Whitecaps Drop Another Heartbreaker to Toronto FC

In the short year and a half of the Vancouver Whitecaps time in the MLS they have played at BMO Field four times. Unfortunately for the Whitecaps, they have came away with four loses. The latest of the losses came Wednesday when Toronto FC had a come from behind 3-2 win.

The winning goal happened in extra time when Toronto FC got a corner. The ball came into the box and the ex Vancouver Whitecap Terry Dunfield headed home the winner in dramatic fashion. For as bad of a year has been for TFC, this along with beating the Caps for the Canadian Championship was one of their best moments of the year so far.

As fitting as it is, Toronto’s two best moments of the year have been against there Western rivals from Vancouver. Since the Whitecaps inaugural 4-2 win at Empire Field last year, the rivalry has been extremely one sided.  Since then, they have played seven times. Toronto FC has won four, there have been two ties and one game abandoned because of rain. In addition, the game that was abandoned, Vancouver was leading 1-0 at the time in the 62^nd minute.

It’s safe to say that the soccer gods are with Toronto when these two combatants hook up. Despite Toronto FC directing more shots on target then Vancouver, the Whitecaps managed to have possession of the ball 59% of the game. Even more frustrating was the fact that Vancouver opened the scoring in the 50^th minute but gave it right back eighteen minutes later. This is the second time they have done that type of thing this year. The first time was in San Jose when they went up 1-0 in the second half to lose 3-1 at San Jose. There’s two points at least right there they could have had that they might need at the end of the year.

In the 90^th minute Darren Mattocks second goal of the game tied the game at 2-2. The goal was not only a relief at the time for White Caps fans but also for Y.P. Lee. In the 85^th minute Lee had a wide-open net but he rung one off the post. It was just one out of many chances for both teams that shaped the roller coaster game and in the end a heartbreaker for Vancouver.

Everyone says how competitive the Whitecaps are, but really, there only competitive against the lower tear teams in the MLS. Aside from the 2-1 win at B.C. Place against San Jose, Vancouver has failed to get wins from top teams. They lost 3-1 to Real Salt lake, 4-1 to New England, 3-0 to the L.A. Galaxy and so on and so on. For the Whitecaps to make winning a habit, they have to win these games. It’s not enough just to win at home and take a vacation at times on the road. Too many times still the Whitecaps lose games they should tie and tie games they should win.

The Vancouver Whitecaps next game is Saturday when they travel to Chicago to take on the Fire. The game starts at 5:30 and can be seen on Sportsnet Pacific.