USL Feature

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Vancouver Whitecaps FC claimed the club’s first victory in the CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday night with a 1-0 win against Olimpia at B.C. Place, and got a little bit of a helping hand from Whitecaps FC 2 in the process.

Homegrown and WFC2 standout Kianz Froese scored the only goal of the game to take Man of the Match honors, as 10 players who have competed for the club’s USL side appeared in the victory.

“Kianz has played 45 minutes against Colorado last game, and made a difference when he’s come on, and he needs to do that,” said Whitecaps Coach Carl Robinson. “We did challenge him to be more proactive rather than reactive, and I think he took that on board and it was a good shift for him today. He was one of a number of young players that got valuable minutes.”

Froese has played six games in the USL this season, recording a goal against the Portland Timbers 2 on July 19, while also making eight appearances in MLS. He struck against Olimpia three minutes before the halftime break, capitalizing on good play by Nicolas Mezquida and Darren Mattocks before squeezing home a finish after Mattocks got the ball trapped under his feet momentarily.

“When you’re able to score a goal in a competition like this, it’s always a good feeling, and to be able to help the team win the game is the best feeling for me,” Froese said.

Among the others to make the start on Wednesday were goalkeeper Paolo Tornaghi, defenders Sam Adekugbe and Diego Rodriguez, midfielders Deybi Flores and Mezquida and forward Robert Earnshaw, all of whom have played for WFC2 this season. They were joined by second-half substitute Christian Dean, Marco Bustos and Tim Parker, with Dean and Parker helping a solid rearguard action as Vancouver held on for the victory late.

“I knew that would happen, because watching the Seattle-Olimpia game a few weeks back, they manage the game very well, I think it’s fair to say,” Robinson said. “We didn’t want to give them nothing for free. Any team that wants to come here and beat us is going to have to earn it, and the concentration levels have got to be spot-on, and they were today. Our play in the first half, we deserved a goal, and we got a goal, and our game management was excellent.”

The Whitecaps now control their destiny as they look for a place in the knockout stage of the tournament. With a win in Seattle next Wednesday, Vancouver would advance with a game to spare ahead of its return leg with Olimpia on October 22.