USL: Whitecaps battle to draw with Lynx
Associated Press
4/25/2005
BURNABY, B.C. (CP) - It was a tie that seemed like a victory for the Toronto Lynx and a loss for the Vancouver Whitecaps.
The Whitecaps, playing like a team still adjusting to new coach Bob Lilley, battled to a 0-0 draw with a tired looking Lynx side in a United Soccer League First Division game Sunday night.
"It wasn't a good performance overall," said Lilley, a two-time coach of the year in the former A-League hired by the Whitecaps in the off-season.
"We didn't create enough chances. We may have been guilty of looking at the score and figuring it may be easier. We didn't work as hard as we needed to in the first half."
Lynx coach Hubert Busby Jr. was pleased with his team's performance after dropping a 3-0 decision to the Portland Timber Saturday night. That game was tied 0-0 with about 55 minutes gone.
"I'm so proud of my boys," said Busby Jr.
"Yesterday I think we threw away three points. I'm glad today we were able to get something. You have to scrape and battle. We have to make sure we can pick up points when ever we can."
There were calls of "boring" from the sellout crowd of 5,722 crowded into Swangard Stadium on a warm spring evening to watch the opening game of the Whitecaps season.
The fireworks that danced across the sky at the conclusion of the game was the most brilliant part of the evening. The game lacked flow and neither side mounted any sustained pressure.
At the end of regulation time there was confusion over whether the teams would play overtime. One official called for two, 10-minute extra periods but team officials argued the USL has done away with overtime in regular season games.
Finally the decision was made not to play.
The Lynx, who had a five-hour bus ride to Vancouver after their loss in Portland, looked like a team playing its second game in two nights.
"To get a good quality league maybe we can spread some of these games out," said Busby Jr., in his first season as the Lynx coach.
Toronto plays its first six games on the road. The Lynx home-opener isn't until May 15.
For their part, the Whitecaps were tentative on the ball. There were some good individual efforts but little team work.
"We had a much better collective effort in the second half," said Lilley,
"Sometimes if you put it (scoring) off, you wait too long and the goal won't come."
Toronto keeper Theo Zagar was forced to make his most difficult save of the match with just two minutes gone, on a ball off one of his own teammates.
Zagar came out of his net to handle what looked like an innocent pass back, but the ball bounced over his head. He was forced to make a sliding kick to steer the ball away from the corner.
The Whitecaps managed a flurry with about 60 minute gone.
Dave Morris, newly substituted into the game, put a ball into the middle in front of the Lynx goal. Midfielder Steve Klein had two shots that were blocked before forward Alfredo Valente headed a the ball wide.
Lilley is the is the first American to coach the Whitecaps. He's also the first coach who did not previously play for Vancouver.
Busby Jr., a Toronto native, was signed briefly by the Whitecaps in March 2001 as a goalkeeper but was released without ever playing a game.
The Whitecaps and Lynx both played in what was once called the USL's A-League last season. During the off-season the USL merged the A-League and the Pro Soccer League into a two-tier professional division.
Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal are the three Canadian clubs in the 12-team First Division. There are no Canadian teams in the nine-club second division.
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