Vancouver Whitecaps' rise has been one of the surprises of the MLS season so far
The Vancouver Whitecaps celebrate after a goal by forward Daniel Ríos against Minnesota United during the second half of an MLS soccer match Sunday, April 27, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)
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CBC
11 hours ago
- CBC
South Asian players from Surrey, B.C., score pivotal goals for pro teams
Over the weekend, Jujhar Khaira and Arshdeep Bains scored goals for the Abbotsford Canucks to get them into their first Calder Cup final, while Jeevan Badwal scored a pivotal goal for the Vancouver Whitecaps in their win over the Seattle Sounders. Dampy Brar from South Asian Hockey and Randip Janda from Sportsnet say the weekend will inspire the Punjabi diaspora the world over.
Toronto Sun
a day ago
- Toronto Sun
Online feud between Simone Biles and Riley Gaines takes turn with gymnast's 2017 post resurfacing
'ahhhh good thing guys don't compete against girls or he'd take all the gold medals !!' the legendary U.S. gymnast wrote in tweet. U.S. Olympic gymnast Simone Biles (left) and Riley Gaines. Getty Images, AP Photo The online war of words between Simone Biles and Riley Gaines exploded over the weekend, with the conservative critic reaching way back and throwing some heat at the gymnastics legend. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account In the midst of her ongoing feud over transgender athletes with the U.S. Olympic legend, Gaines apparently did some online digging, finding and reposting a tweet from 2017. The post appeared to agree with Gaines' side of the argument that transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete in women's sports. 'ahhhh good thing guys don't compete against girls or he'd take all the gold medals !!' Biles wrote in the 2017 tweet, which apparently was in response to the men's division results at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. The original tweet that Biles had been responding to has since been deleted. Gaines, former collegiate swimmer who tied for fifth with transgender athlete Lia Thomas at the 2022 NCAA women's swimming championships, also commented on Biles' post while calling out the gymnast as a hypocrite. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Oop don't you hate it when your past self completely undermines your current nonsensical argument? How has 2025 Simone reconciled with the fact 2017 Simone was a 'truly sick bully' by her own standard? — Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) June 8, 2025 This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'Oop don't you hate it when your past self completely undermines your current nonsensical argument?' Gaines wrote on X. 'How has 2025 Simone reconciled with the fact 2017 Simone was a 'truly sick bully' by her own standard?' Biles had referred to Gaines as a 'sick bully' for her anti-trans stance last week. The online beef between the women on Thursday, when Biles, 28, took aim at Gaines, 25, after a trans high-school softball pitcher helped win the Minnesota state championship and went viral. '@Riley_Gaines_ You're truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race,' Biles tweeted, referencing Gaines' tie with Thomas. 'Straight up sore loser. You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports. Maybe a transgender category IN ALL sports!!' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. @Riley_Gaines_ You're truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser. You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports. Maybe a transgender… — Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) June 6, 2025 This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male,' she added later. Gaines responded to Biles' comments, calling them 'disappointing' and standing behind her opinion. 'This is actually so disappointing. It's not my job or the job of any woman to figure out how to include men in our spaces,' she wrote. 'You can uplift men stealing championships in women's sports with YOUR platform. 'Men don't belong in women's sports and I say that with my full chest.' Read More But that's when Gaines seriously turned up the heat, bringing up Biles' battle against disgraced U.S. gymnastics doctor and prolific sex criminal Larry Nassar. 'All the horrific sexual abuse @Simone_Biles witnessed and spoke out against caused by one man, yet (she) believes women should be forced to strip naked in front of men to validate the man's feelings,' Gaines wrote. All the horrific sexual abuse @Simone_Biles witnessed and spoke out against caused by one man, yet believes women should be forced to strip naked in front of men to validate the man's feelings. You know how many gold medals you'd have if your "inclusive" dream came true? Zero. — Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) June 7, 2025 This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'You know how many gold medals you'd have if your 'inclusive' dream came true? Zero.' Biles was involved in taking down Nassar, who is serving up to 175 years in prison for molesting her and hundreds of other female gymnasts. RECOMMENDED VIDEO Olympics Canada Sunshine Girls Ontario Golf
CTV News
a day ago
- CTV News
Resilient Vancouver Whitecaps blank nine-man Seattle Sounders 3-0 to set club record
