WHITECAPS WIN CASCADIA CUP
Vancouver trounces Timbers
Play every last game of the season like it’s your last. Is that the expression?
A motivated Whitecaps team made the most of Sunday’s season finale at B.C. Place.
Eliminated from the playoffs three weeks ago, the Caps hammered the Portland Timbers — who had everything to play for — by a count of 4-1.
They kept their rivals out of the playoffs, won the Cascadia Cup on goal difference, and gave the 24,083 fans something to smile about. The fans deserved that. No, the win didn’t make up for a season of mistakes, misses and misbehaviour.
And it didn’t mask the obvious issues the Whitecaps have to ad- dress this off-season, or make that task any simpler.
It also, unavoidably, raised the question: Where was this all season? The fight and passion. The defensive commitment. The finishing.
“This performance absolutely drives me mad,” coach Carl Robinson said after, “because I know we’ve got the players to do it, but we haven’t done it on a consistent basis.”
There’s no way the Caps would have ended the year 10-15-9 (6-5-6 at home) if they’d played like this most weeks.
Still, it was something. A small gift for the loyal fan base, which Robinson praised before the game as he took the microphone on the field.
“It’s easy to find out about fans when things are going well,” he said in that speech. “You find out about true fans when you go through difficult seasons.
“We’ll come back fitter, stronger and better.”
Who, exactly, will come back, and who the Caps will add, are the big questions now. They need a striker. They need a right-back. They need more in midfield.
And the coach, president and coowner have all talked about needing more leaders.
Giles Barnes, the English forward acquired in a July trade with Houston, scored twice in the first half and was a constant threat. They were his first two goals as a Whitecap in his 10th game.
Captain Pedro Morales made it 3-0 with a beautiful strike from the top of the box in the 54th minute, and then sparkplug Nicolas Mezquida piled on more misery for the visitors one minute later.
Morales’ future in Vancouver has been hotly debated and he’s taken plenty of heat for his play. He was bright Sunday, though. Everyone was.
Morales celebrated his goal by stripping off his shirt, running to the centre circle, and sliding to his knees.
The lone blemish for Vancouver was conceding a penalty in the 71st minute as Jordan Harvey clipped substitute Jack Barmby in the box. Diego Valeri, who was kept quiet on the afternoon, finished from the spot to make it 4-1.
But Portland (12-14-8) needed much more to make the playoffs. They were without two key players to suspension — Diego Chara and Liam Ridgewell — and were ripped apart once they trailed.
They finished the season 0-11-6 away from Providence Park.
With the Columbus Crew also missing the playoffs, it’s the first time in MLS history the two MLS Cup finalists haven’t made the playoffs the next year.
Lucas Melano’s unfathomable first-half miss — near the goal-line with a wide open net — will sting because it was only 1-0 Caps at that point.
Portland also wanted Caps’ defender Kendall Waston sent off at 1-0 after he struck Timbers’ forward Fanendo Adi in the stomach with a swinging arm.
It didn’t look to be a closed-fisted punch on replays — more of a slap — but there was certainly intent, and if the officials had a clearer look, surely Waston would have had an early shower.
Soon after that, Barnes made it 2-0 with an excellent finish inside the far post. Portland’s playoff fate felt sealed, and the Cascadia Cup was firmly in the balance.
The Caps needed a three-goal spread to claim the trophy, which was started by supporters of the three Cascadia clubs back in 2004. They finished the job in the second half, though the celebration was predictably subdued at the end.
“We finished on a high today,” said Robinson, “but I’m not fooled over 34 games.”
It was a bit like finishing a bad meal with a good dessert.