

Posted by

Kamal Hylton ,

March 24, 2015 Email

Kamal Hylton

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@KamalHylton

With the USL season officially under way, the Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 begin its maiden voyage with a tricky test against Cascadia rivals Sounders FC 2. The Seattle side will be coming into this game on a high, after making a statement in a 4-2 win over defending champions Sacramento Republic FC. WFC2 got the better of S2 in the dress rehersal of this fixture, coming away with a 4-3 win in preseason with goals from defender Jackson Farmer, miidfielder Victor Blasco and brace from forward Caleb Clarke. The Whitecaps have had a solid preseason under head coach Alan Koch, not only getting the best of the Sounders but also playing Koch’s former squad in NCAA Div 2 school Simon Fraser Univeristy (SFU), as well as NCAA Div 1 school Oregon State. The network Koch has created between the Whitecaps and collegiate programs, both during his time at SFU and as a scout for Vancouver last season, has played a key role in structure of WFC2. 2015 SuperDraft selection Jovan Blagojevic played under Koch at SFU, Blasco was recruited by Koch and played at SFU prior to playing for VIU, Chris Serban and Brett Levis will be familiar to Koch coming through CIS schools and the likes of Farmer, Clarke and midfielder Jordan Haynes have been part of the residency program and Canadian youth national teams. That said, one player Koch will be leaning on to help guide a young and inexperienced core is captain Tyler Rosenlund. Bringing professional maturity having been part of the early years at Toronto FC as well as spending the past five seasons with the Rochester Rhinos, the 28-year-old knows exactly what it’ll take for this group to compete and win throughout what can be a season long grind.



The Opposition

S2 come in as one of the exciting additions to the USL, mixing talented prospects like Victor Mansaray, Darwin Jones, Christian Roldan, Aaron Kover and Andy Craven with players that have previous experience in USL or MLS such as forward Sam Garza formerly of San Jose Earthquakes and Arizona United SC or former Toronto FC midfielder Amadou Sanyang that has spent the last few seasons with the Charleston Battery. They also have some international flavour like Argentine midfielder Pablo Rossi. Formerly of Atletico de Rafaela in the Argentine Primera, Rossi is a player that has already made an instant impact scoring the goal of the match against Sacramento Republic - a curling freekick that went off the post and in.







There should be a good atmosphere at Starfire Stadium and it will be a nice test for first WFC2, adding a new chapter to the Cascadia rivalry.