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Harjeet Johal ,

June 19, 2016 Twitter

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VANCOUVER, B.C - TMajor League Soccer returned from a two-week Copa America break and that meant the Vancouver Whitecaps played host to the New England Revolution. The Whitecaps were missing several key players due to suspension and the Revs were coming off a mid-week U.S. Open Cup match in North Carolina. The Revolution proved to be too much as they came away with 2-1 victory in what was a strong away performance in front of 22,120 fans at BC Place. Each team traded first half goals with the match winner coming from Washington state native Kelyn Rowe with his family and friends in attendance. “It was tough," said Rowe. "Wednesday was hot in North Carolina. It was a long one, we had the delay. A lot of guys played a lot of minutes, and then the flight over. So this is definitely a great result for us. One it’s on the road, and two it’s a good opponent in Vancouver. We’re glad that we get away with three points and we get to go home for a little bit, and then off to DC.” New England Revolution Coach Jay Heaps was pleased with the win after the quick turnaround and travel from North Carolina. “Really proud of our guys, it was tough," said Heaps. "Playing 120 minutes on Wednesday, guys like Jose and London, Scotty, they all played 90 plus the 120. So really proud of what they were able to do. Hey look, we played against a really good Vancouver team. They were dangerous, organized. We knew we had to take them, weather the storm a little bit and I thought we did a great job of that.” Whitecaps Coach Carl Robinson was happy with his team played, but disappointed that a win was not in the cards. “The performance was excellent," said Robinson. "I just said to the guys in there. The result is disappointing. I’ve got a disappointed bunch of players in there. I think we didn’t get what we deserved today. I think we deserved to win the game, but it’s what you do in both boxes." The Opening 45

Former Vancouver Whitecaps goalkeeper, Brad Knighton earned his first start against his former club and his first in MLS since July 25, 2015. New England also featured former Caps players, Lee Nguyen and Daigo Kobayashi in their starting lineup. Vancouver elected to start in a 4-2-3-1 formation with lone striker Erik Hurtado supported by Kekuta Manneh, Nicolas Mezquida, and Cristian Techera. Skipper, David Ousted was in net for his 100th consecutive start for Vancouver. It was a slow start to the match as both teams looked to shake off a bit of rust from a two-week absence of MLS action. Possession was mostly contested in midfield with neither side advancing far enough to create a golden opportunity on target. Cautious play resulted in turnovers and far too much disjointed tactics. You could clearly tell that both teams were struggling in the early going. The best scoring opportunity came from New England in the 23' minute as Chris Tierny ripped in cross that Kelyn Rowe was able to connect with. The glancing header from Rowe cleanly beat David Ousted, but the Caps were rescued by the luck of the crossbar. New England were able to open the scoring in the 31' minute after a lovely ball from Lee Nguyen. The Revs skipper played in a brilliant free kick that was headed home by London Woodberry. The 25 year-old centre-back was left unmarked and had all sorts of time and space to connect on his header. The Revolution led did not last long as Vancouver was able to capitalize on a sublime free kick goal from Nicolas Mezquida. London Woodberry was issued a yellow card for a tackle just outside the New England box. Mezquida stepped up and delivered a perfect free kick up and over the Revolution wall. Brad Knighton had no chance as Mezquida found some space and buried his shot. Heading into the break, both teams had awakened after a slow start. Each side was able to score from a set piece and the scored was tied at one apiece. Vancouver carried a 58% - 42% possession advantage and clearly had momentum going for them. Great goal by @nico_mezquida off the free kick #VWFC #VANvNE pic.twitter.com/qxEi1kscb4 — Rob Williams (@RobTheHockeyGuy) June 18, 2016 @WhitecapsFC No finish. Story of the season. Wouldn't have been any difference with Rivero. Need more goals from that dp position #VWFC — demrofeR (@demrofer) June 19, 2016

The Second Half

The momentum that Vancouver obtained from Mezquida's free kick tally was quickly taken away early in the second half. New England came out with a lot of pace and energy. The Revs had corner after corner, but could not score. Jay Heaps side eventually did take the lead in the 55' minute and the goal came from some poor defensive coverage from Vancouver. Daigo Kobayashi nicked the ball off of Russell Teibert. The Caps midfielder remained down on the pitch seemingly expecting a foul to be called. Bunbury picked up the loose ball and fired a terrific cross into the Vancouver box. Kelyn Rowe was left all on his own and fired inside the near post past David Ousted. The Caps switched off for a moment and Rowe made no mistake giving New England a 2-1 lead. Following the match, Rowe gave all the credit to his teammates for setting him up. “It was good. I think it was a good team goal for us. I think Daigo won the ball, and then Teal got his head up and played a good ball in, and all I had to do was put in the back of the net.” Carl Robinson elected to go with a double substitution in the 66' minute with the additions of Christian Bolanos and Blas Perez. Both players had been participants in Copa America play with Costa Rica and Panama respectively. Vancouver was in search of an equalizer and the flair for the dramatics was certainly something both players were looking to bring to in the final third. Wow. How did @WhitecapsFC manage to lose that game? Dominant for so long. #VWFC #WhitecapsFC — Jabway James (@jabwayjames) June 19, 2016

In the end, it was New England that just had enough to claim three points. A pair of defensive errors cost the Whitecaps on both New England goals. The Revs had a game plan and were able to earn an important road victory in a difficult place to play. Brad Knighton wasn't tested as often as he perhaps should have been, but did well to pick up the win against his former club. “We kept our shape," said Knighton. "We were in good spots and we knew they were going to have trouble breaking us down. Like you said, tired legs playing 120 [minutes] on Wednesday and then having to come here, fly across North America and come play here. And it’s a very tough place to play here. The guys did a fantastic job in front of me, and it’s a great result for us.” Man of the Match



Kelyn Rowe

Rowe scored his third goal of the season and was instrumental in the New England Revolution attack. The veteran MLS midfielder was dangerous all throughout the match and easily could have had a brace. His first opportunity to score resulted a headed ball off the Whitecaps crossbar. Rowe was able to rebound and take his chance in the second half after Vancouver was caught napping. New England will need more from Rowe going forward if they are to climb back into the eastern conference playoff race. For this match, Rowe was terrific and proved to be the difference maker for the Revolution. Who was your Whitecaps Man of the Match?

Vancouver Whitecaps Starting XI: David Ousted(C); Jordan Smith 84 (Marco Bustos), Andrew Jacobson, Tim Parker, Jordan Harvey; Matias Laba, Russell Teibert; Cristian Techera 66 (Christian Bolanos), Nicolas Mezquida 66 (Blas Perez), Kekuta Manneh; Erik Hurtado. 4-2-3-1. New England Starting XI: Brad Knighton; Chris Tierney, Jose Goncalves, London Woodberry, Andrew Farrell; Scott Caldwell, Daigo Kobayashi 63 (Diego Fagundez); Kelyn Rowe, Lee Nguyen(C) 90+1 (Juan Agudelo), Teal Bunbury 73 (Je-Vaughn Watson); Kei Kamara. 4-2-3-1 Notes: Former Vancouver Whitecaps defender Andy O'Brien was in attendance and received a loud cheer from the fans when he was shown on the scoreboard. The Whitecaps fall to 2-4-0 against eastern conference MLS opponents this season.