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The Soccer News

Kevin Welsh
OP Contributor

Whitecaps Round-Up

The Vancouver Whitecaps FC
stormed out of the gate this season
with a pair of impressive starts.
Buoyed by a splurge of free-agent
sigrfings, the Whitecaps Men are
undefeated after four games in 2004.

Whitecaps Men
Vancouver 0 Edmonton 0

In the season opener, the expansion
Edmonton Aviators, led by former
Whitecaps’ Rick Titus and Gordon
Chin, held the more experienced
Vancouver side to a 0-0 draw in front
of over 5,700 fans at Swangard
Stadium. Striker Carlo Corazzin
came closest to breaking the deadlock
with a header that rang off the crossbar.

Vancouver 2 Minnesota 1 (OT)

The defending Western Conference
Minnesota Thunder
stormed into Vancouver and took an
early lead when striker Marshall
Morehead broke away and slipped
the ball past ‘Caps keeper Mike
Franks. Vancouver took control in
the second half, and was rewarded
when a hard charging Corazzin head-
ed Oliver Heald’s corner kick in. The
match was sealed late in the second
overtime period when Jason Jordan
headed home Martin Nash's cross.
Particularly impressive in the victory
were young Caps’ defenders Justin
Thompson and Kevin Harmse.

champion

Vancouver 3 Calgary 1

Vancouver asserted themselves well
over the newly reborn Calgary
Mustangs. The Mustangs couldn't
weather the storm, and were eventu-
ally worn down by the Whitecaps’
high-octane offence. A pair of goals
by Heald led the ’Caps to victory
before over 4,000 fans.

Vancouver 2 Calgary 1

Vancouver went down early in their
first road game of the season as Jamie
Auvigne gave the Mustangs the lead
at the ten-minute mark. Vancouver

replied with goals by Corazzin and

26 | OtherPress

David Morris to take the win away
from the Horsies. Played at
McMahon Stadium, the most telling
stat of this match was the attendance:

a paltry 670.

Whitecaps Women
Whitecaps’5 Calgary 0

Carmen Moscato, normally a mid-
fielder for the Whitecaps and the
Penn State Nittany Lions, was shifted
to the frontline in the second half by
"Caps coach Jan Bennett in an effort
to provide a spark to the stalling
offence. The move paid off as
Moscato scored a hat trick en route to
a 5—0 victory before over 3,000 fans
at Swangard. The Whitecaps women
are once again loaded with National
Team talent, including Kara Lang,
Erin McLeod, Sasha Andrews,
Andrea Neil, and Katie Thorlakson.

Unsettling Trend

For the second off-season in a row,
the Whitecaps were very active on the
free-agent front, signing defenders
Justin Thompson and Kevin Harmse
from Bury FC and Tromso IL respec-
tively. They also inked midfielder
Martin Nash from Montreal Impact,
and striker Davide Xausa from
Falkirk of the Scottish 1st division.
One of the most trumpeted signings
was that of Andrew Gregor—leading
scorer and captain of the Whitecaps’
arch-nemesis, the Seattle Sounders.
However, after one match, Gregor
was released due to personal reasons.

This comes on the heals of a 2003
signing spree that saw the ’Caps ink
Liberian striker Musa Shannon,
Portuguese winger Mario Jorge, and
Ivory Coast born defender/striker
Charles Gbeke to much fan fare.
However, one-by-one, all three were
released.

One hopes this isn’t a trend. A close
watch will be kept on Jamaican inter-
national midfielder © Winston
Griffiths, who has recently joined the
Whitecaps from Jamaican Premier
League side Porthouse United on a
one-month..trial. Griffiths made a
brief, four-minute debut for the
"Caps in their 2-1 victory over

Calgary. Apart from Porthouse, the

June 20°04

 

 

Reggae Boyz linkman has also played
for the New England Revolution, the

LA Galaxy, and the NY/NJ
MetroStars of Major League Soccer,
as well as the old Connecticut Wolves
of the A-League.

National Team Coming to
Vancouver...Sort Of

The Canadian Soccer Association is
expected to announce a pair of
friendlies to be played at Vancouver's
Swangard Stadium. Canada will play
Scottish Premier League club Heart
of Midlothian as well as English 1st
Division side Millwall FC at some
point during the summer. Yallop is
expected to leave most of his
European-based players off the roster
and use the games as an opportunity
to see North American-based players
in action. Candidates for selection
from the Whitecaps include
Corazzin, Dasovic, Nash, Xausa,

 

Johnny Sulentic, Jeff Clarke and
‘keeper Mike Franks.

National Team News

Midfielder Jim Brennan will see his
stock rise as his club, Norwich City,
has secured promotion to the English
Premier League. Brennan joins
Tomasz Radzinski of Everton as the
only Canadians playing in England’s
top-flight.

Lars Hirschfeld and Jason Bent are
both looking for new jobs after their
clubs—Tottenham Hotspur and
Plymouth Argyle—released them.
One player who's stock is dropping
fast is defender Mark Rogers, who
was recently sent from Wycombe
Wanderers to non-league Stevenge
Borough. At this point, Rogers would
almost certainly be better off return-
ing to Canada to play in the A-
League.

 

Photo by Angela