Vancouver Whitecaps News Release - www.whitecapsfc.com

Sunday, August 10, 2008

VANCOUVER, BC -- Vancouver Whitecaps returned to winning ways with a dramatic 3-2 home win over Atlanta Silverbacks on Sunday. Despite trailing twice in the afternoon contest at Swangard Stadium, the Whitecaps moved into a tie for first place with Puerto Rico Islanders in the USL First Division standings after scoring two late goals to claim all three points against their Georgia-based rivals.

Eduardo Sebrango took his scoring tally to 10 with two more goals in the second half after captain Jeff Clarke had found the scoresheet in the first half for the home side.

Though disappointed not to come away with anything from the match, Atlanta contributed to the entertainment at Swangard, with the ever-dangerous Ansu Toure scoring two fine goals in the first half for the Silverbacks.

Whitecaps head coach Teitur Thordarson made three changes to the side that started last Tuesday's 3-2 defeat in Atlanta. Two youngsters that made notable performances as substitutes in the club's recent road trip earned their first-ever starts for the Whitecaps. Mason Trafford came into Vancouver's backline, while Admir Salihovic started in midfield, as Steve Kindel and Nicholas Addlery both missed out through suspension after collecting five yellow cards during the season. Omar Jarun returned from a similar ban to face his old club at centre back, as defender Luca Bellisomo had to settle for a spot on the substitutes' bench. Also making Thordarson's list of subs were two players back from injury in right fullback Lyle Martin and fellow defender Geordie Lyall.

Silverbacks head coach Jason Smith, meanwhile, was forced into one change from the side that drew 0-0 at home to Miami FC Blues on Friday evening. Top goalscorer Macoumba Kandji was unable to travel to Canada because of visa issues, so Atlanta native Chris Mahaffey replaced the Senegal-born forward in the visitors' starting XI. There was also a first-ever appearance back in Vancouver for former Whitecaps striker Jason McLaughlin, who played in the Atlanta midfield.

Though it was a cloudy Sunday afternoon at Swangard, a crowd of 4,689 saw an entertaining first half of soccer, with three goals scored in the opening 45 minutes.

The Whitecaps tried to create the first chance of the game on 10 minutes, with Jason Jordan's fine run into the Atlanta box nearly allowing Alfredo Valente a chance in front of goal. However, Jordan's pass towards the winger was well cut out by Silverbacks defender Josh Bolton. A minute later at the other end, McLaughlin looked to play in Jerson Monteiro with a good through ball, but Whitecaps goalkeeper Jay Nolly was able to get to the ball first in the Vancouver box.

The home side worked hard to press the Silverbacks, with Atlanta captain David Hayes needing to clear a dangerous Takashi Hirano cross from the left on the quarter-hour mark before Jarun missed the target with a powerful header a minute later.

On 20 minutes, Jordan forced Silverbacks goalkeeper Felipe Quintero into a save with his overhead kick after Trafford found him in the Atlanta box with his forward ball, but just as it looked like Vancouver were in the ascendancy, the Silverbacks took the lead seconds later.

Toure took the ball near the edge of the Vancouver box and hit an unstoppable swerving shot off the underside of Nolly's crossbar and just over the goal line for his first goal of the game, though Monteiro made sure of the goal by putting the rebound into the back of the net.

The goal silenced the Swangard crowd, and former Minnesota Thunder man Toure was causing the Whitecaps backline many problems with his skill and speed. He forced Hirano to clear his dangerous cross from the left after the African winger turned Trafford inside out with his trickery toward the Vancouver byline on 25 minutes.

Seconds later, however, the Whitecaps drew level though Clarke. Jordan had possession of the ball with his back to goal. Quintero then came out of his net to challenge him, but the Mexican shot-stopper was forced to save Jordan's turn and shot with his hand. The rebound fell kindly for Clarke and his low strike found its way through a crowd of players and into the goal for 1-1. The goal was also a landmark for Jordan, as his assist was his 200th point all-time as a Whitecaps player.

The Whitecaps captain admitted the Atlanta game was an enjoyable contest. "Both teams came to attack and I think you saw that from the quality of the play and the quality of the chances in the match," Clarke said. "There was good build-up and good wing play, so it was a fun match to play in."

The equalizer restored Vancouver's confidence to attack, but on 33 minutes, Salihovic struck a shot high and over the Atlanta crossbar after Martin Nash played in a corner from the left-hand side.

