SOCCER CANADA - NEWS

Richmond Kickers' away struggles continue against Toronto

The Richmond Kickers' struggles on the road continued Wednesday as they suffered defeat to Toronto FC II. A 2nd half goal by Salvador Bernal Flores made the difference. 4-0 at home, Richmond had only mustered an 0-2-1 record in away matches. This wouldn't improve after heading north to Canada. No D.C. United loanee players accompanied the Kickers across the border.

Toronto FC II were out to redeem themselves after giving up a goal in the first five minutes to Louisville City FC last week. Ultimately, the 2-0 loss put Toronto near the bottom of the USL Eastern Conference table. They had lost to Richmond just two weeks prior, but were able to turn the tables at the Ontario Soccer Center.

Yudai Imura returned to the starting eleven following a lengthy hamstring injury. Previous to spending time on the sidelines, Imura had three goals in four matches, but couldn't rekindle the same glory in Toronto. Richmond started out on the attack, earning a corner in the first minute and forward Jason Yeisley having a shot on goal two minutes later. Both were handled by Toronto.

The home squad answered in the 6th minute with a shot inside the box blocked and cleared, which subsequently fell to the waiting Toronto midfield. An ensuing cross sent in by Bubacarr Jobe looked dangerous but outpaced the Toronto attackers. Richmond's best chance of the first half came in the 13th minute when Yeisley headed down a ball to Imura, who's through ball found an open Brian Ownby one-on-one with keeper Quillan Roberts. Roberts stood tall in front of goal and blocked the shot, only for the rebound to fall to Imura. His attempt at goal was cleared off the line in a last ditch defense by Toronto.

Richmond continued to attack but Roberts thwarted every attempted. In the 21st, a poor Toronto clearance fell to Yeisley, whose shot tested Roberts but was handled. A few minutes later, a slow pass back to Roberts was nearly run down by Imura, but the Toronto keeper beat him to it.

The teams traded blows as Alex Lee, beaten on the left side, tripped Toronto midfielder Raheem Edwards. The ensuing free kick found a Richmond head and was cleared out of danger. After tangling with William Yomby in the 38th, Toronto's Jordan Hamilton earned a yellow card for kicking the ball away after the foul had been called. He answered with a strike at goal three minutes later that passed just over the crossbar. At the close of the first half, Edwards had words with the officials and was pulled off the pitch by his teammates.

Richmond enjoyed three set pieces in the first six minutes of the 2nd half but couldn't make them count. The stalemate was broken in the 75th when a free kick was taken quickly by Adam Bouchard and set in behind the Richmond defense to Salvador Bernal Flores. Alex Lee was making pace with Flores but fell, and the Toronto midfielder was able to cut a shot around Hugh Roberts. Keeper Matt Turner got a glove to the ball, but it bounced just inside the left post.

Richmond attempted to answer in the 89th. Ownby found Braeden Troyer up the left side, who's dangerous cross in front of goal was mishandled by Toronto's keeper. The ball was put back up in the air, and Samuel Asante's header was bound for goal, only to be cleared off the line. With five minutes of stoppage time, RIchmond wasn't done. In the 84th, a cross found the head of Hugh Roberts but his attempt passed over the bar. With that, the match ended.

The two sides will compete in a best of three as they meet again at City Stadium in July. Meanwhile, Richmond plays New York Red Bulls II May 14 (ed. note: recap of which is coming tomorrow) at Red Bull Arena and return home Wednesday, May 18, for their first match of U.S. Open Cup play.

Poor Weather leads to Sloppy Game between Impact and Philadelphia Union

The soccer gods were not on the Impact’s side, as constant rain lead to a sloppy contest against the Union

Another game. Another tie.

In what was a very sloppy game due to poor weather, the Impact dropped another two points at home.

Whichever way you look at it, haven't lost in 5 games, or haven't won in 5 games, the fact that 2 points have been dropped in all of those games is not inspiring for what is supposed to be a contender in MLS this season.

While many may point to the fact that the Impact are on top of the Eastern Conference still, it is important to remember that the East is far weaker then the Western Conference, and any ranking should be taken with a grain of salt relative to the MLS as a whole.

