Caps learn lessons, but suffer the same old fate

Two rookies, two costly mistakes. But only one ended up paying for it in the end.

In Brett Levis’s second career (and second-straight) start for the Vancouver Whitecaps, the young Saskatchewan native played, for the most part, very well.

The ‘for the most part’ relates specifically to his momentary lapse in awareness in the 60th minute of Saturday’s 1-0 loss, when Minnesota’s Miguel Ibarra beat him to a back-post ball and scored what proved to be the game-winner for a 10-man side already decimated by injuries.

“It was a lack of concentration, but there won’t be any shouting or ranting. The boy (Brett Levis) had a very good game,” said Caps coach Carl Robinson.

“You want chances and when you create chances and don’t take them, it’s unfortunate that we gave one up on the other end.”

Levis — who’d played six minutes in 2016 and missed all of the following season after tearing his right ACL — was, perhaps surprisingly, the highest-rated Caps player in Saturday’s game.

He was third in tackles (4), second in interceptions (3), first in key passes (4) and third in overall passes (53). The 25-year-old also supplied a near-perfect cross to Kei Kamara in the 75th minute that the high-flying striker from Sierra Leone put just over the bar.

He was thrown into the fire as Robinson tried to navigate the age-old catch-22 for young players. They need to play to gain experience, but are usually too inexperienced to get to play.

Saturday’s game was valuable, albeit a painful experience. Levis’ gaffe will be one he learns from — just like his rookie counterpart on Minnesota, Mason Toye. It was his petulant elbow to Kendall Waston that put the Loons down a man five minutes into the second half.

“I made a bad decision, I threw an elbow and I got a red card for it. It’s just a learning experience now for me …. I made a silly decision and we had to pay for it,” said Toye.

The lessons weren’t limited to the youngsters. Vancouver’s Sean Franklin, whose 247 MLS regularseason starts is the high-water mark

on the Whitecaps roster, gave Alexi Gomez too much space on the cross that led to the game’s only goal.

And players like Kendall Waston, Anthony Blondell and Kei Kamara learned how vital it is to take your scoring opportunities when they’re presented — though that Soccer 101 class the Caps as a whole seem to have sat through many times.

They outshot Minnesota 194, forcing Loons keeper Bobby Shuttlesworth into six saves, but were shut out for the fourth time this season.

“It’s disappointing and sad to lose the game. I feel like we played a good game with just a bit of bad luck today,” said Whitecaps defensive midfielder Aly Ghazal, who led the team in interceptions (4) and was second in tackles (5).

“We had many chances to finish. It was just the last touch or just our luck.”

Added Bernie Ibini, who started on the right wing: “It’s obviously a disappointing result, especially with them going down to 10 men. I think we created enough chances to definitely win the game. … We started very well in the first starting 45. We created a number of opportunities, but we didn’t manage to put any in the back of the net. It was the same ... in the second half.”

Down 1-0 in the 60th minute, the Caps turned up the heat, putting ball after ball into the box — or, in Yordy Reyna’s case, off the woodwork.

“I thought it was a monumental effort considering how long we played with a man down. (The Caps) are probably the biggest team in the league,” said Heath.

The biggest team in the league has also the biggest travel bill, flying nearly 33,000 kilometres in the early stages of the season.

But now they’ll get to sleep in their king-sized beds, as three of their next four games are at B.C. Place.

First up are the Houston Dynamo next Friday.