Caps a ‘bit of a mess,’ but young USL squad clinches playoff spot
David Ousted summed up the Whitecaps’ season well after Saturday’s 3-3 tie with Colorado at B.C. Place.
“The whole thing is a little bit of a mess,” the goalkeeper said.
Saturday’s dropped points at home, combined with Kansas City’s win Saturday night and Seattle’s big 4-2 win in L.A. on Sunday afternoon, mean the Caps (9-14-8) are all but mathematically eliminated from the playofs with three games to go.
But here’s something that’s not a mess: the Caps’ USL team.
Whitecaps FC 2 clinched their first playof berth mid-week and, on Saturday night, found out their playof opponent for the USL conference quarter-finals.
Alan Koch’s team will face the Colorado Springs Switchbacks on Friday at 6 p.m. PT (streamed at whitecapsfc.com).
“We’ve played the youngest core group in the league, so to make the playofs is a fantastic achievement,” said Koch. “We’ve had a good balance this season — a couple of guys who know what it takes to be successful in the league and a good group of 19- to 22-year-olds and some good young players.”
WFC2 finished 12-9-9, sixth in the Western Conference. Colorado Springs (14-9-7) was third in the West.
The Caps earned a 1-1 tie there in late July on a Brett Levis goal, while Colorado Springs claimed a 2-0 win at UBC’s Thunderbird Stadium three weeks ago.
“They’re a good team, an older, experienced team,” said Koch, the former Simon Fraser University men’s coach.
“They know how to play together and they don’t change their lineup often and they haven’t lost much at home.”
It’s been a season of good stories for WFC2.
Both Levis, the hard-working 23-year-old left-back from Saskatoon, and Alphonso Davies, the talented 15-year-old winger from Edmonton, have looked good when given opportunities with the big club.
Davies, on Saturday, became the second-youngest player ever to start an MLS game.
Along with keeper Spencer Richey — the Caps’ 61st overall pick in 2015 — they’ve made meaningful contributions to the Caps’ CONCACAF Champions League campaign.
Other WFC 2 players have enjoyed strong seasons, like leading scorer Kyle Greig, a 26-year-old from Wisconsin who has 11 goals in 27 games and should get a long look in Caps training camp next season.
Right-back Kadin Chung of New Westminster, 18, has grabbed people’s attention, while midfielder Will Seymore, a 2015 third-round pick of FC Dallas, was singled out for praise by Koch.