HOUSTON -- For five years, the Vancouver Whitecaps have made the trek from Canada down to the Lone Star state. And for five years, the club has left Texas with a sour taste in their mouth after dropping points.
The trip back home for Vancouver will be sweeter this time around as Saturday’s nil-nil draw gave Vancouver their first point in Texas.
“A little bit of a pat on the back for the guys. They deserve it,” said Whitecaps head coach Carl Robinson. “It’s a difficult place to play. It’s hot. The grass is different. But it was a good game and both teams could have won it.”
While the Whitecaps were out-shot, Vancouver did have more possession of the ball, 52 percent to 47, but couldn’t break through. Robinson added that both teams showed a lot of effort and determination but stated that his team “lacked a little bit of quality in the final third.”
The Whitecaps point in Texas is thanks in large part to Vancouver keeper David Ousted, who had four saves, including a couple of acrobatic ones to keep the score nil-nil.
Ousted’s saves were even a point of conversation for Houston Dynamo head coach Wade Barrett during his press conference. “[He] seems to be able to pull some saves that are a little bit beyond belief at times,” the latter said of the Whitecaps 'keeper.
Robinson, however, noted that he has seen his 'keeper have better games than Saturday’s.
“David’s been a lot better than this,” he said. “You can break it down a number of ways and say we’re allowing too many shots, which we are this year.”
The Whitecaps defense, including Ousted, stepped up when it needed to the most, in the last five minutes, when the Dynamo were pushing for a goal.
“They [Houston] were putting more and more numbers forward, taking defenders off and putting forwards on and we had to weather the storm,” Robinson said. “We haven’t been great defending at times this year, but coming out of here with a nil-nil, it’s not a bad result for us.”
