VANCOUVER -- Jay DeMerit sounded like a boxer who did not see the knockout blows coming.
Wholesale Soccer Jerseys . The Vancouver captain and his teammates were left stunned after Jose Mari scored a pair of goals three minutes apart in the second half as the Colorado Rapids came back to beat the Whitecaps 2-1 before a sellout crowd of 21,000 at B.C. Place Stadium on Saturday. "We all feel like we got punched in the gut a little bit there," said DeMerit. "Unfortunately, that happens in our sport. Some things you cant control. I thought the things we could control (were) enough to win. Unfortunately, that didnt happen tonight." It was the Whitecaps first loss of the young season. "Ultimately, its disappointing," said DeMerit. "I think everyone will walk out of B.C. Place tonight thinking like something got taken away from them." Mari scored in the 79th and 82nd minutes shortly after Matias Labas ejection for a second yellow card reduced Vancouver to 10 men. "It kind of hit us at the wrong time, too, when we think we had the game by the scruff of the neck and were controlling things," said DeMerit. "It was kind of a one-two punch there, and you find yourself on the back foot therea You have to say that the guys fought for 90 minutes tonight, even when we went down a man. We had enough chances to win." Laba was sent off in the 77th minute following his deliberate hand-ball as he fell and grabbed it to prevent a scoring chance. He had already received a yellow card for a foul in the 54th minute. A Colorado (2-1-1) player said a few words of reminder to referee Ioannis Stavridis, after he showed Laba another yellow card and the official pulled out a red one. Mari then sliced home a left-footed shot off the goalpost from the left flank. With the Whitecaps (2-1-2) still reeling from that goal, Mari put a right-footed chip shot from the top of the box over Vancouver defenders that shocked Whitecaps goalkeeper David Ousted. "Youve gotta give credit to their two finishes," said DeMerit. "Same guy. Same two finishes. And, if he doesnt win player of the week this week, I dont know who will." Darren Mattocks scored for the Whitecaps as all of the goals came in the final 45 minutes following a scoreless first half in which Vancouver had more scoring chances than the Rapids. Colorado triumphed despite playing without strikers Vicente Sanchez, who shared the MLS scoring lead before Saturdays games, and Edson Buddle. A team spokesman said the two players missed the game because they chose not to play on artificial turf. Meanwhile, Colorados No. 1 goalkeeper Clint Irwin excelled in his first game of the season after being sidelined in the pre-season with a strained quadricep. He was kept busy, and won many races to the ball, as the Whitecaps pressed for most of the first half. Vancouvers Mattocks had a goal disallowed in the 14th minute because he went off-side, slightly behind a Colorado defensive wall. Pedro Morales took a shot and the rebound from Irwins save came right to Mattocks, who made no mistake in converting, but was victimized by his own miscue seconds earlier. Mattocks had another chance five minutes later as he raced in on a breakaway, but Irwin got his hand on the shot and the rebound bounced off the Vancouver striker and over the end line for a Colorado goal-kick. In the 37th minute, Irwin knocked over Caps striker Kenny Miller as they both raced to the ball inside the bottom right corner of the Colorado box. But to Millers chagrin, no penalty was called and the Rapids were awarded another goal-kick. Mattocks luck finally changed in the 67th minute as he outraced Colorado defender Drew Moor to a lead ball from Miller, raced in on goal and scored. Irwin got his hand on the shot, but could not keep the ball out. The goal resulted after Vancouver coach Carl Robinson had injected more speed into his lineup by inserting speedy substitutes Sebastian Fernandez (57th minute) and Kekuta Manneh (74th), providing even more opportunities off long balls that created many chances in the first half. "Obviously, when Im walking off with (about) 15 minutes to go with Manneh coming on, I could never have envisioned that we were going to lose that game," said Whitecaps striker Miller. "But, obviously, the red card had turned the game on its head." Robinson was contemplating a defensive change to help preserve the lead when Laba was ejected, but Mari struck for his quick markers. "The first one, especially, just gave us so much life," said Colorado captain Moor. The two Colorado goals prompted Robinson to make further goal-oriented substitutions instead, but they did not pay off. While the Whitecaps lamented a win that they felt got away, the Rapids gave themselves credit for their comeback a week after they had lost to Kansas City by allowing a late game-winning goal. Moor called the early-season win over a Western Conference rival "a good sign." "We want to play against teams," said Moor. "We dont want to sit in and come in on the road and hope to get a point, hope to get a tie. We want to go win games. In the game last weekend against Kansas City, I thought we were unlucky, a couple lapses of concentration. But this week, I think we just had the belief the whole time that we were going to get something out of it. Its pretty powerful sometimes." Irwin was credited with three saves in the opening 45 minutes and six on the night, while Ousted recorded just one save. Vancouver put seven shots on target compared to Colorados three. "You can create chances, but youre not always going to score three or four goals every week," said Miller. "You want to (finish) the chances when you create them." Notes: Injured Whitecaps midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker (concussion) missed his second consecutive game, but has resumed training. a Rapids midfielder Kamani Hill received a yellow card for a deliberate hand-ball as he palmed Russell Teiberts intended cross for Miller on a counter-attack off Colorados lone corner-kick in the first half. a Colorado defender Marc Burch was cautioned in the second half for taking Morales down with a hand to the head.
