Coach happy with team’s effort
Down 3-0 at halftime to the Montreal Impact in Tuesday’s second leg of the Canadian Championship semifinal, Whitecaps head coach Carl Robinson was faced with a teachable moment.
“It’s easy to go under, but let’s not go under,” he told his charges in the locker-room, a group of players short nine Major League Soccer regulars who had been left at home to rest.
“‘Let’s show who we are and who we can be, and let’s try and win that second half.’ We kept fighting, which was really positive for these young players, because a lot of them haven’t played too many games.”
Consider it lesson learned. The Caps battled back to within 4-2 — Alphonso Davies and Kyle Grieg scored for Vancouver — and came within a last-second save from Impact keeper Maxime Crepeau from going through on away goals.
It was a remarkable display of resilience after Montreal took the lead on two penalty kicks — one of them questionable, a common occurrence for the Whitecaps — but Vancouver absorbed those gut-punches to close the gap, and again after the Impact scored on Anthony Jackson-Hamel’s 61stminute goal.
The Canadian Championship provided a chance for the younger players to showcase their skills in hostile territory on a meaningful stage.
“They all want to play ... but they rarely get opportunities,” Robinson
said after the game.
“I used this tournament as a platform to give them opportunities. I have to make decisions on players, and it’s easier to make decisions when they’ve played in big, big games, and it certainly was today.
“It was a great game. Both games have been really enjoyable. From my side we got some valuable minutes for players who haven’t been playing regularly in Major League Soccer. The travel this week has been difficult, which is why I left nine first-team boys at home.”
Davies was a star yet again, his 59th-minute unassisted goal sparking the visitors’ secondhalf surge. He played 45 minutes, though Robinson’s plan to limit his playing time was scrapped when Nicholas Mezquida picked up a high ankle sprain on a heavy, twofooted challenge.
“The kid’s got huge upside ... we know that,” Robinson said. “It’s important that we just take our time with him. He’s been in and out of the team. I leave him out for certain reasons and the press asks me why?
“He’s 16. He still plays PlayStation, he still goes to malls, he still does all these things. But his curfew’s 10 o’clock. His mom and dad say it’s important he does his schoolwork or he doesn’t play. So it’s important I manage him.
“When he came on he’s exciting. He’s dangerous. He’s an exciting prospect.”
The Whitecaps now look ahead to Saturday’s game against Atlanta United FC, the surprising expansion squad that leads MLS with 27 goals, and has the third-best road record (2-2-3) in the Eastern Conference.
Montreal will now face Toronto after the Reds came back from a 2-1 loss to Ottawa FC in the first leg of their semifinal by winning 4-0 Wednesday at home.
“I wish Montreal all the best in the final, but there’s always a few twists and turns in this tournament and I’ve seen a lot of them,” Robinson said. “It’s football. Doesn’t surprise me.”