we took it for granted we were going to beat them and it caught

For Vancouver Whitecaps it is pretty much a must-win game. As the Caps take to the pitch at BC Place on Sunday against the worst club in Major League Soccers Western Conference, they know anything less than three points against Chivas USA will see their push for the playoffs hit a major roadblock. Its so tight in the Western Conference that the loss to LA Galaxy at BC Place last weekend saw the Whitecaps drop to seventh in the standings, when a win would have been enough to move up to second. While they will still not be far away from the playoff positions even if they lose on Sunday, the fact is they must make home advantage count. After Sundays game the Whitecaps will have eight matches remaining of which five will be on the road – and thats where the problem lies. The Whitecaps have been excellent at home this season, but have struggled to find a winning formula away from BC Place. If theyre to make the playoffs, they cant rely on going to Dallas, San Jose, Montreal, Seattle and Colorado, and picking up the points they will need. They can probably gain a few points on their travels, but not likely enough, and that puts massive pressure on the remaining home games. Saturdays loss against the defending champions LA Galaxy was a bitter blow because the Whitecaps actually played pretty well, especially in the second half. It was the same story when Philadelphia inflicted the Caps first home loss of the season in late July, when Vancouver had the better of the chances – despite being down to 10 men – but were unable to get anything out of the game. Against LA, the Whitecaps looked much more dangerous in the second half when they switched to a 4-4-2 formation. The 4-3-3 wasnt effective enough going forward in the first 45 minutes, with the Galaxys well organized defence difficult to break down. But after half time it was a different story when the Caps were able to use the width of the pitch and really stretch LA, carving out a number of excellent chances. If it wasnt for a world class save from Galaxy goalkeeper Jaime Penedo, Vancouver would have taken at least a point. So now it is imperative that Martin Rennies men are able to make their chances count against Chivas on Sunday. It will be interesting to see how Rennie decides to fill the void left by Nigel Reo-Cokers suspension. I expect he will probably stick with the 4-3-3 formation despite finding success following the switch against LA. With Daigo Kobayashi struggling to influence games in an attacking midfield role, one option would be to move Kenny Miller into that position – a role he played in preseason. During the first half on Saturday, Matt Watson was deployed in a midfield role and while he brought athleticism and mobility to the midfield, he lacks the creative edge needed to break teams down. In the long term, the attacking midfield position is one the Whitecaps need to upgrade by looking elsewhere for help. I understand the search is well underway and although it is still in the very early stages, the club has already zeroed in on a target. The Whitecaps should be boosted by the return of their leading scorer Camilo on Sunday. He was on the bench against the Galaxy after missing training with an injury, but he should be available against Chivas. The Brazilians availability would make a big difference for the Caps who didnt see enough of an impact from his replacement Darren Mattocks against LA. When it came down to the final run-in last year, the Whitecaps limped over the line after a dramatic dip in form during the closing weeks of the season. Its now just one win in six for Vancouver, but they are playing much better than they were a year ago. They are more settled as a team and look much more capable of securing the results they need in order to qualify for the playoffs for a second straight season, but they must ensure Sundays match isnt another letdown. For once, the performance doesnt really matter – at home against Chivas USA, a win is the only acceptable outcome for a team with postseason aspirations. Wholesale Nike Free Shoes China . - Aaron Rodgers makes tough throws that can leave fans of the Green Bay Packers speechless. Cheap Nike Free Shoes . The CFL unveiled its 2014 schedule Wednesday and the Redblacks will play their first-ever regular-season game in Winnipeg against the Blue Bombers on July 3. http://www.nikefreecheap.com/ . Dr. James Andrews is to operate next week on the 24-year-old pitcher, who made the AL All-Star team last year. Moore will be the first Rays pitcher to undergo Tommy John surgery since Jason Isringhausen in June 2009. Wholesale Nike Free Shoes Free Shipping . "Last year didnt go the way we wanted it to, but we need to look at what went well and what didnt go so well. Hopefully this year we will be better," Brendan Gallagher said after practice. This year, the Canadiens have a little more depth to work with by adding players like Daniel Briere, Dale Weise, Mike Weaver, Douglas Murray and arguably, the biggest addition to this playoff roster, Thomas Vanek, who the Canadiens were able to land at the trade deadline. Cheap Nike Free Shoes Free Shipping . Louis Cardinals continued their offensive tear with a 9-5 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opener of a four-game series.SUNRISE, Fla. -- When the Florida Panthers fell behind by two goals in the first period to the top team in the NHL, it appeared they were on their way to yet another loss. Instead, they scored three unanswered goals and Tim Thomas stopped 24 shots in the final two periods to help Florida snap a nine-game losing streak Tuesday night with a 3-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks. Brad Boyes scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third and Thomas made 32 saves overall. Scottie Upshall and Shawn Matthias also scored for the Panthers, who earned their first win under new coach Peter Horachek and ended Anaheims five-game winning streak. Upshall also had an assist to help Florida rally. The Panthers won for the first time since beating Minnesota 2-1 on Oct. 19. It was their first victory in three games under Horachek, who took over when Kevin Dineen was fired last Friday. "Im real, real proud of the way they responded," Horachek said. "You dont just come back from 2-0 against a team like that without a lot of effort and a lot of character." Thomas was especially strong late, stopping 13 shots in the final period. "I didnt know how confident to feel that we could come back against a really good team," he said. "But in the second period, it started to come together for all of us, myself included. It was a real great effort after that." Hampus Lindholm and Andrew Cogliano scored for the Ducks (15-4-1), who lead the NHL with 31 points. Frederik Andersen made 22 saves but lost for the first time in seven career starts. Florida took a 3-2 lead in the third on Boyes goal. Andersen blocked a shot by Upshall, but the puck bounced off his leg pad and Boyes backhanded in the rebound at 4:29. "It was a resilient effort," Upshall said. "We didnt have a great start. Thats been an issue. But wheen youve got a guy like Timmy in net, youre never out of a game.dddddddddddd" Trailing 2-0, the Panthers (4-11-4) scored two goals in 70 seconds during the second period to tie it. Matthias backhanded the puck in from low in the right circle at 13:28 to make it 2-1. Upshalls shot from the point went off the stick of Anaheims Mathieu Perreault and the shoulder pads of Lindholm before bouncing over Andersen at 14:38 to tie it. "He shot it and it went off a body or shoulder or something and over my head," Andersen said. "A tough one." The Ducks may well have overlooked the struggling Panthers, who earned their first home win after five straight losses. "We come here to Florida and they havent had much success but we took it for granted we were going to beat them and it caught up with us in the second period," Andersen said. "Pretty simple." Anaheim scored 40 seconds in. Cogliano took a pass from Daniel Winnik to the left of the net and wristed it past Thomas. The Ducks went ahead 2-0 on Lindholms goal. His shot from the top of the right circle rifled past Thomas on the glove side at 14:26 of the first. The lead didnt hold up. "You could see it happening," Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. "At 2-0, they were still close enough that if they got one ... when a team is down, they start to feel it, they can be a tough team to beat, whether its fluky goals or whatever. We dug our own hole today." NOTES: Anaheim C Ryan Getzlaf was scratched for the second consecutive game with an upper-body injury. ... Cogliano has a four-game goal streak, a career high. ... RW Corey Perry appeared in his 594th game, tying Ruslan Salei for fourth on Anaheims franchise list. ... Florida honoured Ducks veteran Teemu Selanne with a video tribute during a first-period timeout. ' ' '