2008 Vancouver Whitecaps FC season

The 2008 Vancouver Whitecaps season was the club's 23rd year of existence (or 33rd if counting the NASL Whitecaps), as well as their 16th as a Division 2 club in the franchise model of US-based soccer leagues. With games against well supported MLS side Toronto FC in the Voyageurs Cup and local rival Seattle Sounders selling 22,000 season tickets for MLS in 2009, the Vancouver Whitecaps were marketed as one of the leading markets for a 2011 MLS expansion side. This included expanding the ownership to include Victoria, BC raised NBA star Steve Nash in July.[1] The Division 1 MLS speculation along with the higher profile that came with public negotiations with Vancouver City Council and the Port of Metro Vancouver to develop the Whitecaps Waterfront Stadium gave a boost to media coverage and game attendances. The privately financed stadium, first proposed in 2006, appeared to be reaching its final government land use approvals in 2008.[2][3]

Vancouver Whitecaps
2008 season
OwnerGreg Kerfoot, Jeff Mallet, Steve Luczo, Steve Nash
Head coachTeitur Thordarson
USL-12nd
USL-1 PlayoffsChampions
Canadian Championship3rd
Highest home attendance5,822
Oct 12 vs Puerto Rico Islanders
Lowest home attendance4,412
June 25 vs Montreal Impact
Average home league attendance4,999
← 2007
2009 →

The 2008 season started in a strong fashion with two losses in their first ten games as new coach Teitur Thordarson maintained the defensive style of previous coach Bob Lilley to grind out results. The USL-1 league was a closely contested affair with eleven points separating 11th and third in the standings. However, the top two teams, the Whitecaps and Puerto Rico were a further ten points clear of third place. The Commissioner's Cup was a contest between the Whitecaps, who finished runner-up by one point, and the Puerto Rico Islanders. The Whitecaps almost squandered a 5-1 aggregate league by letting the Minnesota Thunder back into the second leg of the USL-1 play in round, but held on for a 5-4 aggregate win. In the semi-final series against Montreal Impact they ground out a first leg 1-0 loss after their goal keeper was ejected. The Whitecaps deservedly won the second leg 2-0 at home to go through 2-1 on aggregate to the final against Puerto Rico Islanders. The playoff final was a back and forth game in which the Whitecaps prevailed 2-1 in front of 5,822 at their long time home of Swangard Stadium.[4]

This was the first year of the official tournament for the Voyageurs Cup also known as the Canadian Championship as CONCACAF designated a Canadian spot in the new champions league structure of the CONCACAF Champions Cup. The Whitecaps finished third in the 2008 Voyaguers Cup with two losses to Montreal and a draw and a win over Division 1 MLS side Toronto FC.

Schedule and results edit

Tables edit

  Commissioner's Cup, bye to semifinal round of playoffs
  First round of playoffs

Pos Club Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD H2H Pts
1 Puerto Rico Islanders 54 30 15 9 6 43 23 +20
2 Vancouver Whitecaps 53 30 15 8 7 34 28 +6
3 Montreal Impact 42 30 12 6 12 33 28 +5
4 Rochester Rhinos 41 30 11 9 10 35 32 +3
5 Charleston Battery 40 30 11 7 12 34 36 −2 CHA: 4 pts
SEA: 4 pts
6 Seattle Sounders 40 30 10 10 10 37 36 +1
7 Minnesota Thunder 39 30 10 9 11 40 38 +2
8 Carolina RailHawks 37 30 9 10 11 34 43 −9
9 Miami FC 34 30 8 10 12 28 34 −6 MIA: 7 pts
ATL: 1 pt
10 Atlanta Silverbacks 34 30 8 10 12 37 50 −13
11 Portland Timbers 31 30 7 10 13 26 33 −7

Tie-breaker order: 1. Head-to-head points; 2. Total wins; 3. Goal difference; 4. Goals for; 5. Lottery
Rochester deducted 1 point for use of an ineligible player on August 10, 2008[5]

Overall Home Away
Pld Pts W L T GF GA GD W L T GF GA GD W L T GF GA GD
30 53 15 7 8 34 28  +6 8 2 5 17 10  +7 7 5 3 17 18  −1

Last updated: April 26, 2010
Source: uslsoccer.com
Pld = Matches played; Pts = Points; W = Matches won; T = Matches tied; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference

