COLD COMFORT

Caps must dig deep against RSL

Sandy, Utah and Hicksville, N.Y., are 3,500 kilometres apart, but on one night last April for Tim Parker, they could have been the same town.

Thick, heavy snow started drifting down at halftime of the Whitecaps’ game against Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium, blanketing the field, the fans and the players, as RSL blanked the visitors 3-0.

“It was cold,” said the Caps centre back. “It was a really, really hard game to play in. I don’t think we even look back at it as a soccer match at this point. I remember when I was a kid (in Hicksville), we used to have to shovel the field in order to train, so I definitely have had my fair share in the snow.”

So, too, did manager Carl Robinson, whose recollection of the game was thus: “My feet were freezing.”

The temperature and weather will be polar opposites from the spring game when the two teams meet Saturday at B.C. Place, but the circumstances are similar. In April, the Caps were playing their third game in a week, were battling injuries, and had juggled the lineup after an international game against Tigres in Mexico. This week, Vancouver is kicking

off a three-games-in-seven-days stretch, are battling injuries, have players returning from international duty (World Cup qualifying) and will be juggling the lineup to deal with the attrition the roster has endured.

September is shaping up to be a crucial month for the Caps’ playoff goals. They sit fourth in the Western conference with games in hand on every team but one. Vancouver (11W, 9L, 5D) is only four points behind Seattle (11-7-9) for the conference lead, but are also only three points up on RSL (10-13-5), who are below the playoff cutoff currently.

But the Caps’ advantage of having games in hand also means they now have to play six games before the end of the month, while dealing with the potential of fatigue with key players — Kendall Waston, Christian Bolanos and Stefan Marinovic all played significant minutes for their countries last week — and injuries, like the seasonending knee injury to Matias Laba.

“It’s one thing after another. But that’s why I have a squad. I keep reiterating it’s about squad,” said Robinson.

“The perfect example was Orlando two weeks ago, where I made eight changes, and people said I was crazy, or mad, or don’t know what I’m doing. No one gave us a chance, to go into an environment like that … and win the game.”

Added forward Brek Shea: “I think this is one of the deepest squads I’ve been on, with the amount of quality at different positions. We can put out a different team and get a result. It’s a team sport. The depth creates battles on the field for positions in a good way. And you want that.”