Report and Reaction: Whitecaps turn on the style in Swangard homecoming, as Cavalry put to the sword

Vancouver Whitecaps put on a second half clinic in a dominant display to see off Canadian Premier League side Cavalry FC 4-1, in their Canadian Championship quarter-final first leg clash at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby on Wednesday.

An Adam Pearlman own goal with just over a minute on the clock set the tone for the evening, as the Whitecaps’ constant pressure saw Cavalry be unable to be the free flowing footballing side we see in the CPL on a weekly basis. Daan Klomp stunned Vancouver, however, with an equaliser for Cavalry on the stroke of half time, but that was to be as good as it got for the Albertans.

Second half goals from Thomas Müller, Brian White, and Rayan Elloumi completed the demolition job and leave Cavalry with it all to do in Monday’s second leg in Calgary, as the Whitecaps strive to make it five Voyageurs Cups in a row.

Back in action after 46 days away, and back at home for the first since April 25th, if there was any ring rust it certainly wasn’t showing, with the Whitecaps taking the game to Cavalry from the off and their early pressure forced the breakthrough with only 67 seconds on the clock when Pearlman turned a shot from Ranko Veselinovic into his own net.

Cavalry almost got an immediate response when Caniggia Elva blasted over.

The CPL side were struggling to both get and keep the ball under the ‘Caps heavy press, but their speed was making them look dangerous in their rare forays forward and Sergio Camargo brought a big save from an outstretched Isaac Boehmer in the 10th minute.

Bruno Caicedo played an inviting ball across the Cavalry goal five minutes later, but there were no takers, before White, Jeevan Badwal, and Oliver Larraz all had good opportunities that they couldn’t convert.

Edier Ocampo saw a fierce shot blocked in the 34th minute, as they pushed for a second, but they were left to rue their failure to take their chances when Cavalry tied things up on the stroke of half time.

The Whitecaps failed to deal with a long throw from Pearlman and the ball bounced around the six yard box before eventually falling to Klomp, who blasted home the equaliser to silence the Swangard crowd.

The CPL side were now right back in the tie, on level terms and full of confidence, but it wasn’t to last too long once the game got back underway, with Vancouver totally dominating the second half proceedings.

With his minutes being managed, the returning Ryan Gauld made way at the half for Thomas Müller, back from his punditry duty with German TV during the World Cup.

The ‘Caps pushed hard to retake the lead with Larraz seeing his shot blocked and White denied by the keeper as the hour mark approached.

Vancouver’s constant pressure saw them regain the lead in the 61st minute when White’s shot was blocked by Klomp, only for the rebound to fall to Müller a few yards out and he buried it with ease past Nathan Ingham.

The smoke and the noise had barely subsided at Swangard when the Whitecaps added a quick second just over two minutes later.

This time it was White with the finish, heading home past Ingham after Ocampo’s strike was parried away right onto the head of the waiting American striker, on his 200th appearance for the club.

A three goal lead is not insurmountable, but with the way Vancouver put Cavalry to the sword in that second half, it’s going to take a Herculean effort from the CPL side to get back into the tie. They need to score the first goal on Monday and dictate the play, but that in itself already feels a tall order.

Swangard Stadium holds so many wonderful memories for Whitecaps fans through the ages, myself included. I first saw the ‘Caps play there in 2001 while over on vacation. It was then my home from the 2008 season and lifelong friendships were made in the Southside. I’ve been back countless times in recent years, seen so many different teams and leagues play there, but to have the Whitecaps first team back at the stadium for the first time since October 2010 was special, an emotional.

The club put on a tremendous evening and gameday experience. The players put on a show on the pitch. The fans brought the noise and the atmosphere off it. I say we do this again.

FINAL SCORE: Vancouver Whitecaps 4 – 1 Cavalry FC

ATT: 5,086

VANCOUVER: 32.Isaac Boehmer; 18.Édier Ocampo, 33.Tristan Blackmon (2.Mathías Laborda 81’), 4.Ranko Veselinović, 29.Mihail Gherasimencov (28.Tate Johnson 81’); 26.JC Ngando, 8.Oliver Larraz; 59.Jeevan Badwal, 25.Ryan Gauld (13.Thomas Müller HT) (19.Rayan Elloumi 72’), 14.Bruno Caicedo (41.Nikola Djordjevic 72’); 24.Brian White [Substitutes not used: 1.Yohei Takaoka, 30.Adrían Zendejas, 97.Liam Mackenzie]