Pre-season edit

  Win   Draw   Loss

March 9, 2008 UVic Vikes 0–0 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Victoria, British Columbia
15:00 PST Report Stadium: Centennial Stadium,
Attendance: 500
March 20, 2008 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 4–0 Portland Timbers Seattle, WA
Steve Kindel  
Nicholas Addlery  
Own Goal  
Stefan Leslie  
Report Stadium: Starfire Sports Complex
March 22, 2008 Seattle Sounders FC 1–2 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Seattle, WA
19:00 PST Roger Levesque   44' Report Jason Jordan   15'
Eduardo Sebrango   64'
Stadium: Starfire Sports Complex
Attendance: 752
March 29, 2008 Simon Fraser University 0–3 Vancouver Whitecaps FC New Westminster, BC
10:00 PST Report Eduardo Sebrango   6'
Nick Webb   19'
Jason Jordan   85'
Stadium: Mercer Stadium
April 2, 2008 Trinity Western University 0–3 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Langley, BC
19:00 PST Report Alfredo Valente   38', 69'
Eduardo Sebrango   50'
Stadium: Spartans Sports Complex
Attendance: 2,276
Referee: Phil Barrington

USL-1 edit

Results by round edit

Round123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930
GroundHHHAAHAAAHAHAHHAAAAAHHAHHAAHHA
ResultWLWWDLWWWWLDLDDWWWLLWDDWWDLDWW
Source: uslsoccer.com
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss
April 12, 2008 1 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1–0 Montreal Impact Burnaby, BC
22:00 ET Eduardo Sebrango   33' Report Stadium: Swangard Stadium
Attendance: 5,288
April 26, 2008 2 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 0–1 Minnesota Thunder Burnaby, BC
22:00 ET report Ricardo Sánchez   68' (pen.) Stadium: Swangard Stadium
Attendance: 4,989
Referee: Fabrizio Romano
May 10, 2008 3 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1–0 Rochester Rhinos Burnaby, BC
22:00 ET Eduardo Sebrango   77' report Stadium: Swangard Stadium
Attendance: 4,762
Referee: Geoff Gamble
May 16, 2008 4 Miami FC Blues 0–1 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Miami
17:30 ET report Eduardo Sebrango   18' Stadium: Tropical Park Stadium
Attendance: 3,125
Referee: Shane Moody
May 19, 2008 5 Montreal Impact 0–0 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Montreal
15:00 ET report Stadium: Stade Saputo
Attendance: 13,034
Referee: Dave Gantar
May 23, 2008 6 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 0–2 Seattle Sounders Burnaby, BC
23:00 ET report Josh Gardner   3'
Sebastien Le Toux   7'
Stadium: Swangard Stadium
Attendance: 5,146
Referee: Justin Tasev
May 24, 2008 7 Portland Timbers 0–1 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Portland, Oregon
22:00 ET report Chris Nurse   17'
Johnny Menyongar   37'
Stadium: PGE Park
Attendance: 8,688
Referee: Yader Reyes
May 28, 2008 8 Charleston Battery 0–2 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Charleston, South Carolina
19:30 ET report Jason Jordan   64'
Nicholas Addlery   75'
Stadium: Blackbaud Stadium
Attendance: 2,763
Referee: Alan Schechtman
May 31, 2008 9 Minnesota Thunder 0–1 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Minneapolis
20:05 ET report Jason Jordan   41' Stadium: National Sports Center
Attendance: 2,369
Referee: Edwom Jureievic
June 7, 2008 10 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 3–1 Portland Timbers Burnaby, BC
22:00 ET Eduardo Sebrango   54'
Martin Nash   66'
Alfredo Valente   90'
report Scot Thompson   9' Stadium: Swangard Stadium
Attendance: 5,288
Referee: Jonathan Lavergne
June 13, 2008 11 Rochester Rhinos 3–0 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Rochester, New York
20:00 ET Mauricio Salles   32' (62)
Johnny Menyongar   46'
report Stadium: Marina Auto Stadium
Attendance: 7,471
Referee: Joe Caroccio
June 22, 2008 12 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1–1 Miami FC Blues Burnaby, BC
22:00 ET Juan Pablo Galavis   20' report Chris Pozniak   51' Stadium: Swangard Stadium
Attendance: 5,288
Referee: Mathieu Bourdeau
July 5, 2008 13 Rochester Rhinos 1–3 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Rochester, New York
19:35 ET Lyle Martin   7'
Martin Nash   71'
Charles Gbeke   79'
Marcus Haber   81'
report Stadium: Marina Auto Stadium
