VANCOUVER, BC – If there’s a silver lining in Wednesday’s Amway Canadian Championship heartbreaker at BC Place, it’s that Vancouver Whitecaps FC come out of it as motivated as ever.
At least, that’s the hope.
Nothing will give you a kick in the back side like watching a rival lift a trophy on your home turf – especially considering the ‘Caps were mere seconds away from defending their Voyageurs Cup.
Instead, they were left absolutely shattered.
Nicolas Mezquida, who opened the scoring, was in tears. Tim Parker, who thought he had scored the series-clincher in the 68th minute, was “speechless.” Jordan Harvey was visibly shaken in his post-match interview, telling reporters it was his most crushing defeat since he started playing soccer at the age of six. A “devastated” David Ousted felt he cost the team a championship.
Think this meant something to the players? You could say that.
“We never want this feeling again,” Parker told reporters after the match.
After winning the Voyageurs Cup in 2015, the ‘Caps struggled to hit a groove in MLS play down the stretch, winning just two of their final eight matches.
They’re hoping that Wednesday’s heartbreak will have the opposite effect.
“We’ve got to pick our heads up,” Harvey said. “It’s going to hurt, but coming in tomorrow we’ve got to pick our heads up and use this as motivation to push on the rest of the season.”
Whitecaps FC are officially at the midway point of the 2016 season. The first half has been a little bit of a rollercoaster ride, but they still enter the weekend fifth overall in the MLS standings with a 7W-7L-3D record. The best part about that? The ‘Caps know they still have more to give.
They spoke again on Wednesday about eliminating those key mistakes that have proved so costly.
“We just need to clean it up,” Harvey said. “Honestly, this team can go so far. We can go to MLS Cup, we just need to clean up those key mistakes in very important moments in the game. We have to use this as motivation. We’re a good team. No one in that locker room is thinking we’re a bad team.”
Surely, no one outside the locker room is thinking that either – at least they shouldn’t be. But how the ‘Caps respond to this will say a lot about whether they’re a good one or a great one.
It could be a turning point in the season either way.
“There are two ways this can go,” Harvey said.
For starters, Carl Robinson said the team will be given Thursday off. Then, it’s back to work on Friday ahead of Monday’s Independence Day clash at LA Galaxy (7:30 p.m. PT on TSN and TSN 1040) – Vancouver’s first of seven matches in July including the Crystal Palace friendly.
There’s no time to dwell on Wednesday’s events – as crushing as they were.
“It's going to be tough, but you just have to get on with it,” Robinson said. “You can't sulk and worry, you have to deal with it. But it makes you stronger. It makes boys into men.”
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