Brovsky looking for payback in season opener
MONTREAL — Jeb Brovsky will have a little extra jump in his step when the Impact makes its Major League Soccer debut against the Whitecaps in Vancouver on Saturday.
The Impact selected Brovsky fourth overall in the November MLS expansion draft after the Whitecaps left the 23- year- old unprotected, and a somewhat bitter taste still exists.
“Being picked up in the expansion draft, it’s always bittersweet,” Brovsky said Thursday. “You wish you were protected, but that’s a management decision that you have to respect.
“I was very happy to picked up by Montreal,” he said, “and making this my new home.”
Brovsky is expected to be part of the team’s inaugural starting 11 if Wednesday’s practice was an indication.
He anchored the right side of the back four with Josh Gardner on left and Tyson Wahl and Shavar Thomas in the central positions, the latter in place of key central defender Matteo Ferrari, who, said head coach Jesse Marsch, “was given a day off.”
Brovsky, a native of Lakewood, Colo., was drafted by Vancouver in the second round ( 19th overall) of the 2011 MLS Superdraft and appeared in 24 games with the Whitecaps last season.
He previously spent four years at the University of Notre Dame and, as a midfielder, was one of the top players in the NCAA Division I’s Big East Conference.
The Whitecaps went unbeaten in pre- season with a record of 5- 0- 2, including a 3- 0 win over the Impact during last week’s Disney Pro Soccer Classic, an eight- team pre- season tournament in Orlando, Fla., which Vancouver won following its 1- 0 victory over Toronto FC in the final.
Brovsky said the Impact has improved since then and is more than ready Saturday’s season opener
“Obviously Vancouver is flying high right now after their pre- season,” he said. “I think it’s a good time to go into their stadium and show that we belong in this league as well.
“It’s very special for me ( going back to Vancouver). There’s actually no love lost between the city and I. They have great fans and they’re going to have some great support at the field, I know that, and we have to match that energy.
“They’re a good team, and like I said, is flying high right now and we have to take their momentum away from them.”
The pre- season meeting Feb. 25 was a spirited affair and a miscue by Brovsky ultimately led to Vancouver’s first goal by French midfielder Eric Hassli in the 38th minute.
Marsch said Brovsky has a good chance to be in the starting lineup against Vancouver because “he’s done very well for us” in pre- season training despite the fact he’s been faced with playing in a new position.