BC Soccer News, Weekend, October 23-25

WHITECAPS FC & MLS NEWS

‘Caps look to clinch home playoff game Sunday vs. HoustonWhitecaps FC
Vancouver Whitecaps FC (15W-13L-5D) will learn their playoff fate on Sunday, when they host Houston Dynamo (11W-13L-9D) on the final day of the 2015 MLS regular season – also known as #DecisionDay.

Preview: Houston Dynamo at Vancouver WhitecapsHouston Dynamo
The Houston Dynamo had their playoff hopes dashed, drawing 1-1 with Seattle Sounders FC in their last match, Oct. 18 at BBVA Compass Stadium. The Dynamo are in eighth place in the Western Conference with 42 points from 33 matches.

Whitecaps FC vs. Houston Dynamo Preview: Close The Curtain AlreadyEighty-Six Forever
If you’d told me in February the ‘Caps would enter the final regular season game in 3rd place, needing a win (and a little help) to grab a bye into the conference semifinals, I’d be over the moon. Add in the sweetener that the match is against a Houston team mathematically eliminated from playoff contention and the (pointless) stat that in the history of Dynamo-vs.-Whitecaps the home team has won every match, and I’m off to my nearest bookie to bet my first-born child’s soul for a tidy profit.

Sunday against Houson a day of reckoning for the WhitecapsThe Province
Sunday will not define the Whitecaps’ season. That’s what the playoffs are for, and they’ve already qualified for those.

Kekuta Manneh could be shooting his age The Province
Kekuta Manneh is only 20. Kekuta Manneh should have way more goals. These are the basic arguments in any debate about the Whitecaps’ thrilling (or is that wasteful?) winger. It’s a false dichotomy.

Club Deportivo Olimpia 1, Vancouver Whitecaps 0 | CONCACAF Champions League Match RecapMLS
The Vancouver Whitecaps turned the page on their debut CONCACAF Champions League campaign on Thursday, losing their final group stage game but gaining experience playing in Central America.

Whitecaps blanked by Olimpia in Champions LeagueCBC
Nestor Martinez scored on a spectacular free kick in the second half as C.D. Olimpia blanked the Vancouver Whitecaps 1-0 on Thursday night in CONCACAF Champions League action.

Whitecaps Fall 1-0 to CD Olimpia in HondurasEighty-Six Forever
In what was essentially a meaningless game for an injury riddled Vancouver Whitecaps squad, Carl Robinson’s boys walked away with a 1-0 loss to CD Olimpia, sending them into the Sunday’s regular season finale on a three match winless and scoreless skid.

Whitecaps need a win for so many reasonsGoal
It has been a long and eventful seven-and-a-half months of action, but all 20 MLS clubs now face the final weekend of the 2015 regular season. 12 clubs will make the MLS Cup Playoffs, but 33 rounds of games have to yet determine which dozen sides are going to the postseason, let alone which spots those playoff-bound teams will occupy.

CONCACAF Champions League Review: San Francisco score eight as they bow outGoal
San Francisco embarrassed the Hankook Verdes as they bowed out of the tournament as winners, while Olimpia and Arabe Unido also triumphed.

Breaking down Vancouver’s playoff scenarios as #DecisionDay looms Whitecaps FC
The 2015 MLS regular season will come to an end this Sunday on #DecisionDay, with every match in the Western Conference – as well as Chicago Fire vs. New York Red Bulls for the MLS Supporters’ Shield implications – being played at the same time (4 p.m. PT).

MLS previews: ‘Decision Day’ for Seattle, Sporting and San Jose The Guardian
Here we are, the final week of the Major League Soccer 2015 regular season. Despite another year in which fortunes shifted almost each and every week as teams both good and bad went on long hot and cold streaks often for no discernible reason, the final table in both the Eastern and Western Conferences could after this weekend broadly resemble – with some notable exceptions – that of 2014.

MLS: What’s at stake on Decision DaySoccer America
First place has been decided in both MLS conferences, as have eight of the 12 playoff berths. But the Supporters’ Shield is still up for grabs — the New York Red Bulls have the edge over FC Dallas on the tiebreaker — as is second place in both conferences — and the other two first-round byes. Six teams are vying for the final four playoff spots.

From internet message board to valued prize: How the Supporters’ Shield got its startMLS
Sixteen years after its creation, the Supporters’ Shield – owned and managed independently by the league’s supporters – has become a unique honor in North American sport, growing in both stature and recognition and evolving from its humble beginnings into a prize valued and sought by all 20 MLS clubs.

