The Vancouver Whitecaps turned in one of their best of the year last night. With two players serving red card suspensions and numerous injury woes, the 'Caps turned on the style and defeated the powerful Charleston Battery 3-0 before 6,188 delighted fans at Swangard Stadium.
Many fans had Friday August 24th circled on their Whitecaps schedule when it was announced that Charleston would be paying a visit to Vancouver this season. Charleston are one of the flagship franchises of the A-league. They came into the game having scored 46 goals so far this season, led by Paul Conway's 20 goals in 20 games. Heady stuff indeed. The Whitecaps had just returned from a good news-bad news road trip. They managed to get a split on the difficult two games in two nights journey to El Paso and San Diego, but it came with a price. Both Jason Jordan and David Morris received red cards in the El Paso match and wouldn't be available for the Battery game.
We needn't have worried. The reworked Vancouver lineup put in its best attacking performance of the season and showed why the Whitecaps are going to be a force to be reckoned with come playoff time.
It was a lively game from the start. The first few minutes saw both teams playing long searching balls to the flanks trying to find out where the defensive holes were going to be. The Battery's John Ball showed some good speed and was unlucky not to break through once or twice early. The first real chances, though, fell Vancouver's way. Within the first 10 minutes, Dusty Hudock in the Battery goal was forced to make three excellent reaction saves from in close, the best being the attempted tap in from Darren Tilley that Hudock dove to his left and tapped wide. Excellent stuff from the visiting keeper.
The Battery were content to play the long ball early, and it almost paid off once or twice with John Ball breaking across goal but he was unable to get any direct attempt at 'Caps keeper Didar Sandhu. The Whitecaps were pressing relentlessly, but the Battery defense was working hard and denied the three 'Caps forward players time and again. It would take a half hour for the first goal to arrive, and it was worth waiting for. Johnny Sulentic's corner kick was flicked on at the near post by Darren Tilley, and the ball fell about six yards out directly in front of goal for Alfredo Valente to hammer in. It was an emphatic finish, and the crowd of over 6,000 could sense that it might just be the beginning. The second goal ten minutes later was equally good. Steve Kindel threaded a lovely pass to a running Sulentic down the right hand side. Sulentic tried to shoot, but the shot was blocked by a defender and the ball fell right back to Sulentic who rounded the now-sprawling defender and rifled in the shot just inside the far post. The crowd noise was unbelievable-the 'Caps were in complete control at this point and it seemed there would be no way through for the visitors. But the Battery kept playing and very nearly got two goals before the half ended.
First, John Ball missed a partial break from in close after some good work getting by Chris Franks, his shot narrowly missed. Jukka Rantala tried a shot that went over from about 20 yards, then Paul Conway missed the best chance of all. He received a cross field pass about 10 yards out, but somehow managed to shoot the ball some 20 feet over the crossbar. An unbelievable miss, and the Battery would end up paying dearly.
The final goal of the game by Sulentic was a beauty. Oliver Heald, from just about midfield by the left touch line flew a long searching ball all the way across the park to an onrushing Sulentic who received the pass and hammered home the volley from 17 yards. The ball slammed in past a diving Hudock who got a mitt to it, but it didn't matter. It was 3-0 now, and the 'Caps nearly got a fourth right at the end when Sulentic slid the ball in from about 16 yards, but Jean-Baptiste ran across the goalline and cleared the ball out of danger.
The game ended at 3-0, but it easily could have been five. The game was typical of how things have been going at home for the Whitecaps. In their last six home games, they've managed 29 out of a possible 30 points. This includes max point wins over Portland (twice), Richmond and Charleston. The crowd of 6,188 was the third in a row over 6,000. The atmosphere at Swangard has been electric the last month or so, and the Whitecaps have been giving the fans every reason to be happy. They are making a very strong case of becoming playoff favorites this year, and maybe now some of the teams outside of the west will be taking notice.
Up next for Vancouver is a date with the Rampage at home next Friday. The team lost two early games to Milwaukee and they have a chance to lock up first place in the West with a win. They'll have just about everybody healthy and available for the Milwaukee game, and the Rampage had better come ready to play.
Charleston (red shirts, black shorts, red socks) 7 shots
Hudock (8 saves); Calichman, Jean-Baptiste, Phillips (Piesner 62'), Wilson; Rantala (Alvero 83'), Farris (Iotov 67'), Ball (Webster 86'), Anderson; Conway, Cozier (Donnely 62')
Vancouver (all-white with blue trim) 16 shots
Sandhu (3 saves); McCauley (Gbeke 83'), Franks, Titus; Skinner, Sulentic, Holness, Heald; Valente (King 72'), Tilley, Kindel
Attendance: 6,188