A successful MLS season should have teams winning at home, and getting a tie on the road, at least 80% of the time. The Impact have failed thus far in that pursuit, and I for one hope they start to figure things out, sooner, rather then later.

For now, we'll chalk this one up to the poor weather conditions.

Man of the Match: Didier Drogba

Plain and simple, Drogba commands the game.

Let's leave aside his Goal of the Week strike in the second minute, we all know that's just regular Drogba being Drogba.

Today, I brought a friend with me to the game, and he commented many times about how "Drogba doesn't even do anything, he doesn't even run!".

Thing is, he doesn't need to run. Drogba has this knack for knowing where the ball will be before its actually there. It really is incredible. I don't know what to call it, "Soccer IQ", "Attacking Awareness", "Drogba being Drogba?", they're all interchangeable really.

Honorable Mention: Dominic Oduro

Can we all agree on something?

Dominic Oduro belongs on the wing.

In what was a game representing a microcosm of his season thus far, Oduro looked incredible on the wing and then when shifted to striker, looked dreadful.

Oduro provides straight line speed that very few in this world can provide. Give him the open space to run, and without failure he will get the ball into the box.

Will he finish? Very small chance. But he does not need to with a clinical finisher like Drogba in the box.

I hope that his form continues like this, as he has been very effective in the last few games.

Most Surprising Performance: Ambroise Oyongo

It may be due to injury, it may be due to a position change, but all season up until this point, Ambroise Oyongo had been largely underwhelming.

After the season he had last season, fans were expecting much more from the young full back.

Finally, against the Union, Oyongo seemed to be getting back to his old form. Oyongo was never beat, displayed good defensive awareness in his positioning on the pitch, and made sure to get involved on the attack as well, which is all we can ask from Oyongo.

If there is one thing that he can improve, would be his strength while defending set pieces, as I find he gets pushed around a bit too much. But then again, that is not his game. If we want someone for that, we can always put Hassoun Camara into the lineup.

Most Disappointing Performance: Laurent Ciman

Maybe it's my astronomical expectations of him. Maybe it's his continued dominance game in and game out. But for the first time in a long time, I came away disappointed with the performance of Laurent Ciman.

Maybe I'm crazy. Maybe the rain got to my head out there at Stade Saputo. But to me, Ciman was not the usual "God-like" defender we have all come to know him as.

Highlighted by a huge mistake on the Union's goal, Ciman made a few poor decisions throughout the game.

While this may seem critical of someone that still was one of the better players on the field, it is a fact that the Impact need Ciman to be at the top of his game at all times for them to be competitive. There is not much room for error.

But that's just one man's opinion, let me know yours by tweeting @javiergonz1994 or by leaving a comment below!

Man of the Match Awards - Thus Far

Laurent Ciman -€” 3

Ignacio Piatti -€” 3

Didier Drogba -€” 2

Kyle Bekker -€” 1

N/A - 1

Additional Notes:

Credit to the Union goalkeeper, incredibly athletic saves made.

Amazing attendance today for such a rainy day! Fans seemed to have a blast! Am I crazy for wanting it to rain

Press Release:Whitecaps 2 (4-3) win over LA Galaxy 2

Match Report Courtesy of Whitecaps FC 2

Current Western Conference USL Standings

A thrilling 4-3 win over a rival? Where have we heard that before?

A day after the first team’s 4-3 victory over Toronto FC, WFC2 (5W-0L-2D) defeated LA Galaxy II (4W-2L-4D) by the same scoreline in front of energetic crowd of 2,778 on Sunday at UBC Thunderbird Stadium.

It was another fun game to watch on the Point Grey campus.

Fifteen-year-old Alphonso Davies scored his first professional goal, fellow Canadian Brett Levis opened his account for 2016, and captain Kyle Greig added to his team-leading tally with a first-half brace.

With the win, WFC2 leapfrog their fellow MLS-owned West Coast rival into the top spot in the Western Conference. WFC2 remain the only unbeaten team in the United Soccer League.

More encouraging, perhaps, is the development of Davies and the other youngsters on the squad.