Montreal Impact feeling effect of Didier Drogba in almost every aspect of club MLS
Eight starts, nine goals, one assist, six wins and an Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs spot. Those accomplishments don’t tell the whole story of Didier Drogba’s influence on the Montreal Impact – what about his hold-up play, for example? – but they offer a glimpse into what the “Drogba Effect” has been on the field.

Bernier: ‘Montreal fighting for respect in MLS’Sportsnet
A likeable guy off the field with a good heart, the Montreal Impact veteran doesn’t tend to hold back when asked direct questions. He speaks his mind in a frank and unapologetic manner.

Countdown: TFC @ Montreal ImpactRed Nation Online
The 2015 MLS regular season is coming to an end and it is TFC’s most dramatic final weekend since 2009. The Reds travel down the 401 to take on rivals the Montreal Impact, who have had an impressive resurgence on their season once signing Didier Drogba and parting ways with Frank Klopas.

When Sporting KC hosts LA Galaxy, playoff places will be on the lineESPN FC
“Winning in Kansas City would be wonderful for us,” Galaxy forward Gyasi Zardes told ESPN FC in a phone interview on Wednesday evening, noting that getting three points would guarantee his team second place in the Western Conference and the first-round playoff bye that goes with it.

Bruce Arena unhappy with MLS schedule, proposes ‘creative’ solutionESPN FC
LA Galaxy coach Bruce Arena isn’t happy with the congested schedule his team has been dealt during its most crucial stretch of the 2015 MLS season, and he has a proposal to prevent it from happening again.

North’s Moment of Magic Lifts Clan to 1-0 VictorySFU
Michael North scored his third goal of the season 10 minutes into the second half to lift Simon Fraser University to a 1-0 win over Montana State University Billings in Great Northwest Athletic Conference men’s soccer team action Thursday at Terry Fox Field on the SFU campus.

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BC SOCCER NEWS

Past CSA & BCSA President Dave Fryatt, 94, passes awayCSA
Dave Fryatt, a Canada Soccer Life Member, has passed away at the age of 94. Dedicated to the game throughout his life, he was Canada Soccer’s 22nd President and twice president of BC Soccer. In 2000, he was honoured as part of The Soccer Hall of Fame’s inaugural class.

North’s Moment of Magic Lifts Clan to 1-0 VictorySFU
Michael North scored his third goal of the season 10 minutes into the second half to lift Simon Fraser University to a 1-0 win over Montana State University Billings in Great Northwest Athletic Conference men’s soccer team action Thursday at Terry Fox Field on the SFU campus.

Clan Gives Up Two Early Goals, Game Against WWUSFU
Western Washington University scored twice in the first nine minutes and the nationally Vikings achieved its longest winning streak in the last three decades with a 4-0 triumph over Simon Fraser University on Thursday in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women’s soccer game at Harrington Field.

Vikes soccer teams look to hit playoffs on a rollTimes Colonist
The University of Victoria Vikes men’s and women’s soccer teams know they will be in the Canada West playoff quarter-finals next weekend. But just where that will be is like trying to guess what next week’s weather will be like or what the spring fashions will be in May.

PREVIEW: UBC women’s soccer looks to clinch division title this weekendUBC
The No. 4 UBC Thunderbirds (10-1-1) host the Fraser Valley Cascades (8-3-1) on Friday, and the sixth-ranked Trinity Western Spartans (9-1-2) on Saturday at Thunderbird Stadium. Both games will kick off at 5 p.m. PT on David Sidoo Field. UFV and TWU will also play at fourth place Victoria this weekend.

PREVIEW: Undefeated ‘Birds host final regular season games of the year UBC
The UBC Thunderbirds men’s soccer team, currently 9-0-1 in the Canada West and tied for first in the CIS top 10, is looking to complete an undefeated regular season this weekend.

Six To Play Final Home Games For WolfPack Women’s Soccer This WeekendTRU
There will bound to be a few tears shed when the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack women’s soccer team plays their final regular season match on Sunday (Oct 25). The WolfPack (4-6-2) are entertaining the Alberta Pandas (6-5-1) and the University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves (1-8-3) at Hillside Stadium this weekend.

WolfPack Men’s Soccer Set To Say Good Bye To 5th YearsTRU
The curtain goes down on the second season of the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack men’s soccer team in the Canada West. The WolfPack will host the University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves (1-9) in a pair of matches at Hillside Stadium.

Vancouver Island teen soccer player ‘muzzled’ from voicing opinion about sponsor CBC
Freyja Reed has two great passions: soccer and wild salmon. That’s why the 14-year-old says she was shocked to discover her elite soccer team’s newest sponsor: Marine Harvest, the biggest operator of open-net fish farms in B.C. Now, the goalkeeper claims she’s being pressured to stop protesting the company’s activities.

