Allgemeines » Vancouver plays at the Philadelphia Union on June 7 before

VANCOUVER -- The Vancouver Whitecaps know they have to be more ruthless in front of the goal. Fake Shoes Black Friday . They nearly ran the Seattle Sounders out of B.C. Place Stadium in the opening 30 minutes last weekend with their attacking style, but couldnt capitalize on a number of clear-cut chances and settled for a 2-2 draw. Creating those opportunities is one thing, but the Whitecaps understand they must be better finishers in order to climb up the Major League Soccer standings. "We have to continue to try to take our chances," said Vancouver captain Jay DeMerit. "Over the past couple weeks weve really created a lot of them, now the final step in that is to put a few more in the net." The Whitecaps (4-2-5) will be looking to do just that on Sunday when they travel south to Oregon to take on the rival Portland Timbers (3-3-7). You can see all the action on TSN beginning at 9pm et/6pm pt. "Its part and parcel of our DNA as a team now to start on the front foot, be a forward-thinking team and try and go for the throat," said Whitecaps assistant coach Martyn Pert. "Weve got the surprise element at the moment because people are looking at us and probably werent tipping us to play that offensively. "(Head coach Carl Robinsons) philosophy is to be on the front foot and play attacking football. Youre going to create chances." But burying those chances has been a problem. Vancouver could have had at least four goals in a 1-0 road victory over the Columbus Crew on May 10, and also wasted a number of opportunities in the second leg of the Amway Canadian Championship semifinal four days later against Toronto FC. Then last week, the Whitecaps could have easily been up 3-0 on the Sounders after half an hour, but they were betrayed by their final touch on numerous occasions. "Weve just got to focus on doing what weve been doing," said Whitecaps striker Erik Hurtado, who has three goals in three games in all competitions. "Were attacking ... we just have to finish our chances more often." Vancouver currently occupies the fifth and final playoff spot in the West, a point up on Portland with two games in hand. The L.A. Galaxy, meanwhile, are two points back, but have a game in hand themselves and are also in action Sunday. Looking up in the standings, the Whitecaps are also just a single point behind both the Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas, with games in hand on both clubs. "Theres a good team spirit, and I dont use the term loosely because there is a general feel-good factor about the place," said Whitecaps defender Andy OBrien. "The chances that weve created, and with a little bit of luck the results could have been a little bit different. But taking everything into consideration were pleased with how weve done so far." Sunday will also mark the second game for both Vancouver and Portland in the Cascadia Cup, a mini-tournament played between the Whitecaps, Timbers and Sounders for bragging rights in the Pacific Northwest. The team with the most points in games between the three clubs is crowned champion, something that Vancouver has accomplished four times, including last season. "Weve got to start well. We know to expect a battle against Portland, especially at their ground," said DeMerit. "Theyre a big, physical team. They like to get the ball down and play as well so were going to have to stay up and not give their good players time and space because they can hurt you." While the Whitecaps have not lost in MLS competition in their last five (2-0-3), the Timbers enter the derby clash unbeaten in six (3-0-3), including back-to-back road victories. "Were looking forward to Vancouver, we know with a win there we can jump them in the table," Timbers head coach Caleb Porter told the clubs official website. "And with our fans behind us, the boys will be flying." Portland, which will be playing its third game in eight days, got two goals from six-foot-four striker Fanendo Adi in a 2-0 midweek victory over Chivas USA, his first two with the club. "Hes a big, athletic guy. He gives a different element for them," said DeMerit. "Most of the guys that play up front for them are tricky guys or guys that have a bit of flair. "Were going to have to battle him, stick with his pace and make him play." The atmosphere inside B.C. Place last week against Seattle was electric and OBrien said the Whitecaps expect the same in Portland. "Its one of the beauties of where we located that we get that because coming from Europe thats part and parcel of the game," said OBrien, a veteran of the English Premier League. "I must admit the abuse that you get from away supporters is not as bad as in Europe, but its certainly one of the fixtures that you look for when theyre released because you know theyre going to be great games." DeMerit said it will be crucial for the Whitecaps to continue to play the attacking, aggressive style that made them successful through 11 games this season if theyre going to pick up their second road win of the campaign. "(The Timbers) will make it hard for us, especially in the beginning