Vancouver Whitecaps' Jeevan Badwal celebrates his goal against the Seattle Sounders during the first half of an MLS soccer match in Vancouver, on Sunday, June 8, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Whitecaps had every excuse not to win Sunday. A roster left thin by international call-ups. An illness that kept many of the remaining players from training. It didn't matter. Vancouver's depth players stepped up as the club took a decisive 3-0 victory over the Seattle Sounders. 'I think that the players, what they did today, was exceptional,' said head coach Jesper Sorensen. The result extended the 'Caps (10-1-5) unbeaten streak in Major League Soccer play to a club-record 11 games (6-0-5). Earlier in the week, it wasn't clear whether Sunday's game would be played as scheduled. The Whitecaps were already set to miss nine of their top players due to international duty when an illness ripped through the squad. About half of the 75 players and staff who took the team's charter plane back to Vancouver after the CONCACAF Champions Cup final in Mexico City on June 1 were struck with a gastrointestinal illness that left the team unable to hold a full training session until Saturday morning. 'It was tough,' said veteran defender Ranko Veselinovic. 'Honestly, we didn't know (Saturday) afternoon whether we were going to have game or no. So, a lot happening, a lot of frustration by our side. 'We felt that it's not fair towards us that we don't know what's going to happen. We all have our routines, and it's hard to do something when you don't have all the information and when you don't know what's going to happen. But we managed to.' Seven of Vancouver's 11 starters on Sunday were listed as questionable for the game due to illness. The club signed seven Whitecaps FC 2 players to short-term agreements Sunday to bolster their ranks. Six were on the bench against the Sounders, including central midfielders Jackson Castro and Antoine Coupland, centre back Adrian Pelayo, left back Daniel Russo, right back Nikola Djordjevic and striker John Selemani. Despite the final score, Sorensen said his team should not have had to play. 'I stand by my opinion that I would have preferred this game not to be played. I would be a hypocrite sitting here after a 3-0 win, and just saying everything is perfect, because I don't think so,' the coach said. 'All our players were cleared to play medically, but we have players whose first day of training after Mexico, after a long trip to Mexico, was (Saturday). And I think the preparation, it was not good. And I think, as a coach, I was very concerned about the players' health.' It took the 'Caps some time to settle into the game and adjust to the more defensive style Sorensen wanted them to utilize. The Sounders controlled 65.1 per cent of possession across the first half and held a 6-5 edge in shots, but the Whitecaps registered the lone on-target shot. It came in the 40th minute, when wing back Edier Ocampo sliced a ball to J.C. Ngando at the top of the six-yard box and he ticked it on to Jeevan Badwal. The 19-year-old Whitecaps academy product from Surrey, B.C., stuck out his right leg just in time to redirect the ball in past Seattle 'keeper Stefan Frei to make it 1-0. Scoring at home, with his parents, grandma, siblings, cousin and girlfriend in the stands 'felt amazing,' Badwal said. 'As a little kid, I was in those stands watching a lot. But now, scoring a goal at B.C. Place in front of family, in front of fans — this means a lot,' he said. 'It's amazing.' Vancouver came into the second half with renewed energy and pressed to create chances. The Sounders (7-6-5) appeared to get frustrated and the emotions boiled over in the 52nd minute when wing back Nouhou grabbed his Vancouver counterpart Mathias Laborda around the neck and hauled him down as Laborda charged toward the Sounders net. Referee Ricardo Fierro pulled the red card from his pocket, leaving the visitors with 10 men. Seattle ran into more trouble in the 55th minute when centre back Jonathan Bell made contact with Priso as he charged up the field. Fierro once again pulled out the red card. The Sounders players argued the call, but Bell soon walked off to the locker rooms, leaving Seattle with just nine players on the pitch. Daniel Rios boosted Vancouver's lead to 2-0 in the 70th minute, collecting a pass from Priso at the top of the penalty area and firing a right-footed shot in from the top of the penalty area for his second goal of the season. Ocampo had a prime chance to make it 3-0 in the 73rd minute. In alone, the wing back twisted to blast a jumping right-footed shot on target, but Frei dove to punch the ball away. Priso, too, had a chance in the 76th minute with a high shot that appeared poised to sneak in below the crossbar. But the Seattle netminder leapt up and touched it over to keep the score 2-0. Another Sounders foul late in the game proved costly. Midfielder Joao Paulo made contact with 'Caps striker Emmanuel Sabbi inside the area and Fierro signalled for a penalty kick. Damir Kreilach, who came off the bench for Badwal in the 74th minute, stepped up and sent a low ball rolling into the corner of the goal in the 88th minute as Frei dove in the opposite direction. The win was special, Veselinovic said. 'Honestly, it's one of the nicest things this season for us. Definitely,' he said. 'So I'm really proud of these guys tonight that we found a way in a tough, tough game against a tough opponent. We found a way.' UP NEXT The Whitecaps will be back in action Saturday when they visit the Columbus Crew. The Sounders will start their quest for the FIFA Club World Cup next Sunday against Brazilian club Botafogo. This report by Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press was first published June 8, 2025.