Pitt rebounds to topple SRT Maple Ridge News
The Pitt Meadows Marauders used a strong second half to come back and topple the SRT Titans 4-1 in senior boys’ AA soccer on Oct. 15. Marauders head coach Michael Oldridge said his team played a much stronger game as time progressed and was especially pleased with forward Gerardo Gallegos.

FIFA 2018 WORLD CUP QUALIFYING

CANADA  vs. HONDURAS

7:00 PM, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2015

B.C. PLACE, VANCOUVER, B.C.

FIFA World Cup Qualifying –  Canada vs. Honduras at B.C. Place, Fri. Nov.13  – Buy Tickets Here

CANADA SOCCER NEWS

Canada-Honduras ref calls Jorge Luis Pinto ‘a bit of a hothead.’  – Some Canadian Guys Writing About Soccer
Canadian soccer fans looking to grab an early start spinning conspiracy theories around next month’s World Cup qualifier against Honduras need look no further than an interview that hit the internet this morning with the match referee.

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NASL & USL NEWS

USL expands to Kansas City in 2016 with debut of Swope Park Rangers Sporting KC
Sporting Club announced on Thursday the launch of a new professional soccer team in Kansas City with the formation of the Swope Park Rangers, which will begin play at Swope Soccer Village in the United Soccer League (USL) for the 2016 season.

WFC2 Players Get Shot As Whitecaps Wrap Up SCCLUSL
Vancouver Whitecaps FC’s first foray into the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League came to an end on Thursday night, as the side fell 1-0 to C.D. Olimpia in Honduras in its final group stage game.

Vermes, Besler Excited By Rangers’ IntroductionUSL
When the partnership between the USL and Major League Soccer was established in 2013, Sporting Kansas City was one of the first four clubs to form a partnership. After working in collaboration with Orlando City SC and OKC Energy FC for the past three seasons, in 2016 the Swope Park Rangers will take the field as the club makes the next step, establishing its own USL club.

Match Preview vs. Jacksonville Armada FCFC Edmonton
FC Edmonton (7-4-8) welcomes Jacksonville Armada FC (5-3-10) for the final game of their 2015 North American Soccer League (NASL) season, Oct. 25 at Clarke Field at 2:00 p.m. MT. It is the second of back-to-back matches for the two sides, who put on a thrilling 3-2 contest last weekend at Community First Park in Florida.

Cosmos Continue Push For Top Seed In The Championship In San AntonioNASL
The New York Cosmos head to Texas with ambitions to move closer to the No. 1 seed for The Championship, the NASL’s four-team postseason tournament. The Cosmos must win against the San Antonio Scorpions to keep the pressure on Ottawa Fury FC at the top of the Combined Standings. San Antonio, the defending league champions, can play the spoiler after seeing their own return to the postseason dashed by a 0-0 draw against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers on Wednesday.

How April’s Cup defeat put the Ottawa Fury on course for NASL glory the11.ca
There’s an irony that, on the evening that the Ottawa Fury clinched the NASL fall season title, that FC Edmonton was eliminated from the post-season picture.

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WOMEN’S SOCCER NEWS

Tough Match With Brazil Was Exactly What U.S. Women Needed In March To RioESPN FC
When Carli Lloyd found the necessary energy after more than 80 minutes of work to make one more run into the box, force her way in front of a defender one more time, stretch to connect with a cross and slam the ball off the crossbar and back down over the line, the resulting roar from the crowd confirmed that the United States had the result it needed to avoid making history.

Shannon Boxx bids farewell as USWNT looks ahead to Rio with new players SI.com
It’s been over a decade since Shannon Boxx almost quit soccer entirely as a young professional. When she finally did retire, after a 1–1 draw against Brazil here on Wednesday, she did so as a World Cup champion and a player grateful that fate changed its course—and her mind.

W-League shaken up by the arrival of Melbourne City The Guardian
This weekend a new Melbourne derby will be born. Melbourne City have entered the W-League, and before they even kicked a ball, their presence has drastically altered the competition. For better or worse, the first club to be affected by City’s arrival has been Melbourne Victory.

President Obama to honor USWNT on TuesdayThe Equalizer
United States President Barack Obama will honor the U.S. women’s national team at the White House on Tuesday for the team’s 2015 World Cup triumph.

RED STARS SELECT BRITTANY BOCK OFF WAIVER WIRENWSL
The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) announced today that the Chicago Red Stars have selected midfielder Brittany Bock off of the NWSL Waiver Wire as part of the Offseason Waiver Process.

