Whitecaps bow out of Concacaf Champions League with 3-0 Loss

Vancouver 0 – Seattle 3 (Neagle 2, Valdez)

The kids were not alright as they fell to the Seattle Sounders 3-0 in Concacaf Champions League Group F action. Lamar Neagle got Seattle on the board as he tapped in from close range on 32 minutes, before Nelson Valdez headed in a Marco Pappa free kick to make it 2-0 just before halftime. Neagle would add his 2^nd of the match just after the restart as he took advantage of a Whitecaps mistake in the defensive end, as Seattle easily beat a young Whitecaps team playing eight players 24 years of age or younger 3-0. With the loss Seattle advances to the knockout round of the Concacaf Champions League while the now eliminated Whitecaps still have a match to go in their group against CD Olimpia on October 22^nd.

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Match Recap

The Vancouver Whitecaps travelled down the I-5 to take on the Seattle Sounders in Group F Concacaf Champions League action with a chance to clinch passage to the next round of the competition. Whitecaps Head Coach Carl Robinson made numerous changes to the starting lineup, with Paolo Tornaghi in goal, Tim Parker, Pa-Modou Kah, Diego Rodriguez and Christian Dean in defense, with Deybi Flores and Matias Laba taking on defensive midfield duties. Kianz Froese, Nicolas Mezquida and Sam Adekugbe supported Robert Earnshaw up front.

Seattle would have the first good chance on goal 17 minutes as Chad Barrett found himself six yards in front of goal but could only head the ball straight at Paolo Tornaghi to squander the chance.

A few minutes later Matias Laba would try a long distance effort on goal, with his rising shot going straight into the hands of Stefan Frei.

Scary moment in the 26^th minute as Nicolas Mezquida caught an elbow from Cristian Roldan and went to ground bleeding, but would manage to walkoff on his own and get back in the match.

Seattle would go up in front in the 32^nd minute as Lamar Neagle tapped in a Chad Barrett pass to make it 1-0 in a match that up to that point had looked like mostly one way traffic for the Sounders.

In the 39^th minute Chad Barrett would make up for his earlier effort by heading in a Marco Pappa free kick to make it 2-0 Seattle as Paolo Tornaghi came out late to try and get a fist on it but Barrett's head would get to it first.

Seattle would go into the half with a comfortable 2-0 lead with the Whitecaps rarely threatening the Sounders goal.

Seattle would add another goal soon after the restart as a poor pass by Pa-Modou Kah would eventually end up on the foot of Lamar Neagle who had time and space to put it past Tornaghi to make it 3-0 on 47 minutes.

On 55 minutes Kekuta Manneh would come on for Nicolas Mezquida as the Whitecaps hoped an injection of pace would help restore some parity to the match.

On 63 minutes both teams would make substitutions as Seattle brought on Michael Azira for Eric Friberg, and the Whitecaps brought on Russell Teibert for Matias Laba.

On 74 minutes Seattle would bring on Aaron Kovar for Nelson Valdez to get fresh legs as they looked to preserve the shutout. A few minutes later the Whitecaps would bring on Marco Bustos for Sam Adekugbe. Seattle would bring on Oniel Fisher for Chad Barrett a minute later as their final substitution.

Seattle had a stroll this evening and advance to the knockout stages of the Concacaf Champions League with a 3-0 win. The Whitecaps have one more match to play against CD Olimpia in a mean nothing match on October 22^nd, but before that though they resume their MLS campaign this weekend as expansion team New York City FC come to town Saturday evening at BC Place.

Post Match Quotes

Sigi Schmid – Thoughts on the match:

"Obviously we're happy with the result it gets us into the next round, it's nice to have a lot more players healthy so that options and choices were a lot better so we've got a starting team that we play seven fresh guys tonight out of the 11, those guys acquitted themselves well, its always easier when a Roldan is next to an experienced player rather than have two young guys next to each other, it makes the game a little bit eaiser."

Carl Robinson – Thoughts on the match:

"Our first team that played on Saturday against Seattle we're young, and we knew that we were going to be even younger, we're banged up at the moment but we're not going to use that as an excuse, I made changes based on energy levels in the team, I picked a team that I thought was going to get a result today, and we've given away a couple of bad goals. Look at their lineup, very strong lineup, they've made a couple changes as well, their changes are experienced players, mine our young players, we've got to take that experience on the chin."

Tim Parker – Learning Experience in Champions League:

"It's our first time in the competition as a club and we have a lot to learn from it, looking forward to next year we have some things that we can take and strive from, getting wins at home, especially in this competition getting the first two home games and getting the most out of them is definitly important."

Russell Teibert – How going down to Honduras may help Canadian National Team:

" I can't wait to go down there, we as Canadians we know about the history in the past but, it seems like it's coming to be a new era, a lot of young talent that's coming through, a lot of young guys on the national team, its going to be a team that, a lot of guys weren't there in Honduras in the past, that's the national team and this is the Whitecaps and they two don't really go together, but for a lot of the Canadian guys I think, we've all played Honduras and all the other youth teams growing up and we show no fear."