VANCOUVER, BC – If you’re going to score your first MLS goal, why not make it two and do it against the defending MLS Cup champion LA Galaxy?
That’s the way
Russell Teibert
elected to bang home his first professional goals – doing it with as much audacious style as his tilted mohawk haircut in a 3-1 win over the visiting Galaxy at BC Place.
“It’s a blur,” Teibert said of scoring his first goal. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I was just overwhelmed.”
The 20-year-old Niagara Falls, Ontario native described his second goal in equally vague terms, clearly overwhelmed by the emotion of the occasion.
READ:
Teibert, Whitecaps finally solve Galaxy hex
And who can blame him?
After the match he dedicated his performance to his mom, with mother’s day on Sunday, and his parents and sister were in town for the performance and that seemed to drive him on.
“I always want to play in front of my family,” said Teibert, who came on after midfielder
Daigo Kobayashi
suffered an ankle injury in the 14th minute. “So, I think it’s something special, for not only for them, but for myself, to be able to play in front of them tonight.”
The goals – and the win – couldn’t have come at a better time for the ‘Caps, who have looked diabolical in recent times during a seven-game winless run in league play.
Getting some momentum ahead of the first leg of the Amway Canadian Championship final against Montreal Impact on Wednesday also adds to the importance of the win.
“I think it sets the tone,” Teibert said. “We want to be the best team in Canada, and we need to take this [performance] forward and build on it.”
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It was a return to an attacking role for Teibert, after having previously played primarily in central midfield this season.
“It was good having him play on the inside right channel,” head coach
Martin Rennie
said. “I thought that he showed a lot of energy there and did well there. He’s played well in central midfield as well – he’s versatile, but certainly today he showed what he can do [in an attacking role].”
