Whitecaps Pre-Season Opener, A Loss To Sounders

SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC 3 – VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC 2
CASA GRANDE, AZ — Vancouver Whitecaps fell 3-2 to Major League Soccer (MLS) club Seattle Sounders FC in the opening match of their two-week pre-season trip to Casa Grande, Arizona, on Thursday.

Teitur Thordarson’s side made a fine start to the friendly contest at the Grande Sports World facility, as goals by Marlon James and Ansu Toure gave the Blue and White a two-goal halftime lead. However, after changing his entire line-up at the break, Sigi Schmid’s Sounders levelled matters with early second-half strikes from Lamar Neagle and Sanna Nyassi. The Washington State outfit then claimed victory in the dying stages with a fine second goal from Nyassi. The win was Seattle’s second-straight pre-season result over the Whitecaps. On February 22, 2009, the MLS club defeated Vancouver 4-0 in a closed-door friendly match at Seattle’s Qwest Field.

In what was their second full day in Arizona, the ‘Caps struggled for possession of the ball in the early stages of the match, though James did well to create the game’s first chance on 16 minutes, with the striker forcing a good save from Sounders goalkeeper Chris Eylander. Vancouver were then forced into an early substitution on 26 minutes, as Cornelius Stewart replaced Randy Edwini-Bonsu in attack after the Canadian international went down with a suspected hamstring problem.

The Whitecaps broke the deadlock on 36 minutes. After Toure did well to force Eylander into a save with his run and shot from the left-hand side, the rebound fell kindly for James to make it 1-0. Three minutes later, the ‘Caps doubled their advantage with a flowing move. Substitute Stewart eluded a Sounders marker before finding James with his pass. The striker then played in Toure from the left-hand side before the speedy winger beat Eylander for a 2-0 Vancouver lead.

It was a superb end to the opening half for the Whitecaps, but the second half proved more of a challenge, as a new and motivated Sounders XI stepped on to the pitch for the game’s restart.

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