THE Vancouver Whitecaps lost the season opener 3-2 to Minnesota United on Saturday at B.C. Place.
The new look team, under new coach Marc Dos Santos failed to spark, given he had made 14 off season signings.
Before a sold out crowed of 27,837, Erik Godoy side footed it past Minnesota keeper Vito Mannone in the sixth minute. Doneil Henry scored the other goal for the Whitecaps.
Minnesota got goals from Darwin Quintero, Francisco Calvo and Romario Ibarra.
“I spoke so much about us being fragile on set plays and we scored two goals on set plays,” said Dos Santos.
“We have a structure of how we want to play defensively,” said Henry about his new partnership with Godoy. “Erik’s a good player.
“We take real pride in defending — try not to complicate our game. We want to be the calming presence on the team when things get really hard. But today we conceded three and we’re not happy about that. We want to go into this week and figure it out.”
Dos Santos, from Montreal, was making his MLS head coaching debut after spending last season as an assistant with LAFC.
“It was good to start like that,” said Dos Santos. “We scored but then we were never able to take a grip of the first half. Even if it was 1-0 for us, I don’t feel like it was about us.
“The second half, we were able to connect more passes and possession,” he added. “They scored the 2-1 (goal) in a moment where we were better in the game.”
The Whitecaps now hit the road for two games, with matches against Real Salt Lake and the Houston Dynamo. Their next appearance at B.C. Place comes on March 30 against the Seattle Sounders.
