Vancouver Whitecaps FC put together a tidy 2-nil victory over the visiting San Jose Earthquakes at BC Place on Saturday, giving them sole possession of second place in the Western Conference.
Jaclynn (left) and Erin beam with joy in their front row spots in the Curva Collective as their Vancouver Whitecaps FC defeat the San Jose Earthquakes 2-nil at BC Place. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Along the way, David Ousted posted his first MLS clean sheet, Camilo scored his league-leading 14th goal of the season, and Kenny Miller added his seventh. Nigel Reo-Coker dominated the midfield, backing off defenders and setting up both goals.
We’ll have more on this game, including a link to highlights, once Russell Arbuthnot files his story.
Camilo da Silva Sanvezzo battles defender Steven Baitashour during a 2-0 Whitecaps FC victory at BC Place. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Marie Hui is well-loved as the anthem singer for Whitecaps FC matches at BC Place. Now she’ll lend her talents to the Table Hockey Extravaganza. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
If you’ve been to a Whitecaps FC match, you know Marie Hui as the vocalist who shows off solid pipes prior to kick-off. She proves that you don’t need to add unnecessary trills or do vocal gymnastics to bring life to national anthems. Instead, she soaks O Canada and the Star Spangled Banner in soulful glee — you can feel the heart, and hear the smile in her every phrase.
Marie has agreed to sing O Canada on September 20 at the beginning of our World Record attempt for the longest table hockey game in history, so we invited her to False Creek to play a little puck with her home pitch BC Place as a backdrop. Turns out it was her first time. Like, ever.
Marie Hui will be at Robson Square for the Vancouver Table Hockey Extravaganza. Will you? Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
“I can’t believe I’ve never played this before. It’s so much fun!” said Marie after trouncing a buddy of mine 2–0. “Seriously, can I play in the tournament?”
Sure, Marie, but you’ll have to register for $25 like everybody else. There are two main parts to the event at Robson Square. A group of World Record hopefuls will play for 30 hours straight, from Friday 1pm to Saturday at 7pm, to raise money for Canuck Place and food for Five Hole for Food. The tournament begins at 1pm on Saturday afternoon, with six players per table. The round robin guarantees five games per registrant — each game is five minutes long — with the top 64 players in the tournament moving on to the playoff round.
Marie Hui in her first-ever game of table hockey. “This is so much fun. Can I play in the tournament?” Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Marie is excited to be a part of the Extravaganza, singing the anthem before a World Record. But for the moment, she was more jacked about winning her first-ever game. “There’s no shame in losing to a girl, because, you know, I’m super-competitive,” said Marie. “But let’s be honest: he should be embarrassed losing to someone who’s never played before.”
Marie Hui gets her first taste of table hockey action at False Creek in July 2013. She’s hooked! Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Midfielder Jun Marques Davidson is at the centre of a Pucked in the Head debate between Russell Arbuthnot and Chris Withers. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Last Saturday, Whitecaps midfielder Jun Marques Davidson almost singlehandedly cost Vancouver three points and their undefeated home record by head-butting the Philadelphia Union’s Keon Daniel, earning a red card in only the 8th minute of play. Yesterday, Pucked in the Head’s newest contributor, Russell Arbuthnot, wrote a piece slamming Jun Marques Davidson and Martin Rennie’s insistence on keeping him in the Vancouver Whitecaps starting eleven. Today, I disagree with a lot of what Russell has to say. Read why after the jump. Continue reading Marques Midfield Madness Should Continue: A Rebuttal→
The Vancouver Whitecaps FC roster has an exciting mix of savvy veterans in addition to flashy rookies like Eric Hurtado here. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
It’s Whitecaps Wednesday, which means we at Pucked in the Head are out and about in our Vancouver soccer kits, hoisting pints and chanting in pubs all day long. As such, Chris and I don’t have time to do much writing and picturing for you. Kudos to Russell Arbuthnot (@arbuoutthere), then, for filing this literate, epithet-heavy story after Whitecaps FC finally lose a home match, 1–0 to the Philadelphia Union.
