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Vancouver Whitecaps

2008 season
Owner	Greg Kerfoot, Jeff Mallet, Steve Luczo, Steve Nash
Head coach	Teitur Thordarson
USL-1	2nd
USL-1 Playoffs	Champions
Canadian Championship	3rd
Highest home attendance	5,822 Oct 12 vs Puerto Rico Islanders
Lowest home attendance	4,412 June 25 vs Montreal Impact
Average home league attendance	4,999
Home colours Away colours
← 20072009 →

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. 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.

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.

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

Tables

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

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

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

  Win   Draw   Loss

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

Results by round

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 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 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 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

Play-in Round

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

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

Canadian Championship standings

Canadian Championship results

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

Friendlies

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

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.

Staff

• 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.

Goalkeeper stats

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: 

Player statistics

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

• 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

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.

• Vancouver Whitecaps (1986–2010) seasons
• Canadian soccer clubs 2008 season
• 2008 in sports in British Columbia