Disney Day 5: Distinct anti-climax

Well, the second game wound up being a playoff game of sorts, with Houston and Montreal battling to determine who would advance to Saturday's third-place match, but the ending was distinctly short on drama. A chippy game ended in a 1-1 tie, meaning Houston, Montreal, and Kansas City all tied with identical 0-1-2 records, having tied games against each other and lost to tournament juggernaut Vancouver. With goal differential as the tiebreaker, Houston (-1) advanced ahead of Montreal and KC (both -3), while Montreal finished third in the group by virtue of its two goals scored. I'm honestly not sure I've ever seen a four-team group end with one team 3-0 and the other three ALL finish at 0-1-2.


Despite the close finish, the game itself was not all that compelling. There were some hard hits and a lot of yelling from both coaching staffs - arguing their team was not at fault in the physical confrontation of the moment - but not a lot of clear-cut chances. Kind of true of every team in the group not named Vancouver. The Whitecaps, even playing a fully reserve lineup because they know they will play starters on Saturday, looked distinctly sharper in the second half, with Davide Chiumiento (definitely starter-caliber when he's on) playing a part in two goals. The likable Sebastien Le Toux scored his third goal in as many games, and youngster Russell Teibert - who had already impressed me in the tournament by increasing his defensive work rate - showed good skill to fire home from the top of the box.

From a broadcasting perspective, the general lack of atmosphere in the second game kind of left Simon and me short on things to say at times, and the broadcast felt a little off. It's bound to happen when covering preseason games every day, but it's still not what we're trying to do. Hopefully we'll finish strong tomorrow with the Dallas-Toronto game, which will determine one of Saturday's finalists and will be played with the home crowd arriving for Orlando City's 8 p.m. game. A better atmosphere and a better broadcast tomorrow!

Vancouver Whitecaps (3-0-0) vs. Sporting Kansas City (0-1-2)
February 29, 2012 -- ESPN Wide World of Sports, Orlando, FL

Scoring Summary:
VAN -- Sebastien Le Toux 3 (Davide Chiumiento 2, Michael Nanchoff 1) 50
VAN -- Russell Teibert 1 (Long Tan 1) 62
VAN -- Carlyle Mitchell 1 (Jordan Harvey 1, Davide Chiumiento 3) 67

Vancouver Whitecaps -- Brad Knighton, Greg Klazura, Michael Boxall, Carlyle Mitchell, Jordan Harvey, Matt Watson, Gershon Koffie (Bryce Alderson 46), Michael Nanchoff (Russell Teibert 59), Davide Chiumiento (Lee Nguyen 78), Long Tan (Bilal Duckett 80), Sebastien Le Toux.
Substitutes Not Used: n/a.

Sporting Kansas City -- Jon Kempin, Chance Myers, Matt Besler, Aurelien Collin (Cyprian Hedrick 78), Seth Sinovic, Paulo Nagamura (Mozzi Gyorio 74), Julio Cesar (Luke Sassano 63), Bobby Convey (Soony Saad 63), Kei Kamara, C.J. Sapong (Dom Dwyer 69), Jacob Peterson (Michael Harrington 83).
Substitutes Not Used: n/a.

Misconduct Summary:
KC -- Julio Cesar (caution) 6
KC -- Aurelien Collin (caution) 16
VAN -- Gershon Koffie (caution) 40
VAN -- Jordan Harvey (caution) 47
KC -- Kei Kamara (caution) 59

Referee: Andrew Chapin
Referee's Assistants: Scott Kachmarik; James Brooks
4th Official: Dom Dellavia
Attendance: n/a
Weather: Clear-and-85 degrees
All statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial

Montreal Impact (0-1-2) vs. Houston Dynamo (0-1-2)
February 29, 2012 -- ESPN Wide World of Sports, Orlando, FL

Scoring Summary:
HOU -- Will Bruin 1 (Colin Clark 1, Warren Creavalle 1) 49
MON -- Patrice Bernier 1 (unassisted) 56

Montreal Impact -- Donovan Ricketts (Greg Sutton 46), Jeb Brovsky (Calum Mallace 77), Matteo Ferrari, Tyson Wahl, Josh Gardner, Davy Arnaud, Patrice Bernier, Felipe, Sinisa Ubiparipovic (Collen Warner 77), Justin Braun (Lamar Neagle 63), Mike Fucito (Miguel Montano 55).
Substitutes Not Used: Shavar Thomas, Hassoun Camara, Gerson Mayen, Eduardo Sebrango, Bryan Arguez, Evan Bush.

Houston Dynamo -- Tally Hall, Warren Creavalle, Bobby Boswell, Andre Hainault, Corey Ashe, Colin Clark (Calen Carr 86), Adam Moffat, Luiz Camargo (Nathan Sturgis 63), Brad Davis (Youssouf Hersi 62), Brian Ching (Cam Weaver 71), Will Bruin (Macoumba Kandji 75).
Substitutes Not Used: Tyler Deric, Erich Marscheider, Colin Rolfe, Josue Soto, Alex Dixon, Emerson Sato, Eder Arreola, Oscar Recio, Brian Ownby.

Misconduct Summary:
HOU -- Adam Moffat (caution) 20
MON -- Tyson Wahl (caution) 22
HOU -- Corey Ashe (caution) 34
HOU -- Andre Hainault (caution) 41
MON -- Collen Warner (ejection) 88

Referee: Yader Reyes
Referee's Assistants: Claudiu Badea; Brian Dunn
4th Official: John McCloskey
Attendance: n/a
Weather: Clear-and-79 degrees
All statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial