PORTLAND, OR
– Now the real fun begins, and the ‘Caps look ready.
Lucas Cavallini scored in a fourth straight preseason match, and Fredy Montero subbed in to score a late winner as Vancouver Whitecaps FC wrapped-up preseason with a 2-1 comeback win over Minnesota United FC on Saturday afternoon at Portland’s Providence Park.
The result against their Western Conference rivals capped three strong overall performances from the ‘Caps at the Timbers preseason tournament.
Vancouver were made to work for the victory, as Minnesota opened the scoring in the seventh minute when Ethan Finlay finished a low cross inside the box. However the Loons did little to trouble Maxime Crépeau in net for the remainder of the match, while the ‘Caps came on strong just after the 10-minute mark.
The action started with Cavallini and Ali Adnan both forcing goalkeeper Tyler Miller into saves.
On 34 minutes the ‘Caps again came close to equalizing as Yordy Reyna forced Miller into yet another big stop. Four minutes late a tremendous build-up ended with Russell Teibert firing a long shot over the net. Reyna and Teibert would come close once more inside of the box before the first half concluded.
Marc Dos Santos’ side continued to play well to start the second half, with a Cristian Dájome cross and Jasser Khmiri shot in the box testing the Minnesota backline.
The ‘Caps finally looked to catch a break on a penalty kick call for a handball in the 56th minute, only for it to be taken away by a highly unusual sequences of events.
After a shot from Teibert struck the arm of defender Chase Gasper in the box, the referee blew the play dead before Dájome could put the ball into the open net. Before the penalty kick could be taken, a video review was called, with the referee overturning the call to keep the match at 1-0 for Minnesota.
However less than 10 minutes later another penalty kick was called as Cavallini skipped past Michael Boxall before getting chopped down in the box by the former Whitecaps FC centre back. The Canadian striker calmly finished down the middle to level the contest at 1-1.
With just over 10 minutes to go Inbeom Hwang tested Miller with a long shot, forcing one more huge save from the keeper.
Vancouver would not be denied though. The ‘Caps found their winner in the 90th minute with one more beautiful set-up – a common theme throughout preseason. Adnan got to the endline and hit a cross to the backpost which was expertly struck by Montero for the 2-1 win.
The ‘Caps now set their sights on their Saturday, February 29 MLS season opener. The new Village Stand general admission section is nearly sold out, but tickets in other areas of the stadium remain available for the battle against Sporting Kansas City. For ticket information visit
whitecapsfc.com/tickets
.
MATCH DETAILS
Scoring Summary
7' - MIN - Ethan Finlay (Kevin Molino, Chase Gasper)
65' - VAN - Lucas Cavallini (penalty kick)
90' - VAN - Fredy Montero (Ali Adnan, Russell Teibert)
Statistics
Shots:
MIN 10 – VAN 18
Shots on Goal:
MIN 2 – VAN 8
Saves:
MIN 6 – VAN 1
Fouls:
MIN 12 – VAN 14
Offsides:
MIN 1 – VAN 0
Corners:
MIN 2 – VAN 9
Cautions
20' - MIN - Osvaldo Alonso
20' - VAN - David Milinković
36' - MIN - Chase Gasper
90'+3 - MIN - Michael Boxall
Minnesota United FC
1.Tyler Miller; 77.Chase Gasper, 3.Ike Opara (14.Brent Kallman 76'), 15.Michael Boxall, 19.Romain Metanire; 6.Osvaldo Alonso, 8.Jan Gregus; 17.Robin Lod (31.Hassani Dotson 83'), 7.Kevin Molino, 13.Ethan Finlay; 9.Luis Amarilla
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
16.Maxime Crépeau; 28.Jake Nerwinski, 20.Jasser Khmiri, 13.Derek Cornelius, 53.Ali Adnan; 6.Inbeom Hwang, 31.Russell Teibert; 11.Cristian Dájome (27.Ryan Raposo 89'), 29.Yordy Reyna (12.Fredy Montero 79'), 7.David Milinković (14.Theo Bair 83'); 9.Lucas Cavallini (87.Tosaint Ricketts 89')
