Despite a 3-2 loss to FC Dallas in the championship final of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy earlier this month in Houston, Texas, the head coach of the Whitecaps FC residency team singled out his goaltender, Vancouvers Callum Irving, as the player who had the greatest impact.
Although he allowed three goals, it was no doubt one of his greatest performances of the season, said Craig Dalrymple. I thought Callum got stronger as the tournament progressed.
The championship match was determined July 22 at Houstons BBVA Compass Stadium only two weeks after 19-year-old Irving, a former Winston Churchill student, competed with the U-20 national mens team in Mexico.
Meeting the demands of international travel and competition with a level-head showed Irvings maturation, said Dalrymple.
He had a real heavy travel schedule in the month of July and I think it took him a little bit of time to find his feet again and he generally got stronger as the tournament went on and in the final game, he was arguably the man of the match, said the coach.
Hes the most jovial character we have in the group. Off the field, hes the clown. His development and maturity is finding that switch to now become that focused, motivated, on-field personality. He had that in the final and when hes in that performance zone, he dictates the tempo of our play because we play so much out of the back. When his passing is on, he allows the rest of the team to get some comfort and rhythm into their play.
Irving, once a standout with the Marpole Soccer Club, will play for the University of Kentucky this fall. The Whitecaps will keep close tabs on their homegrown talent, a deliberate focus of their residency program.
The Caps notched three tournament wins to advance to the championship game against Dallas FC. Irving allowed three goals and Vancouver scored nine against their opponents, including a hat-trick from Ben Fisk and another goal from Ben McKendry, both from Vancouver.
In the final, the Caps took a 2-1 lead, which Dalrymple called a bit flattering for us.
In the first half, it was kind of back and forth game, he said. In the second half, they had the lions share of the play and [Irving] was the key reason that we didnt concede more goals.
Irving stopped a penalty shot in the 31st minute, but the shooter tracked down his own rebound and slipped it past the Vancouver net-minder. The goal tied the game 1-1.
Irving continued to stonewall their most threatening striker Jonathan Top, a 19-year-old Texan who plays with the FC Dallas first team.
He was in probably two or three one versus one situations that Callum narrowed down the angle and he forced [Top] to make poor decisions and he missed the goal a couple of times. There was a handful of saves in the second half that he was just key on, said Dalrymple.
His general positional sense in the second half was fantastic.
In the loss, Fisk scored his seventh of the tournament when he opened scoring for the Whitecaps with a slick, first-touch strike in the 24th minute. Earlier hed hit the post.
The game marked the third straight final for the experienced FC Dallas side. They were undefeated through the playoffs and championship tournament, lost only four regular season matches and posted the lowest goals against average for the league this year.
After allowing a goal off a penalty shot rebound, Vancouver regained the lead but couldnt take full credit for the score. Minutes before the half, a Dallas midfielder unintentionally played the ball into his own goal.
In the 69th minute, Dallas substitution Jose De La Tejera was sent in alone and tied the game when he beat Irving. Then he scored the winning goal 15 minutes later to give Dallas the 3-2 edge it wouldnt relinquish.
Twitter: @MHStewart
