Techera earns ’Caps a point
VANCOUVER 3 NEW ENGLAND 3
VANCOUVER — He had the game ball tucked under his arm, but instead of a smile there was a look of concern on Cristian Techera’s face.
Scoring his first career hat trick would have been a lot sweeter for the Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder if it had come in a win. Instead, Vancouver followed a familiar script of missing scoring opportunities and giving up goals on defensive errors in settling for a 3-3 draw with the New England Revolution in Major League Soccer play Saturday.
Techera’s third goal came in the 74th minute off a pass from striker Yordy Reyna. Earlier, he had scored goals two minutes apart to help the Whitecaps erase a 2-0 deficit.
“I felt extremely happy when we tied the game up, but a little unlucky we weren’t able to win the game,” said five-foot-two Techera. “The good thing is we were able to get a point of out it. It’s still that unluckiness that we just can’t overcome that deficit. We’ll get there.”
It was the fourth consecutive game in which Vancouver had to fight back from a deficit to manage a draw. The Whitecaps (4-5-5) are winless in five games and have just one victory in their past nine matches (1-4-4). Vancouver had several chances to win the game, played before a sellout crowd of 22,120 at B.C. Place Stadium. Striker Kei Kamara missed two great chances, the first just 30 seconds into the match. Late in the game, midfielder Felipe rang a header off the post.
Head coach Carl Robinson liked the character his team showed and the chances created.
“We didn’t go under,” he said. “It would have been easy at 2-0. The players stuck together. They found a way back.”
What frustrated Robinson were the defensive lapses.
“We need to stop conceding silly, stupid, needless goals,” said Robinson. “That’s just individual detail. I said to the guys maybe the personnel isn’t right or the shape of the team isn’t right.”