VANCOUVER, B.C. – When healthy, Vancouver Whitecaps FC boasts one of the most potent offensive lineups in MLS soccer. Camilo “Mean Muggin’” Sanvezzo currently leads the league with 14 goals, while fellow striker Kenny “The Mauler” Miller sits in a tie for seventh with six markers. Russell “Dat Good Canadian Kid” Teibert is tied for 3rd in assists with seven, despite having played in just 12 games thus far. As a team, the Caps rank 2nd in goals with 33 and have racked up 29 assists this year, good enough for 4th overall.
Even casual fans who aren’t much for the numbers notice the Whitecaps offensive style. Between Miller, Camillo, Teibert and Gershon Koffie and Darren Mattocks, Vancouver has breathtaking speed up front. They’re regularly running onto balls behind opposition defenders. Keepers have trouble gauging that kind of pace coming at them on a regular basis, forcing them to guess one way or the other. Whoosh. There’s Mattocks chipping the ball over a cheating keeper’s head in a win over Seattle. Boom. There’s Camillo burying one in the corner when the Chicago keeper gets caught too deep in his net.
With blazing speed and a nose for the net, Camilo da Silva Sanvezzo regularly finds himself one-on-one with opposing goaltenders. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Professional sport can be a cruel business. The Whitecaps have been rolling recently. They’ve lost only one of their last twelve games — winning five of their last six — and a big part of that streak has been the play of goalkeeper Brad Knighton. Yet despite that stellar recent play — two clean sheets in the last four games, another that slipped away on the last kick of the game and an MLS Player of the Week award — Knighton is in very real danger of losing his starting job to incoming Danish goalkeeper David Ousted. It might not be fair, on recent form, but will it make Vancouver a better team? Read on after the jump to find out. Continue reading Whitecaps Wednesday – Is It Time To Oust Brad Knighton?→
After last week’s historic win over Cascadia rival Seattle Sounders FC, it was a foregone conclusion that Sunday’s afternoon match against the Chicago Fire was going to be somewhat of a letdown. Even those around the team worried about Whitecaps FC perhaps not giving the last-place Fire enough respect. “More nervous than last week,” tweeted team ambassador Carl Valentine through his @CarlTwoOne Twitter account. “The team really needs to focus and we will get the job done.”
Johnny Leveron keeps a close eye on Chris Rolfe, who was unable to capitalize on an early handball missed by officials. Vancouver Whitecaps FC defeated Chicago Fire 3-1 on 14 July 2013 on the strength of two goals by Camilo de Sanvezzo. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
The game on Sunday, then, lived up to expectations, with the Caps sleepwalking through much of the first half. Don’t believe me? Check the highlights below: there’s not a single play shown between kickoff and the 42nd minute. There were a couple of early chances, but they were both for Chicago. A hand ball missed by the officials allowed Fire forward Chris Rolfe a glorious chance in close, but Whitecaps keeper Brad Knighton continued his recent strong play with a goal line stand. In fact, he would throw 92 minutes and 50 seconds of clean sheet at Chicago before they broke the shutout with mere seconds left in stoppage time.
PITH Whitecaps writer Russell Arbuthnot sounds off on the fabulous crowd at BC Place for MLS soccer matches, and laments the fact that this same atmosphere is rarely seen in an arena that sits just metres away. This season, Vancouver Whitecaps FC and their supporters are putting together a remarkable symbiotic relationship. Attending games at BC Place really is a win-win situation these days.
by Russell Arbuthnot
Spurred on by the most spirited crowd in Vancouver, Whitecaps FC keeper Brad Knighton delivered his best MLS performance to date in a 2-0 win over Seattle Sounders FC on 6 July 2013. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Here’s the thing about Vancouver. The city itself is beautiful; widely recognized as one of the premiere places to live in the world, Vancouver is the envy of many. It has it all. Cradled in the bosom of lush mountains and caressed by sparkling rivers and oceans, Vancouver is indeed a trendy metropolitan area beloved by nature lovers and urban adventurers alike.
