After listless 1st half, Vancouver peppers Minnesota backup in final 45
BY MARC WEBER
The Vancouver Whitecaps will probably go the whole season without giving an opponent a look at their backup goalkeeper.
In Sunday's USSF D-2 season-opener at Swangard Stadium, they had the entire second half to pepper Minnesota Stars' second choice Joe Warren, a 35-year-old who's been retired for four seasons.
They didn't pass up the opportunity.
Luca Bellisomo headed in a Martin Nash free kick in the 62nd minute and the Whitecaps went on to beat the Stars 2-0 in front of 4,934 fans. Vancouver is now 6-0-3 in their last nine home openers without conceding a goal.
Warren was forced into action just before the halftime whistle when starter Louis Crayton, a former Major League Soccer goalkeeper, got the worst of a collision with Caps' forward Dever Orgill.
Vancouver applied intense pressure to open the second half, and while Warren couldn't be blamed in the loss, his insertion at least provided the Whitecaps with added incentive to attack with abandon after a sluggish first half.
"When I looked at him, I thought that he possibly hadn't been training for a long time," said Caps' head coach Teitur Thordarson. "It wasn't about him specifically, but we definitely had to turn this around. As I said to the guys at halftime, I thought they were more afraid of losing the game than they showed the will to win it. I said, 'Just go out and play and have fun,' and that's what we tried to do."
With the exception of Melvin Tarley getting in behind the Caps' defence in the 80th minute, Vancouver dominated the final 45 against the expansion Stars, who had nine holdovers from the defunct Minnesota Thunder franchise.
Caps' forward Marlon James was needled playfully by Thordarson at Thursday's media day for the wrap on his right leg. But the oft-injured forward made it 2-0 thanks to some pretty interplay with winger Nizar Khalfan in the 76th minute.
Both showed great patience to create the chance, and James displayed what fans knew from last season's nine goals in 900 minutes -- if the 33-year-old stays healthy, he can lead the league in scoring.
"It's a positive, you know," said James. "I will take that for the first game and see how it goes from here. Just continue working."
Having trained for four months leading up to the season, it was a surprisingly poor first half for Vancouver, who were tentative and perhaps nervous. Minnesota came closest to scoring the opener when Caps' defender Greg Janicki headed a clearance off his own goal post.
But the visiting Stars couldn't match the Caps' fitness, nor their depth, in the second half. Khalfan, on the wing, and forward Randy Edwini-Bonsu, both brought life off the bench.
Bellisomo's winner came in his first start in central midfield for the club.
"I scored a goal, which is really nice, but there's lot of room for improvement," said the 23-year-old from Coquitlam.
Vancouver travels to face Miami FC next weekend. mweber@theprovince.com
2-0
Goals:
Bellisomo 62; James 76
Whitecaps' starting 11: Nolly; Tsiskaridze, Akwari, Janicki, Williams; Toure (Moose 82'), Nash (Davies 88'), Bellisomo (Sanchez 82'), Knight (Khalfan 73'), James, Orgill (Edwini-Bonsu 66').
Cautions: Van -Orgill 11, Tsiskaridze 43, Knight 70. Minn -Gotsmanov 21, Friedland 61, Kallman 86.
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