HERRIMAN, UT - Vancouver Whitecaps FC played their first preseason match since their temporary relocation south of the border on Tuesday, winning 3-0 against USL Championship side Real Monarchs at Zions Bank Training Center.
The 'Caps hopped on the driver seat early thanks to a Lucas Cavallini goal in the opening minutes, converting on a setup from Andy Rose.
Cristian Dajome doubled the advantage off a penalty kick just prior to the hour-mark, and Erik Godoy headed in Ryan Raposo's free kick for the final score in the 71st minute.
"We had a good attitude about the game. We went at them, and all the subs that came in participated well," said VWFC head coach Marc Dos Santos. "It's all about the mindset when you're playing exhibition games."
Whitecaps FC fielded a 4-4-2 lineup to start, featuring new acquisition Deiber Caicedo on the right wing. A total of 22 players saw playing time, with nine of the starting XI putting in over 60 minutes of work.
Another offseason addition in 2021 MLS SuperDraft selection Javain Brown donned the Blue and White for the first time, entering as a substitute in the second half.
Maxime Crepeau and Thomas Hasal, each playing 45 minutes in net for Whitecaps FC, combined for the clean sheet.
Meanwhile, Canadian internationals Michael Baldisimo and Derek Cornelius did not dress.
"We just wanted to be careful with the pain (Baldisimo) had on his foot. He's going to be fine for the weekend. Many players will get 90 minutes so we wanted to keep Baldi for Saturday," said Dos Santos. "Derek got injured during the (Olympic) qualifiers, and he's slowly coming back so we're not rushing him into anything."
The 'Caps have a pair of friendlies on Saturday at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois. The doubleheader starts with a match against Chicago Fire FC at 9:30 a.m. PT, followed by a fixture against USL Championship side Indy Eleven at 12 p.m. Both matches will be streamed live across most of British Columbia on whitecapsfc.com.
MATCH DETAILS
Scoring summary
3' - VAN - Lucas Cavallini (Andy Rose)
57' - VAN - Cristian Dajome (penalty kick)
71' - VAN - Erik Godoy (Ryan Raposo)
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
16.Maxime Crepeau (1.Thomas Hasal HT); 28.Jake Nerwinski (23.Javain Brown 62'), 4.Ranko Veselinovic (61.Matteo Campagna* 62'), 15.Andy Rose (22.Erik Godoy 62'), 3.Cristian Gutierrez (34.Gianfranco Facchineri 62'); 7.Deiber Caicedo (27.Ryan Raposo HT), 19.Janio Bikel (32.Patrick Metcalfe 62'), 17.Leonard Owusu (62. Damiano Pecile 67'), 31.Russell Teibert (47.Kamron Habibullah* 62'); 11.Cristian Dajome (14.Theo Bair 62'), 9.Lucas Cavallini (87.Tosaint Ricketts 62')
Substitutes not used
12.Evan Newton, 57.Amir Batyrev, 65.Keishean Francois, 92.Jay Herdman
BMO Academy System player