Davies, who made his sixth straight start, was one of five Whitecaps FC Residency products and seven Canadians in Alan Koch’s starting lineup. They had a combined two goals and four assists.

The young ‘Caps came out flying in this one, scoring three goals in the first 21 minutes.

Greig got things started in the third minute, finishing off a pretty passing play between Residency products Marco Bustos and Kadin Chung, who delivered a perfect cross from the right to pick up his second assist in as many games.

Bustos and Chung were both lively in the early going – as was Davies.

But Greig added his second of the match and team-leading seventh of the season in the 17th minute, once again tapping in a pass from the right. This time it was Daniel Haber who provided the service after some great interplay between Chung and fellow Residency grad Matthew Baldisimo, who picked up his first assist as a pro on the goal.

The ‘Caps weren’t done there.

Just four minutes later, Davies got in on the fun. The 15-year-old picked off 21-year-old U.S. youth international Oscar Sorto, darted into in the box, and finished to make it 3-0 with his first of the season.

LA got one back in the 35th minute through first-teamer Jose Villarreal, who curled in a left-footed free kick from distance. Villarreal had two more great chances early in the second half, but goalkeeper Sean Melvin shut the door on both occasions.

This one ended just how it started – with a flurry of goals.

In the 81st minute, Levis made it 4-1 for WFC2. After making an interception from his left back position, the Saskatoon native raced up the field, played a nice one-two with Bustos, and then eventually banged in a rebound to score his first goal as a left back.

LA Galaxy made it interesting late with an 84th-minute Denzel Slager half-volley and stoppage time Villarreal penalty, but WFC2 held on for the victory.

Next up for WFC2 are a pair of road matches at Portland Timbers 2 and Saint Louis FC before hosting Real Monarchs SLC on May 29 as part of the Kids and ‘Caps Children’s Festival – there will be a bouncy castle, carnival games, and a live performance from youth band Sm:)e.

NEWS AND NOTES

Goalkeeper Marco Carducci, fullback Chris Serban, and midfielder Ben McKendry are away with the Canadian U-23 national team for a pair of international friendlies vs. Guyana and Grenada … WFC2 have now won three consecutive matches.

Attendance: 2,778

Scoring Summary
3’ – VAN – Kyle Greig (Kadin Chung, Marco Bustos)
17’ – VAN – Kyle Greig (Daniel Haber, Matthew Baldisimo)
21’ – VAN – Alphonso Davies
35’ – LA – Jose Villarreal
81’ – VAN – Brett Levis
84’ – LA – Denzel Slager
90’ + 2’ – LA – Jose Villarreal (penalty kick)

Stats
Shots: VAN 12 – LA 16
Saves: VAN 5 – LA 3
Corners: VAN 2 – LA 6
Fouls: VAN 20 – LA 13

Cautions
10’ – LA – Jose Villarreal
24’ – VAN – Matthew Baldisimo
71’ – LA – Lee Nishanian
73’ – VAN – Fatawu Safiu
90′ + 4′ – VAN – Thomas Gardner

Whitecaps FC 2
40.Sean Melvin; 63.Kadin Chung, 51.Sem de Wit, 14.Cole Seiler, 46.Brett Levis; 65.Matthew Baldisimo (45.Giulano Frano 53’), 58.Will Seymore (37.Mitch Piraux 76’); 56.Daniel Haber (61.Terran Campbell 90’), 32.Marco Bustos (64.Thomas Gardner 84’), 67.Alphonso Davies (49.Fatawu Safiu 68’), 47.Kyle Greig

Substitutes not used
39.Spencer Richey, 41.Jackson Farmer

LA Galaxy II
31.Clement Diop; 36.Oscar Sorto (58.Kainoa Bailey 83’), 72.Lee Nishanian, 69.Jeffrey Payeras (47.Nathan Smith 75’), 29.Josh Turnley; 65.Jaime Villarreal, 57.Alejandro Covarrubias (48.Rio Fujii 75’) , 40.Raul Mendiola; 68.Denzel Slager; 51.Ethan Zubak (73.Adonis Amaya 68’), 5.Jose Villarreal

Substitutes not used
75.Eric Lopez, 62.John Neeskens