VANCOUVER, B.C. - With all the talk about Vancouver Whitecaps' need for more goals this season, and the key additions they made to address that, a much forgotten talking point was the 'Caps poor record at home last season.
For all they achieved in a record-breaking season, the Whitecaps home form was somewhat lacking, with the 22 points lost at BC Place over the year a factor in the 'Caps losing out in the Supporters' Shield chase.
Vancouver know the important need to rectify that this year if they want to take the next step in MLS, but that's a step that looks a bit bigger after a 3-2 opening day home defeat to the Montreal Impact.
"When you lose at home it always hurts," 'Caps coach Carl Robinson told reporters after the match. "It's not nice when you lose games of football. We gifted Montreal the win today. That's an honest assessment. If you score two goals at home and give three bad ones away, you don't win games."
It was the second straight opening day home loss to Canadian opposition, and once again Vancouver created numerous chances, 21 in total, but found the lack of finish, the woodwork and Montreal goalkeeper Evan Bush an insurmountable combination.
Robinson at least drew some comfort from how his team responded to last year's defeat at the hands of Toronto FC and backs his squad to do the same again.
"Deja vu," mused Robinson. "The character of the group is phenomenal. It's never in question. They kept going till the end. It's not nice when you're at home and you're down two goals, twice. But you learn from it and you move on."
Perhaps the most worrying aspect for the Whitecaps, however, was the poor play of their usually stellar defense, who were ripped apart at times by Impact captain Ignacio Piatti at times during the match.
With two tough away trips coming up to Western Conference rivals, Sporting Kansas City and the Seattle Sounders, Robinson knows those defensive lapses need to be addressed quickly.
"It does make it a little bit more important," Robinson said. "We'll go there, we'll brush ourselves down and go there full of confidence. We played some good stuff today at certain times today. We just need to limit the bad goals."