Attendance: 7,356
Referee: Fernando Iturriaga
July 13, 2008 14 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2–1 Carolina RailHawks FC Burnaby, BC
22:00 ET Eduardo Sebrango   75' report Dan Antoniuk   74' Stadium: Swangard Stadium
Attendance: 4,989
Referee: Mathieu Bourdea
July 23, 2008 15 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1–1 Charleston Battery Burnaby, BC
22:00 ET Charles Gbeke   81' report Randi Patterson   Stadium: Swangard Stadium
Attendance: 5,038
Referee: Jonathan Lavergne
July 26, 2008 16 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1–0 Carolina RailHawks FC Burnaby, BC
22:00 ET Eduardo Sebrango   12' report Stadium: Swangard Stadium
Attendance: 4,991
Referee: Geoff Gamble
July 29, 2008 17 Miami FC Blues 1–2 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Miami
19:30 ET Alex Afonso   61' report Eduardo Sebrango   57'
Alfredo Valente   81'
Stadium: Tropical Park Stadium
Attendance: 958
Referee: Ben Chouaf
August 1, 2008 18 Carolina RailHawks FC 3–2 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Cary, North Carolina
20:00 ET Santiago Fusilier   18'
Martin Nunez   83'
report Charles Gbeke   2'
Omar Jarun   10'
Eduardo Sebrango   35'
Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park
Attendance: 3,856
Referee: Mark Kadlecik
August 3, 2008 19 Charleston Battery 2–0 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Charleston, South Carolina
18:00 ET Osvaldo Alonso   10', 61' (pen.) report Stadium: Blackbaud Stadium
Attendance: 3,769
August 5, 2008 20 Atlanta Silverbacks 2–3 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Atlanta
19:55 ET Tony McManus   37'
Macoumba Kandji   53'
Jerson Monteiro   65'
report Luca Bellisomo   31'
Admir Salihovic   79'
Stadium: RE/MAX Greater Atlanta Stadium
Attendance: 1,941
August 10, 2008 21 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 3–2 Atlanta Silverbacks Burnaby, BC
19:00 ET Jeff Clarke   25'
Eduardo Sebrango   72' (88)
report Ansu Toure   20' (39) Stadium: Swangard Stadium
Attendance: 4,689
Referee: Carol Anne Chenard
August 17, 2008 22 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 0–0 Carolina RailHawks FC Burnaby, BC
22:00 ET report Stadium: Swangard Stadium
Attendance: 4,563
Referee: Geoff Gamble
August 20, 2008 23 Seattle Sounders 0–0 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Tukwila, Washington
19:30 ET report Stadium: Starfire Sports Complex
Attendance: 3,203
Referee: Ben Chouaf
August 22, 2008 24 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2–1 Portland Timbers Burnaby, BC
23:00 ET Nick Addlery   3' (43) report Lawrence Olum   12' Stadium: Swangard Stadium
Attendance: 4,761
Referee: Mathieu Bourdeau
August 27, 2008 25 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2–0 Atlanta Silverbacks Burnaby, BC
22:00 ET Lyle Martin   35'
Eduardo Sebrango   69'
report Stadium: Swangard Stadium
Attendance: 4,621
Referee: Dave Gantar
August 31, 2008 26 Puerto Rico Islanders 1–1 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Bayamón, Puerto Rico
18:00 ET Kendall Jagdeosingh   67' report Takashi Hirano   86' Stadium: Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium
Attendance: 3,227
Referee: Lee Suckle
September 5, 2008 27 Puerto Rico Islanders 1–0 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Bayamón, Puerto Rico
20:00 ET Noah Delgado   89' report Stadium: Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium
Attendance: 5,255
Referee: Ben Chouaf
September 7, 2008 28 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 0–0 Minnesota Thunder Burnaby, BC
22:00 ET report Stadium: Swangard Stadium
Attendance: 5,288
Referee: Fabrizio Romano
September 13, 2008 29 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1–0 Montreal Impact Burnaby, BC
22:00 ET Charles Gbeke   45' report Stadium: Swangard Stadium
Attendance: 5,288
Referee: Dave Gantar
September 20, 2008 30 Seattle Sounders 2–3 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Tukwila, Washington
22:00 ET Sebastien Le Toux   10'
Kevin Sakuda   69'
report Eduardo Sebrango   54'
Justin Moose   57'
Jeff Clarke   67'
Stadium: Starfire Sports Complex
Attendance: 4,401
Referee: Landis Wiley