Six minutes later, however, the Silverbacks restored their lead through a well-taken second goal from Toure. Scott Buete intercepted a poor Whitecaps clearance before slipping a pass to the speedy Liberian. Toure moved into the Vancouver box and sidestepped both Wesley Charles and Nolly before neatly chipping the ball into an empty net for 2-1.

Despite being a goal down again, the Whitecaps nearly replied immediately. However, Jordan missed the target with his shot after Sebrango had troubled the Atlanta defence with his run into the box, while on the stroke of halftime, Sebrango was unlucky not to score equalizer after the Cuban's curling strike from the edge of the box struck the post.

A goal down at the break, the Whitecaps had a bright start to the second half, with Lyle Martin returning to action when he replaced Salihovic on the right side of midfield for the game's restart. The speedy American was pleased to return to action after a spell out with a hamstring problem. "When you sit out a number of games, you're always raring to go," Martin told whitecapsfc.com. "When you come off the bench, you want to come in and have that spark by lifting the team as much as possible. I felt that two or three of us off the bench helped lift the team today."

On 46 minutes, Sebrango was again unlucky to hit the woodwork with an unmarked header from Nash's cross, while substitute Martin forced Quintero to save his header four minutes later. On 52 minutes, Clarke could not find the target with a low drive after taking a lay-off from Sebrango.

Though they were under pressure at various stages, Atlanta remained dangerous going forward, with Monteiro causing Vancouver a scare with a close-range shot that flew high and wide of Nolly's goal on 58 minutes.

Then after Jordan was replaced by striker Charles Gbeke, the former Montreal Impact forward struck a shot wide of goal in the Atlanta box after he eluded the attentions of Bolton and Martyn Lancaster on 65 minutes.

Five minutes later, Whitecaps fans applauded Lyall on to the pitch for his first appearance of the season after a lengthy injury lay-off, as he replaced Trafford at right fullback. "It's good to get out on the field and actually play some minutes to boost the confidence a bit," Lyall said after Sunday's match. "I hope my return is a bonus for the team, as there was a chance that I may not have appeared this season with my injury problems."

Vancouver fans would then have even more to cheer about on 72 minutes, as Sebrango and Gbeke combined for the Whitecaps second goal for the match. The Cuban's fine through ball to his strike partner allowed Gbeke to force Quintero to save his low shot, but spill a rebound in the Atlanta box. Sebrango then reached the loose ball first to nail home his ninth goal of the season, and make it 2-2.

The leveler allowed to push for the win, and Quintero needed to be at his best to stop substitute Vicente Arze's fine strike on 87 minutes after Lyall played a ball into the Atlanta box from the left.

A minute later, however, the home side claimed the winner. Nash's corner from the right saw Lyall and Quintero contest for the ball in the six-yard box. Quintero was unable to control the ball as it fell to the feet of Sebrango, and despite claims by the Silverbacks players for a foul on their keeper, the Cuban converted his second goal of the game for 3-2. "It certainly was not me who scored," Lyall said of the game-winning goal. "I made a challenge with the keeper, but I didn’t put the ball in the net."

It may have not been pretty, but the Whitecaps were more than happy to claim an important victory in the manner that they achieved on Sunday, as they continue to push for the USL-1 regular season title.


90 FULL MINUTES


Though the winning goal left a number of his players feeling far from happy, Silverbacks head coach Smith was philosophical about Sunday's events. "To be quite honest, we were hanging on for the last 15 minutes after all the games we have played recently," he said after the final whistle. "Unfortunately, there are certain times during the season when your schedule is very compressed, but we've had one of our better runs of late, so I can't complain too much. I thought we were almost good enough to have a point today, but I will have to see the video on the winning goal to be sure if it was a foul on Quintero. It initially looked to me like Felipe had caught the ball from the corner."

Delighted with the late comeback, Thordarson was frustrated to see his side make hard work of Atlanta's first visit to Swangard this season. "I think we were a little bit unfortunate because Atlanta did not offer that much," he said. "They broke through on two occasions and scored, but those were the only two chances they had in the entire game. We're playing quite well, but we have to stop giving these easy goals away because it's hard to chase a result every time we play at home. Despite this, we have again shown today that we have a fantastic morale in the team. The guys never gave up and they kept coming at Atlanta again and again. I am very proud of the hard work they have all put into this game and result."

Vancouver will now have a week to prepare before they host in-form Puerto Rico at Swangard next Sunday night, with the Islanders claiming a point in Upstate New York on Sunday after a 1-1 draw with Rochester Rhinos. Atlanta, meanwhile, continue their extremely busy stretch of games by returning home and preparing for a second visit from Southern Derby rivals Charleston Battery next Saturday.