The Good, The Average and The Bad: Journey To The Island Edition

Well that was easy.

Vancouver Whitecaps flew over to Vancouver Island to dismantle the University of Victoria Vikes 6-0 in their annual pre-season friendly match.

The game was a great build up for the Portland tournament next week and gave players like Pedro Morales and Steven Beitashour a chance to work on their fitness.

With how lopsided the score was it would be easy to call this article “The Great, The Better and The Best”, but I don’t want to be called a homer.

So instead, let’s take a look at The Good, The Average and The Bad: Journey To The Island Edition.

THE GOOD:

Sam Adekugbe

The young Canadian left back showed great hustle the whole game. He jumped into the play well and wasn’t afraid to join the rushes up the wing. He didn’t look out of place in the defensive end and showed great first touch when he was able to attack.

Was a little heavy with his crosses and that could come from the excitement of being up so much and him looking to add more goals to the score.

Earned the free kick with some great movement to set up Pedro Morales for the opening goal of the game.

Expect to see him get quality minutes in Portland next week so Carl Robinson can see how he fairs against the better opposition the Whitecaps will face down the I5.

He should be a staple for USL ThunderCaps this season and really give an older player like Jordan Harvey a push for the starting spot next year, if not later this one.

THE AVERAGE:

Ethen Sampson

Saw more offensive attack from Sampson on Sunday then I have in the past two seasons from him. He jumped up the wing really well and had a few crosses into the box. There wasn’t much of a UVIC attack in the second half that he had to defend against.

That being said, he uses up an international spot that I think the Whitecaps could use to find a better team fit than using it on a back up right back that barely plays.

They could use a Jackson Farmer or Tim Parker in that back up role and use the international spot for a new left winger.

THE BAD:

Steven Beitashour’s Fitness

The only two runs down the wing that UVIC had in the first half were on Beitashour’s half of the pitch. We saw the same thing from time to time last season.

With him being away from the team last week due to his honeymoon, he is going to be a little behind the rest of his teammates on the pitch.

There is still plenty of time for him to get his fitness up with the three games next week in Portland.

Picking this as “The Bad” for this article is really the only thing that could have been picked. It’s hard to find things to complain about in a 6-0 win.