Monday 7 June 2010

Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Rowdies

Vancouver Whitecaps 1 vs. Rowdies 0
Swangard Stadium retained its status as a fortress on a soggy Sunday afternoon as the rain came down and the Vancouver Whitecaps (4-2-3) recorded a narrow 1-0 victory over visiting FC Tampa Bay (5-2-3), halting the Rowdies' league-best seven-match unbeaten streak. No team had scored a goal against the Whitecaps in their home stadium this year, and that record was preserved in the match.
Scott Buete, Aaron King and Aaron Wheeler all had solid chances to score, but the team couldn’t finish.
“It’s a game we could have won,” said Rowdies Head Coach Paul Dalglish. “But if you look at the bigger picture for the whole of the season, we’re still doing very well. One unlucky result isn’t going to end our season.”
Buete nearly opened the scoring with a left-footed shot from outside the box in the 20th minute, but Vancouver goalkeeper Jay Nolly caught the shot to keep the match scoreless.
Vancouver returned with a chance of its own in the 24th minute when Yendry Diaz slipped in the sloppy conditions, allowing a shot from Whitecaps forward Cornelius Stewart. Rowdies goalkeeper Daryl Sattler dove to his right while Stewart attempted to chip the ball over him. Sattler palmed the ball away, keeping the Rowdies even.
Moments before halftime, Buete was charged with a handball inside the box and was shown a yellow card. Vancouver captain and midfielder Martin Nash, the younger brother of Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash, stepped up and converted the penalty kick in first half stoppage time. Vancouver went into halftime with a slim 1-0 lead.
Vancouver could have scored again in the 62nd minute, but Sattler once again dove, this time to his left to save a shot from Philippe Davies.
In the 70th minute, King had a chance on goal but his shot was saved by Nolly. Wheeler had a chance to score his fifth goal of the season with a header, but he sent it wide of the target. There were more chances ahead for the Rowdies after Whitecaps defender Luca Bellisomo was shown a second yellow card in the 80th minute and sent off.
King had another chance in the 81st minute but slipped on the soaked field and was unable to score from eight yards out on an empty net.
Nearly seven minutes of stoppage time yielded a few small chances for the Rowdies to find an equalizer, but the 10 Whitecaps held on for the home victory. King had another chance inside the box in the fifth minute of extra-time, but Nolly again made the save.
“It’s a sore result for us to take, especially because of the chances that we missed," said Dalglish. "Aaron King was the hero last week, that’s just the way soccer is. If you gave him 10 chances at those shots again, I feel he would score all 10. But unfortunately, that’s just football.”
Both of the Rowdies’ losses this season have been 1-0 road losses and both of those goals have been the result of penalty kicks. Leilei Gao scored the penalty kick in the NSC Minnesota Stars’ 1-0 victory over the Rowdies in the second week of the season.

Lineups:
Rowdies Lineup: Sattler, Valentin, Valentino, Kljestan, Diaz, Buete (69' - Yates), Millien (86' - Donoho), Yamada, Tan, Adjeman-Pamboe (61' - King), Wheeler.
Whitecaps Lineup: Nolly, Tsiskaridze, Akloul, Bellisomo, Knight, Moose (57' - Toure), Steele (90+' - Sanchez), Nash, Davies (82' - Hirano), Haber (90+' - Toure), Stewart (88' - Williams).

Scoring Summary:
Whitecaps - Martin Nash - 45' (penalty kick)

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