CARSON, Calif. — The Tommy Soehn era in Vancouver started well, but a second victory in 2011 continued to elude the Whitecaps as they drew Chivas USA 1-1 at the Home Depot Center on Wednesday night.
After a drab first half that was highlighted by sloppy play, Nick LaBrocca gave Chivas USA the lead just seconds into the second half after receiving a pass from Gerson Mayén in midfield. LaBrocca collected the ball and took the space Vancouver’s midfield offered, then fired in a 20-yard shot that proved too much for Whitecaps goalkeeper Joe Cannon.
Just two minutes later, Vancouver found an equalizer when Camilo, who had been a forward under previous coach Teitur Thordarson but started on the wing Wednesday, collected a rebound and curled a shot past Chivas USA goalkeeper Dan Kennedy.
However as the Whitecaps began to control possession, they were dealt a blow when Eric Hassli — who was dangerous and positive throughout the match — picked up his third red card the season for a reckless tackle on Chivas midfielder Ben Zemanski.
The Whitecaps were forced to play the final 23 minutes of the match down to 10 men.
The closest Chivas came to breaking the deadlock was in the 82nd minute when forward Justin Braun beat the offside trap and forced Cannon into a sprawling one-on-one save. On the rebound, LaBrocca's drive was cleared with a diving stop by Jay DeMerit from about six yards out.
Chivas USA had their last chance to take the lead stopped by the 'Caps in the 86th when a shot by Braun forced Cannon to make an acrobatic one-handed save over the cross bar.
Before the action took off in the second half, the Whitecaps had the finest chance of the first half when Hassli struck the crossbar with a curling shot in the 39th minute of play.
In their first match for Soehn since taking over for Thordarson — who was dismissed on Monday — the Whitecaps made a total of four lineup changes. The most notable was a change in goal with Cannon, who made his second start in a Whitecaps uniform, preferred over Jay Nolly.
Chivas USA also made four changes from their last match due to international call-ups and suspension. Simon Elliott and Andrew Boyens missed the game while on international duty with New Zealand, Alejandro Moreno is in camp with the Venezuelan national team and Jorge Flores was serving a one-game suspension for a red card suffered against Columbus on the weekend.
The Rojiblancos did welcome back two players from injury as Mike Lahoud and Paulo Nagamura made their first appearances since May 15 and April 16, respectively.
The Whitecaps (1-5-7), who will travel to Utah to take on Real Salt Lake on Saturday, are winless in 12 and remain at the bottom of the Western Conference. Chivas USA (3-4-5) remain in seventh place in the West, and continue their home stand on Saturday with a match against the Portland Timbers.
Scoring Summary:
CHV -- Nick LaBrocca 3 (unassisted) 46
VAN -- Camilo 4 (unassisted) 48
Vancouver Whitecaps -- Joe Cannon, Bilal Duckett, Jay DeMerit, Mouloud Akloul, Alain Rochat, Shea Salinas (Jeb Brovsky 83), Alexandre Morfaw, Gershon Koffie, Camilo (Omar Salgado 77), Davide Chiumiento (Russell Teibert 68), Eric Hassli.
Substitutes Not Used: Greg Janicki, Wes Knight, Peter Vagenas, Jay Nolly.
Chivas USA -- Dan Kennedy, Zarek Valentin, Michael Umana, Heath Pearce, Ante Jazic, Gerson Mayen (Paulo Nagamura 60), Ben Zemanski, Francisco Mendoza (Michael Lahoud 60), Nick LaBrocca, Justin Braun, Chris Cortez (Victor Estupinan 76).
Substitutes Not Used: Tristan Bowen, Seth Owusu, Mariano Trujillo, Zach Thornton.
Misconduct Summary:
VAN -- Eric Hassli (ejection; Serious Foul Play) 66
CHV -- Victor Estupinan (caution; Simulation) 79
VAN -- Joe Cannon (caution; Delaying a Restart) 86
Referee: Ricardo Salazar
Referee's Assistants: Ian Anderson; Frank Anderson
4th Official: Alejandro Mariscal
Time of Game: 1:50
Weather: Clear and 64 degrees
Attendance: 11,753