Post-season edit

Play-in Round

September 26, 2008 Leg 1 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2–0 Minnesota Thunder Burnaby, BC
22:00 ET
report
Stadium: Swangard Stadium
Attendance: 4,943
Referee: Carol Anne Chenard
September 28, 2008 Leg 2 Minnesota Thunder 4–3
(4–5 agg.)
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Minneapolis
18:05 ET
report Stadium: National Sports Center
Attendance: 3,811

Semi-finals

October 3, 2008 Leg 1 Montreal Impact 1–0 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Montreal
20:00 ET Antonio Ribeiro   52',   61'
Pato Aguilera   88'
report Wesley Charles   29'
Jay Nolly   52'
Stadium: Stade Saputo
Attendance: 12,002
Referee: Steve DePiero
October 5, 2008 Leg 2 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2–0
(2–1 agg.)
Montreal Impact Burnaby, BC
18:30 ET report
Stadium: Swangard Stadium
Attendance: 4,992
Referee: Dave Gantar

Final

October 12, 2008 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2–1 Puerto Rico Islanders Burnaby, BC
19:00 ET Charles Gbeke   55', 74'
Steve Kindel   71'
report Sandy Gbandi   68' Stadium: Swangard Stadium
Attendance: 5,822
Referee: Mark Kadlecik

Canadian Championship edit

Canadian Championship standings edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Montreal Impact (C) 4 2 1 1 5 2 +3 7
2 Toronto FC 4 1 2 1 4 4 0 5
3 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 4 1 1 2 3 6 −3 4
Source: [citation needed]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal differential; 3) number of goals scored; 4) drawing of lots.[6]
(C) Champion and qualification for the Champions League qualifying round

Canadian Championship results edit

June 17, 2008 1 Montreal Impact 2–0 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Saputo Stadium, Montreal
19:30 EDT Severino Jefferson   25'
Joey Gjertsen   35'
Report Attendance: 10,054
Referee: Silviu Petrescu
June 25, 2008 2 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 0–2 Montreal Impact Swangard Stadium, Burnaby, British Columbia
23:00 EDT Report Roberto Brown   30'
David Testo   66'
Attendance: 4,412
Referee: Domenic Scali
July 1, 2008 3 Toronto FC 0–1 Vancouver Whitecaps FC BMO Field, Toronto, Ontario
16:00 EDT Report Martin Nash   36' (pen.) Attendance: 18,938
Referee: Steve Depiero
July 9, 2008 4 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2–2 Toronto FC Swangard Stadium, Burnaby, British Columbia
19:30 PDT Eduardo Sebrango   43', 87' Report Maurice Edu   61'
Rohan Ricketts   76'
Attendance: 5,228
Referee: Carol-Ann Chénard

Cascadia Cup edit

2008 Cascadia Cup
Team Pld W L D GF GA GD Pts
Vancouver Whitecaps (U) 6 4 1 1 9 6 +3 13
Seattle Sounders 6 2 2 2 5 5 0 8
Portland Timbers 6 1 4 1 4 7 −3 4
Source: [citation needed]
(U) USL–1 Champions



Friendlies edit

May 13, 2008 1 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2–1 Los Angeles Galaxy Edmonton, Alberta
19:00 ET Nicholas Addlery   4'
Eduardo Sebrango  
Report Alan Gordon   43' Stadium: Commonwealth Stadium
Attendance: 37,104

Current roster edit

After the 2007 season, the Whitecaps and coach Bob Lilley parted ways with the Whitecaps hiring Teitur Thordarson. Many local long time stalwart veteran players such as Jeff Clarke, Jason Jordan, Steve Kindel, Geordie Lyall, Martin Nash, and Alfredo Valente remained on the roster. Leading striker Eduardo Sebrango also was back for another year with the new coach.

The Whitecaps signed Jamaican striker Nicholas Addlery, US keeper Jay Nolly, Omar Jarun, Japanese international Takashi Hirano, and Bolivian youth international Vicente Arze.[7]

Staff edit

  • Head coach – Teitur Thordarson
  • Assistant coach – Todd Wawrousek
  • Manager communications – Nathan Vanstone
  • Director of professional teams – Greg Anderson
  • Office manager – Lindsay Pucklik
  • President – Bob Lenarduzzi

All stats as of the end of the season.[8]

Goalkeeper stats edit

No. Nat. Player Total USL-1 Playoffs
MIN SV GA GAA SO MIN SV GA GAA SO MIN SV GA GAA SO
1   Jay Nolly 2070 81 24 1.043 9 2070 81 24 1.043 9 325 19 5 1.38 1
29   Srdjan Djekanovic 630 23 4' 0.57 4 630 23 4 0.57 4 0 0 0 0 0
0   Tyler Baldock 0 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 0.00 0 125 6 1 0.72 1

|} Updated to match played February 20, 2014
Source: [1]

