whitecaps side, who would have thought they were worthy of an important win on Sunday. "The performance tonight was a little flat, so we weren't good enough to win the game," Whitecaps captain Jeff Clarke said to reporters. "That will feel like a loss to us, especially now that we are going to have to ask other teams in the league to do us favours against Puerto Rico, if we are going to take first place. We'll have to ride this ship of recent results and get some momentum before the playoffs."

Thordarson himself was feeling that two points were dropped against the Thunder. "It's never easy playing against a team that is a man down," he said. "You have to be good to pull them out of their defensive shell and create chances, and we made tactical changes during the game hoping to put more pressure on them and create more chances, but it proved to be difficult. I was a little bit surprised that we looked as fresh as we did in the first half after playing Friday night and traveling for 16 hours on Saturday. Although everybody was feeling tired, the guys did fantastically well. The only thing that was missing was a goal."

Gramenz, meanwhile, was delighted to claim another point on the road, as Minnesota look to finish in the top seven of the USL-1 standings. "We kept our shape and we were patient," he said of Sunday's game to whitecapsfc.com. "When you're a man down, you've got to find a way to survive, especially on the road because it's not easy. We've got two tough games coming up against Charleston and Montreal, but we moved just ahead of Atlanta tonight, so every point at this stage helps. We've just got to take it one game at a time, get those points, and hopefully secure a playoff spot. The guys have picked up momentum from getting a win and three ties in our last four games, so if we keep plugging along, we might just make the postseason."

Vancouver will now have a week to prepare for their final home game of the regular season, as Canadian rivals Montreal Impact visit Swangard for a third time on Saturday evening. Minnesota, meanwhile, return home to complete their regular season schedule, with the Thunder hosting Charleston Battery next Saturday.

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 Summary:
No goals

Match Stats:
Shots: Vancouver 12 – Minnesota 5
Saves: Vancouver 2 – Minnesota 5
Fouls: Vancouver 19 – Minnesota 11
Offsides: Vancouver 4 – Minnesota 3
Corners: Vancouver 7 – Minnesota 3

Cautions:
Vancouver: Omar Jarun 33’ & 83’, Steve Kindel 82’
Minnesota: Andres Arango 28’ & 41’, Nathan Knox 82’

Ejections:
MIN: Andres Arango 41'
VAN: Omar Jarun 83'

Vancouver Whitecaps FC
1.Jay Nolly; 2.Jeff Clarke, 12.Geordie Lyall (18.Mason Trafford 62’),15.Omar Jarun, 22.Takashi Hirano (24.Lyle Martin 58’); 7.Martin Nash, 8.Steve Kindel, 9.Alfredo Valente (23.Vicente Arze 82'), 25.Justin Moose; 16.Eduardo Sebrango (26.Jason Jordan 76'), 98.Charles Gbeke (11.Nicholas Addlery 69’)

Subs not used: 31.Tyler Baldock, 6.Luca Bellisomo

Minnesota Thunder
12.Nicolas Platter; 3.Andres Arango, 26.Mark Schulte, 28.John Greenfield; 6.Kevin Friedland (23.Frederico Moojen 80’), 8.Luchi Gonzalez, 10.Ricardo Sanchez (5.Kevin Taylor 46’), 17.Stephen deRoux, 22.Jeremiah Bass; 2.Melvin Tarley (27.Brian Cvilikas 71’), 9.Nathan Knox (16.Kyle Altman 89’)

Subs not used: 1.Eric Reed, 7.Dale Weiler