BURNABY, BC – Vancouver Whitecaps FC suffered a second straight defeat following a 2-1 loss at home to Charleston Battery on Friday evening.
First-half goals by Darren Spicer and Randi Patterson took the Battery two points clear at the top of the USL First Division standings with a record of 11W-3L-8D. Friday’s result was also Charleston’s first ever win in Vancouver.
Though captain Martin Nash struck a fine late goal for the ‘Caps, it could not prevent the Blue and White from ending a tough set of back-to-back matches in disappointing fashion, with Vancouver having also lost 1-0 at Portland Timbers on Thursday night. The Whitecaps record falls to 7W-9L-4D, with the defending USL-1 champions staying in sixth place in the standings as a result.
Whitecaps head coach Teitur Thordarson made four changes to the side that started Thursday night’s defeat in Portland. Takashi Hirano replaced Mason Trafford at left fullback, while Vicente Arze replaced youngster Philippe Davies on the right-hand side of midfield. In central midfield, Ethan Gage came in for Gordon Chin. The final switch was in the attack, as Charles Gbeke replaced Marcus Haber to partner Marlon James up front.
Battery head coach Mike Anhaeuser, meanwhile, made two changes to the side that started the 1-0 home win over Austin Aztex on July 30. In midfield, Ian Fuller replaced Stephen Armstrong, while Spicer took the place of Tom Heinemann in the Charleston attack.
On a cloudy summer’s evening, a sixth-straight sell-out Swangard Stadium crowd saw the home side struggle to shake off the rigours of Thursday’s match in Oregon, with Charleston taking advantage of a tired-looking ‘Caps side.
The first half began in relatively uneventful fashion, with both sides having half-chances through to the midway point of the first 45 minutes. The closest efforts came early on, with Gbeke flicking Wes Knight’s throw-in from the right wide of the far post on five minutes before Canadian midfielder Tyler Hemming struck Ian Fuller’s centering pass wide of the target for Charleston two minutes later.
There was little of note until the 24th minute. After James rolled a shot wide of goal for Vancouver, the Battery stunned the home crowd by taking the lead. Patterson got on to Spicer’s fine through ball and eluded the attentions of Whitecaps centre back Marco Reda before running into the Vancouver box and forcing a diving save from goalkeeper Jay Nolly. The rebound spilled into the path of the streaking Spicer, who easily tapped home the ball to give Charleston a one-goal advantage.
Once again, the Whitecaps found themselves behind in a league match, but they tried to reply in quick fashion, with Knight shooting high and wide of goal on 29 minutes, while Battery defender Nelson Akwari did well to clear Knight’s dangerous cross into the Charleston box for a ‘Caps corner three minutes later.
Then on 35 minutes, life became even harder for the Blue and White, as Charleston doubled their lead after taking full advantage of a Whitecaps turnover. Arze’s wayward pass was quickly latched on to Scott Buete, whose first-time through ball released Patterson in on the Whitecaps goal. The Battery striker took possession before slotting a fine finish past Nolly for 2-0.
It was turning into an evening – if not a week – to forget for Thordarson’s side, though the home side had the final chances of the half. James struck a shot well off target on 41 minutes before Gbeke had a deflected shot saved by Battery goalkeeper Dusty Hudock for a corner in the lone minute of time added on.
It meant the Battery took a two-goal lead into the halftime break.
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