The Whitecaps FC2 had their first home game at UBC this Sunday with a 1-1 draw against Toronto FC2 in front of a boisterous, sold out crowd at the David Sidoo Field. After opening their inaugural season in the United Soccer League (USL) with four straight road games in which they went 1-3, the Whitecaps returned to Vancouver for their first home game of the campaign, where their fans were eagerly waiting. Basking in the sun and urged on by the tireless cheering section, the capacity crowd of 3,208 maintained an electric atmosphere for the entire 90 minutes of play that saw plenty of chances.
Energized by the hometown crowd, the Whitecaps dominated the opening half an hour, monopolizing both possession and scoring chances. If not for the heroics of Toronto goalkeeper Quillan Roberts, the game would have been put to rest before the 30 minute mark as WFC2 mounted serious pressure. Vancouver midfielder Ben McKendry found himself through on goal in the twelfth minute only to be denied by the brave Roberts, who also turned away good efforts from Victor Blasco and Caleb Clarke all before the 20 minute mark. The Whitecaps' bright start finally paid off in the 33rd minute when Tyler Rosenlund’s ball over the top found Clarke who coolly chipped the onrushing Roberts for the team’s first ever goal at the David Sidoo Field.
Toronto FC2 regrouped at halftime and came out with renewed purpose following the break. After being a spectator for the majority of the opening 45 minutes, Whitecaps keeper Marco Carducci found himself much busier in the second half as TFC2 pushed for the equalizer. Freshly substituted forward Marco Nunes tested Carducci nine minutes into the second frame from outside the box in what turned out to be a signal of intent from the visiting side. Three minutes later Toronto was on the board as Raheem Edward’s cross found an unmarked Jordan Hamilton who looped in the free header over the outstretched fingertips of Carducci to level the game in the 57th minute.
Things went from bad to worse for the Whitecaps as midfielder Blasco was shown his second yellow card of the match after taking out Mark Anthony Kaye just outside the Vancouver box. Down to 10 men, the Whitecaps found themselves on the back foot as Toronto continued to attack. Nunes and company persisted to run at defenders, creating chances and forcing several key interventions from Caps’ centre back Christian Dean as well as some timely saves from Carducci. The Whitecaps caught a break in the 77th minute as Toronto’s Kaye was shown his second yellow after taking down McKendry on the break. With both teams down to 10 men, the winning goal could not be found. UBC Thunderbirds’ right back Chris Serban was substituted on in the 90th minute but was unable to help find the decisive goal.
Despite fading in the second half, Whitecaps FC2 Head Coach Alan Koch saw some promising signs from his young team.
“I thought we played very, very well for the first 30 minutes … I think we should have capitalized on some of the chances we created, if we’d done that it’s a whole different game,” said Koch. “We took our foot off the pedal and allowed them to come back in and at the end we’re obviously hanging on and somewhat lucky to leave here with the points.”
Concerns about turnout were unwarranted as the sell out crowd was engaged throughout and made sure the atmosphere was present and noticeable.
“It felt great have all this support out and to see everyone cheering us on” said Serban. “It’s unfortunate we didn’t get the win but we tried our best but hopefully we get the win next week against Seattle and have as good a crowd as well.”
Striker Caleb Clarke went even further when commenting on the support.
“It was great, we’ve been to a few places now and this is definitely one of the best,” said Clarke. “Hopefully every game will be like this.”
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