Player statistics edit

No. Pos. Name Apps Minutes Goals Assists Shots Fouls    
0 GK   Tyler Baldock 1(1) 125 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 GK   Jay Nolly 27 2395 0 0 0 0 3 1
2 DF   Jeff Clarke 20(1) 1743 3 2 9 16 4 0
3 MF   Nick Webb 0(4) 40 0 0 0 1 0 0
4 DF   Adrian Cann 8 720 0 0 1 14 1 0
4 DF   Wesley Charles 15(1) 1321 0 1 1 14 3 0
6 DF   Luca Bellisomo 9(2) 807 1 1 3 11 2 0
7 MF   Martin Nash 33 2896 1 3 25 28 4 0
8 DF   Steve Kindel 27(3) 2445 0 2 17 37 6 0
9 MF   Alfredo Valente 25(6) 2046 2 2 33 26 5 1
11 FW   Nicholas Addlery 16(12) 1440 4 1 44 32 8 1
12 FW   Eduardo Sebrango 31 2548 13 3 76 33 4 1
13 DF   Geordie Lyall 5(1) 312 0 0 1 6 0 0
13 MF   Mason Webb 0(2) 23 0 0 0 0 0 0
14 MF   Tony Donatelli 6(4) 480 0 1 10 8 1 0
15 DF   Omar Jarun 21(4) 1945 1 1 13 43 8 1
17 FW   Randy Edwini-Bonsu 0(4) 36 0 0 2 1 0 0
18 DF   Mason Trafford 5(10) 570 0 0 3 8 0 0
19 MF   Chris Pozniak 6(1) 570 1 1 4 11 1 0
20 MF   Ethan Gage 2(6) 445 0 0 5 12 0 0
20 FW   Charles Gbeke 10(7) 783 5 3 26 28 2 0
20 FW   Dever Orgill (1) 38 0 0 1 1 0 0
20 MF   Navid Mashinchi (1) 6 0 0 0 0 0 0
22 DF   Takashi Hirano 16(7) 1762 1 0 6 24 4 0
23 MF   Vicente Arze 8(18) 1097 1 2 25 24 3 0
24 DF   Lyle Martin 25(2) 2283 1 5 8 27 1 0
25 MF   Tyrell Burgess 11(14) 1047 1 2 28 15 2 0
25 MF   Justin Moose 16(8) 1564 2 4 15 26 7 0
26 FW   Jason Jordan 5(20) 897 2 3 18 9 1 0
27 MF   Stefan Leslie 0(6) 70 0 0 0 0 0 0
28 DF   Diaz Kambere 8(2) 684 0 0 4 6 0 0
29 GK   Srdjan Djekanovic 7 630 0 0 0 0 0 0
29 GK   Richard Goddard 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
29 MF   Admir Salihovic 1(3) 88 1 0 2 2 0 0
31 GK   Simon Thomas 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Opponent Own goals 1

Updated February 28, 2014[9][10]

  • Note this list includes only players that have dressed in the eighteen.
  • Note brackets indicate substitute appearances.
  • Note statistics are for league and playoffs (not preseason). Voyageurs Cup statistics appear to no longer be available.

References edit

  1. ^ Chapman, Paul (July 25, 2008). "Nash Cache". The Province Newspaper – Back of the Net. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  2. ^ Demosphere International. "Whitecaps unveil stadium plans". uslsoccer.com. Archived from the original on March 7, 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  3. ^ Spencer, Kent (October 13, 2008). "Waterfront Stadium could be dramatic, beautiful, spectacular". The Province Newspaper. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  4. ^ Demosphere International. "Schedule". uslsoccer.com. Archived from the original on December 15, 2013. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  5. ^ "Rhinos penalized for infraction". United Soccer Leagues. August 15, 2008. Archived from the original on March 26, 2012. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  6. ^ "Canadian qualification for CONCACAF Champions League". canadasoccer.com. March 26, 2008. Archived from the original on April 7, 2008. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
  7. ^ Nukester (April 10, 2008). "2008 Season Preview: Vancouver Whitecaps". Retrieved March 3, 2014.
  8. ^ Demosphere International. "2008 Statistics". uslsoccer.com. Archived from the original on March 7, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  9. ^ "2008 Statistics". Archived from the original on March 7, 2014. Retrieved February 28, 2014.
  10. ^ "Full Schedule". Archived from the original on March 7, 2014. Retrieved February 28, 2014.