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Royals take care of Langara

» Women’s soccer team responds with three unanswered for the win

Chandler Walter
Humour Editor,
4 humour@theotherpress.ca

he opening of the game

looked as grey as the cloudy
skies for the Douglas Royals last
Wednesday at Musqueam Turf
as they took on the Langara
Falcons in Vancouver.

The game was off and
running with Langara forward
Khadijah Atkinstall opening
scoring early in the first half,
and her teammate Tessa Tasaka
tallying another goal shortly
after to give the Falcons a more
comfortable lead.

The Douglas Royals were
looking a little downtrodden
being bested by two so early in
the game, but Tiffany O’Krane
answered back quickly to put
the Royals within one.

Don’t ever let anyone tell
you there’s hardly any scoring in
soccer. Just as the Falcons scored
two goals in quick succession,
so too did the Royals, with
Danae Harding beating Langara
goalkeeper Sydney Bell to tie the

: game up 2-2 at the half.
Both teams re-entered
: the pitch with urgency; the
: Royals hoping to continue the
: momentum they found in the
: latter part of the first half, and
: the Falcons looking to stifle
: them.
: The ball relentlessly
: switched sides back and forth
: across the midfield, leaving the
: crowd in the stands looking as
: though they were watching a
: hard-fought tennis match.
: Play only intensified as
: Langara’s Olivia Kappeli was left
: on the turf after a hard shoulder,
: delaying play for a short time
: before walking off to her bench.
: To Kappeli’s credit, she was right
: back into the game at the start
: of play for more punishment
: from the relentless Douglas
: Royals team.
Douglas’ Harding received
: a warning a few minutes later,
: after a collision on the Langara
: side of the pitch.
The Royals’ Kristina Klein
: became the hero of the game
: late in the second half, taking a
: beautiful header in front of the

: Langara net, sending it past the
: Falcons goalkeeper to make the
: game 3-2 for Douglas with time
: running out for the Falcons.

Langara continued to

: push in the dying minutes, but
: nothing could get by Royals

: goalkeeper Rebecca Mainardi,

: who made some beautiful saves
: to close out the game at 3-2 for
the Douglas Royals.

Royals coach Chris Laxton

: talked after the game about the
: comeback, “It was not the start

: we wanted, not the start we

: scripted. But none of us were

: worried. I think it’s a big change
: from last year, where we didn’t

: know what to expect, whereas

: this year we know we've got the
: quality to come back against

: avery strong Langara side [...]

: they work, they compete, it’s

: always a dogfight with them. So
: we'll take the three points, but

: it’s the game at the end of the

: season that we really got to get

: better for.”

The team went on to take

: victory on the weekend as well,
: defeating Kwantlen 3-0 and
: Quest 2-1.

Y Fighting Fit: The rhythm of combat
(Y Team Canada takes aim at Olympic berth

And more!

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Whitecaps finding success their own way

» Void of any big-name stars, the ‘Caps are one of the top team in MLS

Nick Bondi
The Peak (NUW)

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he Whitecaps are having the

best season of their short
Major League Soccer (MLS)
existence. They’ve won the

Amway Canadian Championship, :

and at publication time are the
top team in the MLS. All of this
without a big-name star from
Europe.

The MLS has long been
dependent on star players from
Europe to boost ticket sales and
to help market the league. This
all started in 2007 when David
Beckham transferred from Real
Madrid to the LA Galaxy which
immediately launched the MLS
into the public consciousness.

I hadn't even known what the
MLS was until I found out
Beckham was coming over. Not
only was he a success financially,
he was a success on the pitch

as well. The team won the MLS
Cup three times with him, and
finished top of the league twice.
The Galaxy have continued with
this trend, signing Giovanni dos

: Santos and Steven Gerrard this
: past summer.

: Of course, having a big star
: from Europe doesn’t guarantee
: success. Last year Toronto

: spent lavishly on players such

: as Jermaine Defoe and Michael
: Bradley, and still finished far

: out of a playoff spot. Whitecaps
: fans are probably never going

: to see a big signing like this for
: the franchise, for a couple of

: reasons. The ownership group

: doesn’t have the kind of money
: to spend on high salaries, and

: the artificial surface at BC

: Place is a deterrent for almost

: all European-trained players,

: so much so that Thierry Henry
: refused to play on it when he was
> with the New York Red Bulls.

: The Whitecaps have

: achieved success this year

: without a David Beckham.

: Under the designated player rule
: in MLS, teams can sign a player
: for any salary and not have it

: count against the salary cap.

: The ‘Caps have three of them,

: the maximum allowed under

: the rule. The highest paid one

: of them is Pedro Morales, whose

: $1,410,900 salary is close to six

: million dollars less than what

: Kaka of Orlando City makes.

: Octavio Rivero and Matias Laba

: both make less than a million.

: The Whitecaps have found

: success by buying players from

: South America and outcasts from
: the major European leagues such
: as Morales.

The team’s defence and

: goaltending has been terrific this
: year, and not one of their players

: is designated. Kendall Waston is

: one of the best centre backs in

: the league, completely dominant
: in the air, And David Ousted

: could very well be named the best
: goalkeeper in the league at the

: end of the season.

There is still much to

: be decided in MLS, but the

: Whitecaps have found success

: this season with no high-

: priced talent. Recent MLS

: championships have been been

: dominated by LA, winning three
: of the last four with the likes of

: Beckham and Robbie Keane. It

: remains to be seen if this run of
: success for the Whitecaps can be
? maintained without the big-name

 

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