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Whitecaps edge Union to snap 14-game winless run

Jun 19, 2011 - 4:46 AM Vancouver, BC (Sports Network) - Vancouver Whitecaps FC won for the first time in nearly three months Saturday, as Alain Rochat scored in the 12th minute of a 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Union at Empire Field.

The expansion Whitecaps snapped a 14-game winless run, which dated back to the first Major League Soccer game in franchise history on March 19, a 4-2 victory over Toronto FC.

Vancouver coach Tom Soehn, who replaced Teitur Thordarson late last month, won his first game since becoming coach, and the Whitecaps improved to 1-1-2 under their new boss.

Whitecaps FC (2-6-8) is still at the bottom of the Western Conference, but the club does have eight ties and now the victory over Philadelphia (6-4-4), which started the week tied atop the Eastern Conference, in their last 13 matches.

Vancouver's 14-game winless skid tied the record for the longest single-season slide, but the win erases all possibilities of breaking the all-time record of 18 games without a win in MLS set by Real Salt Lake over two seasons.

Rochat scored the winning goal inside 12 minutes, when he accepted a pass from Davide Chiumiento and unleashed a beautiful swerving shot from outside the box that sneaked inside the right post to beat Union goalie Faryd Mondragon.

Philadelphia, which has scored one or fewer goals in 12 of its 14 matches, did not respond to the deficit, and could slip out of a tie with New York atop the Eastern Conference on Sunday, when the Red Bulls visit the Portland Timbers.

The Union return to PPL Park on Wednesday to host Sporting Kansas City, which then hosts Vancouver on June 25 at Livestrong Sporting Park.