Midfielder Cristian Techera scored three second-half goals as the Vancouver Whitecaps overcame several defensive errors for a 3-3 tie with the New England Revolution in Major League Soccer play Saturday.
Techera’s third goal came in the 74th minute off a pass from striker Yordy Reyna. The Whitecaps had trailed 2-0 early in the second half.
Whitecaps defender Aly Ghazal was guilty of an own goal and a poor pass which helped set up a goal by New England’s Teal Bunbury. Another Revolution goal came after defender Sean Franklin mishandled a ball.
The Whitecaps easily could have won the game. Striker Kei Kamara missed two great scoring chances. Late in the game, midfielder Felipe headed a shot that hit the post.
Techera’s first goal came in the 49th minute. Defender Marcel de Jong put a cross into the box that Techera banged home with a left-footed shot.
The sellout crowd of 22,120 at BC Place Stadium was still buzzing about that goal when midfielder Russell Teibert set up Techera again in the box two minutes later. Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner stopped the first shot but Techera scored on a header.
Bunbury gave New England a 3-2 lead in the 59th minute when a weak pass by Ghazal was picked off. That allowed midfielder Diego Fagundez to find a charging Bunbury, who chipped a shot past Vancouver goalkeeper Brian Rowe.
The teams combined for four goals in 10 minutes early in the second half.
Striker Cristian Penilla scored once for New England and played a role in an own goal by Vancouver.
An unlucky play by Ghazal gifted New England a goal in the 26th minute. Revolution midfielder Gabriel Somi fed a pretty ball to Penilla on the touch line. Penilla made a nice move around a Whitecap then took a shot across the front of the net. A diving Ghazal tried to block the ball, but it deflected into the Vancouver net.
New England went ahead 2-0 in the 48th minute after Franklin couldn’t control a loose ball. Penilla fought off Franklin then scored on a low, hard shot.
The Whitecaps (4-5-5) are winless in five games and have just one victory in their past nine matches (1-4-4).
It was the last game for Whitecaps’ captain Kendall Waston before joining the Costa Rican national team, which will play at the FIFA World Cup.
New England (5-4-3) lost 1-0 to Columbus last week but hasn’t lost back-to-back games all season.
The game was barely 30 seconds old when Kamara was given a gold-platted scoring chance. Kamara was alone in front of the net when fed a pass by Reyna. Kamara fired a right-footed shot but Turner made a diving save.
NOTES: Waston will miss at least three MLS matches while at the World Cup. The Whitecaps are scheduled to play seven games between now and the World Cup final on July 15. Veteran Canadian midfielder Russell Teibert made his 150th appearance with the Whitecaps in all competitions. Whitecaps’ goaltender Stefan Marinovic missed his fourth consecutive game with a knee sprain. The Revolution began a stretch of playing six games in 19 days between Saturday and June 13.