Making sense of the Alex Morgan-to-Orlando tradeThe Equalizer
Among the most poorly kept secrets of the past month is the Orlando Pride’s interest in United States women’s national team forward Alex Morgan.

England Women lose to China in opening match of CFA International tournamentThe Guardian
Eniola Aluko’s first-half strike was not enough to prevent England Women slipping to a 2-1 defeat to the hosts, China, in the opening match of the CFA International tournament in Yongchuan.

Euro 2017: Norway women v Wales womenBBC Sport
Wales manager Jayne Ludlow hopes her side will be inspired by the success of the men’s team in Friday’s Euro 2017 qualifier in Norway.

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WORLD SOCCER NEWS

Manchester derby acts as status report on who spent riches more wiselyThe Guardian
A City win would leave them in position of gathering strength while, for United, success would represent perhaps most significant result of post-Ferguson era.

Manchester derby hinges on whether City are in the mood against UnitedESPN FC
The outcome of Sunday’s Manchester derby largely depends on which Manchester City side turns up. Will it be the one that has scored 11 goals in its last two Premier League matches? Or will it be the one that lost 4-1 at Tottenham, not to mention were beaten at home to West Ham in September?

Rodney Marsh: ‘Manchester derby is completely different, it’s really special’ The Guardian
Will players experiencing their first Manchester derby on Sunday, like Morgan Schneiderlin, Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Anthony Martial, be able to comprehend what the occasion means?

Rafa Benitez clinging to statistics in face of criticism Goal
Real Madrid was in a delicate situation against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday. Despite all of the team’s absences through injury, the Spanish side played perhaps its best match since Rafa Benitez took over from Carlo Ancelotti in the summer. But there were no goals and there was no win.

Chelsea’s José Mourinho hits out at ‘no respect’ in English mediaThe Guardian
José Mourinho has vowed to focus on football after taking exception to media reporting of two incidents on a London street. The 52-year-old Chelsea manager is frustrated that phone camera footage of two teenagers following him through west London – something Chelsea described as overly intrusive – was widely reported this week.

Johan Cruyff: Netherlands great thanks fans for support  – BBC Sport
Johan Cruyff has thanked supporters for their good wishes after it was confirmed he had been diagnosed with lung cancer.

Chivas-Atlas clasico highlights Liga MX Week 14ESPN FC
At the moment, there are only three points separating sixth and 12th place in the Liga MX league table, leaving plenty of opportunities for serious movement during this weekend.

A-League attention turns to the Sydney Derby; rough week for keepersESPN FC
Drama and late goals dominated last weekend’s A-League action, with more of the same expected over the coming days.

Football National League – Reforming Russia’s Second DivisionFutbolgrad
Geographically speaking, Russia’s second division Football National League (FNL) is the largest in the world. It outsizes the Russian Premier League due in part to mainstay sides in Kaliningrad, the furthest western point of Russia (Baltika have been at this level for all but two seasons since 1999), and in the Far East (SKA Energiya Khabarovsk have been here since 2002). In addition, invariably, there are sides in the division from Russia’s southern regions and from along the length of Siberia, which stretches the FNL almost to the limits of the Russian map.

FIFpro urges FIFA to focus on human rights recordSportsnet
The international football players’ union FIFPro has urged FIFA to block presidential contenders with a poor record on human rights. FIFPro’s call comes as Asian football leader Sheik Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa considers entering the presidential race by Monday’s deadline.

American football blooms in the land of the beautiful gameWashington Post
A few years ago, late at night, bored, Felipe Rezes was flipping through channels when he stumbled across something novel: guys in helmets knocking each other down and chasing an oddly shaped ball. Now 14, Rezes has since become a Dallas Cowboys nut and an enthusiastic convert to the small but fast-growing crew of Brazilians mad for the American kind of futebol.

Red Star vs. Partizan – They Call it the Eternal Derby Futbolgrad
We heard them before we saw them. A dense cloud of white smoke drifted down over the trees and buildings on the hill in front of us announcing, “We are Partizan. And we are here!” They call it the Eternal Derby, and as the first bottle thrown by the away fans smashed just metres from our feet, I knew this was going to be a lively Saturday afternoon’s football.

The Frustrating Promise of Analytics: Soccer Has a Left-Handed-Pitcher ProblemGrantland
The field of public soccer analytics has a left-handed-pitcher problem. Since it consists of so many events, baseball is fertile ground for analytics. A whopping 143 players in Major League Baseball had more than 500 plate appearances this season. Meanwhile, in the Premier League last season, only seven players took 100 shots, and only two had more than 50 shots on target. To get around that problem, most of the advances in soccer analytics have come from working with aggregates.

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