Down 2-0 after the 1st leg, Whitecaps looking to turn things around against Fury

VANCOUVER – Jordan Harvey is eager to help make things right.

The veteran defender watched from the bench as the Vancouver Whitecaps got pushed around in last week’s 2-0 loss to the Ottawa Fury in the first leg of their Amway Canadian Championship semifinal.

The Whitecaps dressed a youthful and largely inexperienced lineup in the nation’s capital, but the defeat of a Major League Soccer team by a club from the second-tier NASL still came as a shock.

Needing to score at least twice to force extra time in Wednesday’s second leg of the two-game, total-goals series, Vancouver is expected to go with more of its regular starters, and Harvey couldn’t hide his desire to get back on the field.

“We’re going to be gunning for them, man,” said Harvey. “I’m really looking forward to it.

“If you saw in the (last) game, it was very physical. I don’t think we matched that.”

The Whitecaps won the franchise’s first Canadian title last season and know they will need a much better showing to have any shot at retaining their crown, regardless of who suits up against Ottawa.

“We need everyone pulling their weight,” said Vancouver assistant coach Gordon Forrest. “Everyone needs to roll up their sleeves and everyone needs to contribute.

“We need everyone in this game.”

The Fury blitzed the Whitecaps early in the first leg on a great strike by Jonny Steele before Paulo Junior doubled the advantage before halftime. Vancouver was better after the break and had a couple of chances, but the damage had already been done.

“We put ourselves in a little bit of a hole,” said Whitecaps defender Tim Parker. “At the same time we can’t take away from what Ottawa did in that first leg. They got the better of us.”

“We didn’t like how we approached the game, especially the first half,” added Vancouver goalkeeper Paolo Tornaghi. “The performance was poor.”

And while the Whitecaps insist they didn’t take the Fury lightly, Vancouver did seem a bit surprised by Ottawa’s intensity in front of a spirited home crowd.

“We needed more from the players,” said Forrest. “We needed more from the start of the game to match their fight and determination. The guys know that now. We’ve got to put on a good, positive performance with more energy.”

The Fury will in all likelihood be content to sit back with their two-goal advantage and soak up pressure on Wednesday. The key for the Whitecaps is to stay patient because an away goal for the visitors would mean Vancouver having to score four times to advance to the final against either Toronto FC or the Montreal Impact.

“If they get an away goal that obviously changes things,” said Harvey. “It makes it a little bit more difficult. You don’t want to push everyone forward and act like it’s the last five minutes or extra time of a game.

“We know we have 90 minutes, but at the same time we need to get some goals.”

The Whitecaps want to move the ball quicker than they did in Ottawa, and with striker Octavio Rivero — who subbed on in the second half of the first leg — and midfielder Pedro Morales both set to miss the club’s next MLS game on June 18 because of suspension, Vancouver should have a lot more quality on the pitch.

“We know what we need to do in the game,” said Forrest. “We’ve got to come here, be positive, we’ve got to score goals, we’ve got to win the game. There’s no doubt in our minds and in the players’ minds what we have to do.”

Notes: Fury midfielders Julian de Guzman and Marcel de Jong, who missed the first leg while away on international duty with Canada, will be available for Ottawa. … Toronto leads the other semifinal 4-2 on aggregate heading into Wednesday’s second leg in Montreal.

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