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Welcome to another season of our Vancouver Whitecaps contest “Guess the Starting XI and Final Score”. As is tradition, thanks to former regular Spencer for starting this several years ago. It has grown into a great contest and I am appreciative of him for the original idea. Like last season, we will break the contest up into the three ‘seasons’: first half, second half, and non-MLS. We will continue to have fun monthly ‘bonus’ prediction categories, with some being based on whatever it topical at the time. Last season we had things like “Robbo post-match quotes”, “yellow cards”, “first goal scorer”, and several others. However, to start the season, we will keep March simple. With that out of the way, let’s remind you all how the scoring is done.
P.S. I would love if someone would create a great little graphic that we could use for these articles!
Contest Details
Contest article will be posted 2-3 days prior to game day.
- We will keep track of first half, second half, and monthly winners so that late joiners will have something to play for.
- I will have a separate ‘contest’ for Voyageurs and Champions League.
- As the MLS season is 34 matches, each half of the season will be based on 17 matches, with your worst two match predictions being dropped. This will allow everyone a few misses or bad guesses throughout the season.
- Predictions will be ‘valid’ if posted HERE half-an-hour prior to the lineup being officially announced (1 hour before kickoff).
How Scoring is Determined
- You receive 1 point for every player you correctly guess to be in the Starting XI. Receive 1 bonus point for correctly predicting 10 starters. Receive 3 bonus points for correctly predicting 11 starters.
- You get 5 points for correctly guessing Win/Lose/Draw.
- You receive 1 point for correctly guessing each team’s final score. Receive 1 bonus point for correctly guessing both teams final score (for a total of 3).
- That means, if you correctly predict the Starting XI, Final Score, and Winner, you can earn 22 points!
After each match, I will tally the scores and update the standings, which will be posted with the following match’s prediction article. I will post three sets of standings. First, the results from the previous match. Second, the monthly standings. Third, the first/second half standings (with your worst two match predictions removed).
Previous Match Standings
| Rank | User | Total Score | Lineup | Bonus | Winner | Score | Goal & VAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | User | Total Score | Lineup | Bonus | Winner | Score | Goal & VAR |
| 1 | tecate | 15 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | Westsider13 | 14 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Isabelt | 13 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | GreyHouseEffect | 12 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Columbian_Soutsider77 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | Island Life | 10 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | ZTJ9901 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | Airos | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | AshMan77 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 10 | CapsOnTheDrive | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 11 | CascadiaCrunchFC | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | chuckbiscuits | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 13 | PowerOutOnTheKingsway | 9 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | Tres_Tristes_Tigres | 9 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 15 | AmandaC | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 | AtlantisB | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Fudmur | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 18 | hbamaral | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | rtomsheck | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 20 | The Squirrel | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 21 | AdamP 17 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 22 | edmondk | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 23 | Jitsuo | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
April Standings
| Rank | User | Overall Score | Galaxy | Chicago | LAFC | Orlando |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | User | Overall Score | Galaxy | Chicago | LAFC | Orlando |
| 1 | CapsOnTheDrive | 55 | 9 | 19 | 18 | 9 |
| 2 | Westsider13 | 54 | 16 | 14 | 10 | 14 |
| 3 | AtlantisB | 53 | 17 | 17 | 11 | 8 |
| 4 | tecate | 52 | 8 | 16 | 13 | 15 |
| 5 | GreyHouseEffect | 50 | 9 | 19 | 10 | 12 |
| 6 | Isabelt | 48 | 9 | 16 | 10 | 13 |
| 6 | ZTJ9901 | 48 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 10 |
| 8 | Columbian_Soutsider77 | 47 | 8 | 17 | 12 | 10 |
| 9 | Tres_Tristes_Tigres | 46 | 11 | 15 | 11 | 9 |
| 10 | edmondk | 42 | 7 | 17 | 11 | 7 |
| 11 | PowerOutOnTheKingsway | 41 | 8 | 10 | 14 | 9 |
| 11 | rtomsheck | 41 | 8 | 10 | 15 | 8 |
| 11 | The Squirrel | 41 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 8 |
| 14 | AshMan77 | 40 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 9 |
| 15 | CascadiaCrunchFC | 39 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 9 |
| 15 | hbamaral | 39 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 8 |
| 15 | Jitsuo | 39 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 6 |
| 15 | TillmanD | 39 | 9 | 14 | 16 | 0 |
| 19 | chuckbiscuits | 37 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 |
| 20 | Airos | 36 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 9 |
| 20 | AmandaC | 36 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 8 |
| 20 | Fudmur | 36 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 8 |
| 23 | AlexGangue91 | 35 | 11 | 15 | 9 | 0 |
| 24 | AdamP 17 | 34 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 7 |
| 25 | CDPrior | 31 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 0 |
| 26 | Jph003 | 29 | 0 | 12 | 17 | 0 |
| 27 | Island Life | 27 | 9 | 0 | 8 | 10 |
| 27 | MarcusEarth | 27 | 9 | 11 | 7 | 0 |
| 29 | SnakeDave | 21 | 8 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| 30 | BlackPanther99 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | JStebeck | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | Slowkid | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Match in Review (Houston Dynamo) and Preview (Seattle Sounders)
The Vancouver Whitecaps traveled down to Houston without a point in the standings, and they left in the same situation. They now host Seattle Sounders after a week off with the international break.
As is usually the case, there were a lot of optimistic predictions. Luckily for some, including our three new participants, that 2-1 Whitecaps victory prediction meant a consolation prize of one point for score prediction.
Unfortunately for The Squirrel, they should have gone with their history of predicting a loss. Mind you, I should take my own advice. CapsOnTheDrive finally got “off the MacMath train” and it helped them out!
JStebeck and AshMan77 had it ALMOST correct with a 3-1 scoreline. The problem is, they both predicted it would be the Whitecaps with 3.
Apparently I was wrong about MDS not pulling Nerwinski, while many of you were wrong predicting that Montero would sit. Of course, none of us predicted that Cornelius would get a start; mind you, we didn’t think a 3-5-2 was going to occur.
chuckbiscuits and edmondk were top dogs this week (sorry AmandaC, it looks like your reign is over). Westsider13 had a poor lineup prediction (7) but balanced it a bit with being the only participant to predict the winner (Houston) and get a score point.
With one match left in the month CascadiaCrunchFC and tecate share the March Standings lead with 45 points, while Westsider13 is right behidn them with 44. Should be a great final match to decide the monthly winner.
Whitecaps now host Seattle in the first Cascadia match of the season. Can they finally get a point? Will Adnan get a start? Should be a lot of interesting predictions this match. Good luck.