with the crowd on their side," he said. "Its up to us to make sure we battle that back but still try to stay expressive on our end and not sit back and give them the ball. "Weve got to make sure we continue to stay at a high tempo both offensively and defensively to give ourselves the best chance." Notes: The Whitecaps have never beaten the Timbers in MLS play, including three draws last season. ... Vancouver plays at the Philadelphia Union on June 7 before MLS goes on its World Cup break. The Whitecaps dont play at home again until June 25 against the Montreal Impact. Buy Shoes Black Friday . The Rangers centre left early in Game 1 with an upper body injury after being checked by Canadiens defenceman Mike Weaver and has not played since. Brassard told reporters after practice that he was good to go. That brought a smile to the face of Rangers coach Alain Vigneault. Cheap Shoes Black Friday . The Henry Burris-led squad finished second in the East Division before advancing to the Grey Cup where they ultimately fell to the home field advantage wielding Saskatchewan Roughriders. https://www.cheapshoesblackfriday.com/ . That still leaves a big hole.You dont replace the leadership, defensive co-ordinator Billy Davis said. You just dont. Leadership is something that is earned over time.SARNIA, Ont. -- Nick Ritchie scored 46 seconds into overtime as the Peterborough Petes slipped past the host Sarnia Sting 2-1 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League play. Eric Cornel forced extra time when he tied the game for the Petes (28-28-5) at 17:57 of the third period. Nickolas Latta gave the Sting (16-39-7) a 1-0 lead 12:03 into the first. Jason Da Silva made 31 saves for Peterborough as Sarnias Taylor Dupuis turned away 38-of-40 shots in a losing cause. The Petes went 0 for 3 on the power play while the Sting failed to score on five chances with the man advantage. --- ICEDOGS 5 WOLVES 2 SUDBURY, Ont. -- Eric Ming had two goals and an assist as Niagara downed the Wolves. Graham Knott, Billy Jenkins and Blake Siebnaler also scored for the IceDogs (20-33-8), who used a four-goal third period to break the game open. Nicholas Baptiste and Connor Crisp scored for Sudbury (31-21-10). Brent Moran made 34 saves for Niagara as Franky Palazzese turned away 36-of-40 shots in defeat. --- FRONTENACS 5 BULLS 2 BELLEVILLE, Ont. -- Ryan Kujawinksi and Darcy Greenoway each had a pair of goals as Kingston toppled the Bulls. Sam Bennett also scored for the Frontenacs (34-22-4) and Henri Ikonen chipped in with two assists. Michael Cramarossa and David Tomasek supplied the scoring for Belleville (19-37-6). Kingstons Matt Mahalak made 45 saves for Kingston as Charlie Graham stopped 28-of-33 shots in a losing cause. --- WHALERS 5 SPITFIRES 0 PLYMOUTH, Mich. -- Francesco Vilardi had two goals and an assist and Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 26 shots as the Whalers blanked Windsor. Matt Mistele scored once and set up two more for Plymouth (25-30-7) while Ryan Hartman and Brook Hiddink had the others. Ryan Foss and Eric Diodati were both a team-worst minus-3 for Windsor (36-23-3). Dalen Kuchmey started in net for the Spitfires and gave up four goals on 34 shots before being relieved by Brendan Johnston, who stopped 2-of-3 shots in 10 minutes of action. Discount Shoes Black Friday. --- GREYHOUNDS 2 RANGERS 1 SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. -- Blake Speers goal at 8:04 of the third period stood up as the winner as the Greyhounds slipped past Kitchener. Alex Gudbranson opened the scoring for Sault Ste. Marie (40-16-5) at 10:37 of the first period. Brent Pedersen got the Rangers (22-37-3) on the board with less than two minutes remaining in the third period. Brandon Halverson made 24 saves for the Greyhounds as Kitcheners Jordan DeKort turned away 19-of-21 shots in defeat. --- OTTERS 4 SPIRIT 4 SAGINAW, Ont. -- Michael Curtis scored twice and Oscar Dansk kicked out 32 shots as Erie doubled up the Spirit. Patrick Murphy and Brendan Gaunce also scored for the Otters (46-14-2) and Dylan Strome tacked on two assists. Jimmy Lodge scored once for Saginaw (30-27-5) and also set up Luke Cairns. Jake Paterson turned aside 29-of-33 shots for the Spirit, who lost for the first time in four outings. --- ATTACK 4 STEELHEADS 1 OWEN SOUND, Ont. -- Brandon Hope made 36 saves as the Attack downed Mississauga to end their three-game slide. Brett Hargrave, Kyle Hope, Kyle Platzer and Holden Cook supplied the scoring for Owen Sound (27-26-8). Andrew Goldberg scored for the Steelheads (23-35-4). Mississaugas Spencer Martin turned aside 31-of-34 shots in defeat. -- COLTS 7 67s 1 BARRIE, Ont. -- Andreas Anthanasiou scored three times and Zach Hall assisted on each of them as the Colts crushed Ottawa. Nick Pastorious, Tyson Fawcett, Matthew Kreis and Justin Scott also scored for Barrie (33-26-3) and Brendan Lemieux had two assists. Sam Studnicka scored the lone goal for the 67s (22-35-4). Mackenzie Blackwood made 30 saves for the Colts. Ottawas Philippe Trudeau allowed four goals on 18 shots before giving way to Liam Herbst, who stopped 22-of-25 shots in 34 minutes of relief. ' ' '