But there’s this other thing about Vancouver. It’s the ugly bridesmaid when it comes to professional sports.
Tonight’s 2-0 win over the Seattle Sounders was one of the most entertaining matches to grace BC Place in years. Two wonderful goals, spectacular netminding from Vancouver Whitecaps keeper Brad Knighton, and high energy fun from supporters of both teams.
Speaking of which, here’s just one of the many fans in blue and white this night.
Match report to follow in another post.
This easy-on-the-eyes fan had a blast, as Vancouver Whitecaps FC defeated Seattle Sounders FC 2-0 in front of a sold out BC Place crowd on 6 July 2013. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
As the month of June draws to a close, the Vancouver Whitecaps are already –somewhat sadly, in a way– sitting on their best month of the MLS era in terms of point production. The Caps’ previous best, eight points in each of March and July last season, was eclipsed when they beat bottom-of-the-West Chivas USA a week ago. Now, Vancouver looks to beat bottom-of-the-East DC United on Saturday. If they do, they’ll take 12 out of a possible 15 June points before heading in to a tough July schedule.
For the second time in as many posts, we at PitH are proud to present a brand spankin’ new correspondent. Russell Arbuthnot (@ArbuOutThere in Twitterland) has been associated with the Abbotsford Heat hockey club over the past couple of seasons, but grew up playing, watching and otherwise obsessing about the beautiful game. He sat in the Pucked in the Head media seat at Saturday’s adrenaline-soaked Whitecaps FC match, and filed this ode to Kenny Miller’s cleats.
I’ll Be Alone Forever, Thanks to Kenny Miller By Russell Arbuthnot
Kenny Miller scored twice, earning the Man of the Match award and MLS Player of the Week honours. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
The Vancouver Whitecaps welcomed the New England Revolution to BC Place stadium for the first time on Saturday night. Both clubs came into the game with streaks on the line: the Revs (5-5-5, 20 pts, 6th in Eastern Conference) had collected points in each of their last 7 matches, while the ‘Caps (5-5-4, 19 pts, 7th in Western Conference) had yet to lose a game at home this season.
Before kickoff, Steve Nash (sort of) riled up the Whitecaps’ faithful with a (somewhat) rousing rendition of “White is the Colour.” It’s safe to say the title of “best singing voice on a local sports franchise minority-owner” still belongs to Michael Bublé — Nash’s many pitch problems were only outdone by the New England Revolution in the first half.
I’m not kidding. It’s not sure whether the visiting team’s boots were manufactured by Becel, but judging by the amount of time New England players spent on the turf in the opening minutes, someone had greased the cleats.
Despite the wardrobe malfunction(s), the Revolution jumped out to an early lead in the 10th minute, when Juan Agudelo exposed a ‘Caps defensive hole the size of Nantucket before converting a lovely through ball from left back Chris Tierney. Just 10 minutes later, Kelyn Rowe doubled their lead on a wonderful finish from12 yards out. The Whitecaps’ defensive woes, which have dogged them all season, were once again proving to be costly. This team, however, is nothing if not resilient.
Maybe it was hearing goalkeeper Brad Knighton deliver a tongue-lashing to the back line, or maybe it was seeing the image of a parched Mr. Nash solemnly eating fries on the big screen that changed the intensity of the Vancouver squad. His thirst had to be quenched, and Knighton in all of his pink-clad fury had to be heeded.
It was Miller time.
More, including a rousing Ode to Kenny Miller’s Cleats, after the jump.
In response to Kenny Miller’s brace of goals, Hervé (@1stLineCentre) leads the Southsiders in a stirring rendition of Ludvig van Beethoven’s adaptation of Freidrich Schiller’s 1785 poem, Ode to Joy. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
