USL News Release

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

TAMPA, FL – The defending champion Vancouver Whitecaps head to Montreal for the second and final leg of the USL First Division Championship Series Saturday at 2:30 pm ET live on Fox Soccer Channel (Fox Sports World Canada). The Impact hold a 3-2 lead heading into leg two, having surprised their Canadian rivals last week at home.

Although Vancouver won the title a year ago in a battle of the top two teams from the regular season, the Whitecaps were not widely expected to be in the situation of playing for a second straight title due to the numerous squad changes made to younger, developing talent.

But the young side adapted quickly and despite some alterations made on the fly during the season, Vancouver managed to earn themselves the final spot in the playoffs as the seventh seed, losing only one of their final 10 games of the year. That form continued onto the postseason with wins at home in the opening legs of both rounds followed by draws on the road to advance to the championship series.

Then the team who knows Vancouver best, having played them five times this season, got the better of them in the opening game.

But according to Vancouver coach Teitur Thordarson, they gave the game away, perhaps, because of that inexperience.

“We gave it to them a little bit in the first half. We weren’t as good and aggressive in our way of playing as we had been before,” said Thordarson. “Why? Don’t really understand why. The only reason I can see is that this is sometimes happens when you have a lot of young and inexperienced players on the field. This is the biggest game they’ve ever played.”

“But we had it also a little bit after our first goal in Portland. In a way, we got passive - we didn’t really get stuck into it as we usually do,” he said referring to the two goals they gave up after taking a two goal lead in the semifinal series.

Moving forward though, the Whitecaps face a challenge that appears to be just as great a mental task as a physical one in the mind of their coach.

“We have nothing to lose. But we have to be clever,” said Thordarson. “Although we have nothing to lose, we have to use our head, because if they get the first goal, the task gets very, very tough. That is something we just have to, under all circumstances, try to avoid. We don’t have to open it up, everything, from the first minute. We can be tactically clever.”

“I think they are going to play a similar way as they did here. They’ve been alternating a little bit different styles. Earlier in the year they were 4-3-3, and then they went in 4-4-2. And now, they came 4-4-2 with a diamond in the midfield – so they have apparently been trying to find out what’s the best for them, and what they think is the best to play us for example.”

“I’m expecting a little bit of them being careful, trying to make sure we don’t get too many occasions to score. But we will create chances - that’s for sure. We have to do a little bit of the same, as I said, because we cannot afford to let them score the first goal. We have to try, as much as we can, to be aware of that and be clever.”

“As I said, if they score the first goal, then it will be very tough for us to score three. But if we score the first goal, then possibly they might panic a little bit. So that’s what I’m trying to play on a little bit – be tactically clever.”

Like Vancouver, the Impact came into the series performing extremely well for a fifth seed. Montreal had lost only one of their final eight games of the year and have since won all five playoff games, putting them on the verge of being the first to finish the postseason perfect since the introduction of the two-leg, aggregate score series in the 2000 playoffs.

The Vancouver coach though felt that they beat themselves instead of the Impact earning a win, and warned that won’t be the case in the second meeting.

“I think they played well in the first half here, but I think we gave it to them,” Thordarson commented. “It was too easy for them. It is definitely not going to be that easy for them in Montreal.”