CAVALRY: 29.Nathan Ingham; 16.Adam Pearlman (15.Levi Laing 78’), 4.Daan Klomp, 55.Amer Didić, 5.Bradley Kamdem; 6.Michael Baldisimo (8.Harrison Paton 70’), 24.Eryk Kobza; 17.Nathaniel Edwards (11.Jay Herdman 70’), 10.Sergio Camargo (28.Niko Myroniuk 78’), 20.Goteh Ntignee; 14.Caniggia Elva (7.Ali Musse 62’) [Substitutes not used: 21.Joe Holliday, 3.Curtis Ofori, 19.Owen Antoniuk, 22.Max Piepgrass]

SCORING SUMMARY:
02’ – VAN – Adam Pearlman (own goal)
45’ – CAV – Daan Klomp
62’ – VAN – Thomas Müller
64’ – VAN – Brian White
74’ – VAN – Rayan Elloumi (Brian White)

STATS:
Possession: VAN 61% – CAV 39%
Shots: VAN 19 – CAV 5
Shots on Goal: VAN 6 – CAV 3
Saves: VAN 2 – CAV 3
Fouls: VAN 18 – CAV 10
Offsides: VAN 2 – CAV 5
Corners: VAN 7 – CAV 1

CAUTIONS:
45+2’ – VAN – Tristan Blackmon
54’ – CAV – Eryk Kobza
77’ – VAN – J.C. Ngando
90+3’ – CAV – Goteh Ntignee

REACTION:

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS

JESPER SORENSEN

On the performance:

“I was quite impressed by the players because you never really know. We haven’t been playing for a while, and we didn’t play a preseason game because we haven’t really had that many players in the group to work with. We’ve had some injuries and the players for the World Cup, and I was quite impressed. Of course, not everything was perfect, and we knew that all beforehand. Getting back to the rhythm – people know what to do – and even though we played some players who have not played in a long time, Gauldy and Ranko, in the starting lineup. They looked like they had never been out and well integrated into the team. So I think that it was really good to see.”

On Gauld’s return:

“Ryan has been out for 16 months…it’s important to get him into the rhythm of games. He has not played games consistently for a long time…Today he had a very good feeling and he played well. I think especially as the first half picked up, he got even better and better. And he could have played on, but I think it was just as important, we talked beforehand that it’s important [not] to overload him right now straight out of the gate.”

STRIKER BRIAN WHITE

On the return to play:

“Obviously we started off really well, there was a fortuitous goal for us there, but I think we controlled most of the game. We knew on set pieces they were dangerous and obviously they showed that with the long throw-in. I think everyone was really eager to be out there, we worked a lot on the training pitch, so I think that we were most excited to play a game rather than just train against each other.”

On the atmosphere at a sold-out Swangard Stadium:

“I thought it was really fun. It was obviously a different atmosphere. There were stands set up, everyone’s a little bit closer. All the food trucks, I think it was [a] really cool environment, and the fans really showed up. They were loud and hopefully they enjoyed the new environment as well.”

On Rayan Elloumi’s return from the World Cup to score tonight:

“I’ve said a number of times that he’s a really, really good player. It’s just a matter of time, he’s still young. The more minutes he gets, the more comfortable he gets on the field. I think the future’s bright for him – obviously, he’s already been to a World Cup – which is obviously a really cool experience for him. It’s fun playing with good players, and he’s a good player.”

CAVALRY FC

HEAD COACH TOMMY WHEELDON JR

Thoughts on the game and Cavalry’s struggles:

“They’re a bloody good team. Unfortunately we go into this where we’ve been able to match them in the [previous] games we’ve played, but they’re a different side and when you can bring a World Cup winner like [Müller] on at half time, then bring him back off after 25 minutes, it says a lot. They’re a quality side. We knew they’d be hungry. We matched them for 45 and then they stepped up a level and we unfortunately got humbled. A good lesson for us, but we’ll take it on the chin and aim to give them another good game on Monday.”

What was his message to the team at half time after drawing level?:

“We looked at a couple of things. One in defence that we could have been better with and one where we had it where we could have been better with, but I think we were able to match them and keep them at bay and find a way. Because we’ve gifted them the first goal, it was the worst possible start we could have had, the lads showed courage to get back into it and we reminded them of that. I can’t really do too much, apart from making subs, to help the boys out and I know they suffered out there. So I’ve got to try and find a better way to help them when they’re going through those times.”

What do the CPL clubs need to do to close the gaps with the MLS sides?:

“Well I’m going to ask the CPL owners if we can have a $25 to $50 million budget and then we can close the gap pretty quickly and then I’ll go out and buy World Cup winners as DPs. I mean, it’s a simple solution in my opinion. There’s no disgrace in being beaten by a good side, and they’re a bloody good side.”