Clearance Soccer Jerseys . Murray, the defending champion and No. 3 seed, claimed his first match win at Queens in 2005 and went on to win the Wimbledon warmup three times. But he failed to take advantage of eight set points after leading the first-set tiebreaker 6-2, and Stepanek survived to convert with his second set point.
Fake Soccer Jerseys . -- Top-ranked Stacy Lewis birdied the last three holes and five of the final six Thursday for an 8-under 64 and a share of the lead with Mi Jung Hur in the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic. Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at
cmonref@tsn.ca. Hi Kerry, Im in the middle of watching the Oilers-Predators game Tuesday night where we saw a puck that entered the net called no goal by the ref behind the net. After over a minute of continued play which included an Oilers penalty, the play finally stopped and the refs were able to review the goal (it was a good goal). The broadcasters said that they would have to bring the play back to the moment in time when that goal happened, so I was surprised to see Mark Frasers penalty stand from the end of the play. My question is as follows: What would have happened if Nashville had scored a goal as well? They had some good sustained pressure after the Hall goal. They let the penalty at the end of the play stand, but would they have also let a Nashville goal stand? Thanks. Aaron Deblois,Edmonton Aaron, Once video review was instituted to determine the scoring of legitimate goals, including those that are undetected by the referee during the course of play, Rule 78.6 was included in the rule book to cover the situation that occurred in Tuesday nights Oilers-Predators game. Interestingly, I was called to rule upon the identical situation the first very time it occurred in an NHL game. Current executive VP and director of hockey operations Colin Campbell was behind the bench that night as coach of the NY Rangers for a game in Pittsburgh. The Rangers scored an undetected goal and play continued for another minute until I blew my whistle for a Ranger penalty. While assessing the penalty, a horn sounded to signify the play was placed under review by the video goal judge located in the Pittsburgh Arena. Video review confirmed that the puck had indeed entered the net for a Ranger goal. I instructed the timekeeper to re-set the clock to the time of the goal and place two minutes on the Rangers penalty clock. I explained the strange turn of events that resulted from this new rule application to Coach Campbell at the Rangers bench. While pleased with the award of a goal for his team, the coach was somewhat miffed that the penalty should stand given the difference inn game time that had occurred.
Soccer Jerseys China. Nonetheless, Campbell trusted my knowledge of the rule and the Rangers killed off the minor penalty. This initial situation was handled "on-site" by the referee and the video goal judge. Currently all video decisions are made "off-site" in the Situation Room in Toronto under the direction of former coach, Colin Campbell who received some basic training that night in the Igloo. Aaron, I provide points from Rule 78.6 that address various scenarios and answer your specific question. • Any potential goal must be reviewed during the next stoppage of play. No review can take place after the puck has been dropped.• If an apparent goal is confirmed by video review, the clock is re-set to the time the goal was scored.• Only one goal can be awarded at any stoppage of play. Had Nashville subsequently scored to stop play after Taylor Halls undetected goal, the Preds goal would not stand.• If review determined that the undetected goal by Taylor Hall was scored illegally (i.e. distinct kicking motion), the goal shall be disallowed and since the play should have stopped, no subsequent goal scored by either team can be awarded on the same play. The clock (including penalty time clocks, if applicable) must be re-set to the time of the disallowed goal by Hall.• Any penalties (Mark Fraser) signaled during the period of time between the apparent goal (scored by Hall) and the next stoppage of play shall be assessed in the normal manner, except when a minor penalty is to be assessed to the team scored upon (Nashville), and is therefore nullified by the scoring of the goal. If the penalty to be assessed (Nashville) was a double minor, one of the minors would be nullified with the scoring of the goal.• *If an infraction happens after the first stoppage of play following an apparent goal (i.e. infraction committed by Mark Fraser or a Preds player occurred after the whistle) by either team, it is assessed and served in the normal manner regardless as to the decision rendered by the Video Goal Judge. Whenever this unusual play occurs in a game, Rule 78.6 provides the necessary check-list for the referee and video review to follow. ' ' '