Good Friday morning Caps fans, hope you all have had a lovely week and are reveling in the Canucks’ comeback victory the other night — if you are, rest assured Vanni Sartini is joining you.

While Vanni took time out of his busy schedule to take in some playoff hockey, much of his midweek was devoted to business, as the Caps traveled to Calgary to take on Cavalry FC to launch their defense (x2) of the Voyageurs Cup.

Vancouver walked away with a 2-1 win, which was probably a pretty fair reflection of the match. It would’ve been 2-0 but for the Caps switching off late and they came dangerously close to conceding an equalizer in the dying moments of the match.

I probably shouldn’t have forgotten how infuriating these cup games can be but I did. The pitch was a mess (in fairness, I wouldn’t want to have to tend a pitch in Calgary in spring), the referee inconsistent and the OneSoccer announcers hopefully biased in favor of the Canadian Premier League side.

Clearly, however, the Caps were not at their best, though this was in large part due to the rotated nature of the squad. In a bid to keep everyone rested for the weekend, Brian White and Ryan Gauld each did half shifts and Andres Cubas only made a cameo to help see out the final 20 minutes or so.

This left the team relying on their depth pieces and I can’t say many of them made an especially favorable impression. Ralph Priso continues to look off the pace (Cavalry’s best chance of the first half was a misplaced Priso back pass that almost snuck into the net) and Sebastian Berhalter was a bit spotty as well. Bjorn Utvik and Javain Brown were generally solid but had a couple moments where they nearly gave it all away.

The team as a whole, however, looked eons better in the second half, when Ryan Gauld’s introduction allowed them to play in a much more cohesive and fluid way, springing Ali Ahmed and Levonte Johnson on the wings repeatedly. Johnson struggled a bit in the first half (his belter of a goal notwithstanding) but looked much better in the second and deservedly got a second goal. Ahmed was probably the most consistent player on the pitch, though he too exited early to maintain freshness.

There isn’t a ton to say about the match itself — a 2-1 result should position the Caps well to kill off the tie at BC Place. Had it been 2-0, I really wouldn’t be worried at all but a one goal advantage should still suffice.

And I will give some grace to the reserves, who often have the difficult job in these matches of finding cohesion with a cobbled together roster, while taking on a team that is effectively playing in their version of a cup final. The Caps had never before beaten Cavalry and this roster managed to do that fairly convincingly — in the end, you don’t get points for style.

But given that the MLS matches are going to be flying fast and furiously in the next few weeks, there is a strong likelihood that some or all of the guys who featured in the midweek will be needed in the league as well. Some, like Utvik, should distinguish themselves. But others didn’t fully impress and will be worth tracking as the season gets into swing in earnest.

Shameless Self Promotion

All the details from a soggy night for the Caps at Spruce Meadows and a look at which players stood out.

Best of the Rest

We haven’t heard much from Belal Halbouni this year but he gave an interesting interview where he reflected on his career, including representing Syria at the national team level

Elsewhere in Voyageurs Cup play, Toronto FC cruised in their first leg against CS Saint-Laurent, while Montreal could manage only a 1-1 draw against Forge

Marco Reus is said to be in preliminary talks with St. Louis City, after announcing he will depart Dortmund at the end of the year

MLS franchises once again rank among the world’s most valuable, meaning Inter Miami might soon be suing Inter Milan for trademark infringement (yes, I know that’s not how it works)

An interesting reflection on the signing of Philadelphia’s signing 14-year-old wonderkid Cavan Sullivan and what it all means