ΒΕΤΤΙΝG NEWSLETTERS: Kick Off: Vancouver Whitecaps win the Canadian Championship

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Kick Off: Vancouver Whitecaps win the Canadian Championship | MLS upsets abound Wednesday night

Here are the top 15 stories everyone's talking about today:

1. WHITECAPS TAKE THE TROPHY

The Vancouver Whitecaps broke their curse and secured their very first Canadian Championship trophy on Wednesday with a 2-0 victory (4-2 on aggregate) over the Montreal Impact. The Whitecaps were “bloody proud” of their success, but Impact coach Frank Klopas was left to question an early red card.

2. FIRE BURN THE RED BULLS

With a three-game road trip ahead of them, the Chicago Fire grabbed an important 3-2 victory over the New York Red Bulls (HIGHLIGHTS) at home. The Red Bulls were left to rue some defensive mistakes, but it also seems that one of their goals probably shouldn’t have counted.

3. RAPIDS WASH OVER THE DYNAMO

The Colorado Rapids grabbed a second consecutive win with a 2-1 victory over the Houston Dynamo (HIGHLIGHTS). Sean St. Ledger provided the assist for the winning Kevin Doyle goal and the Irish defender drew plenty of praise from his coach after the game. The Dynamo though were left questioning their own second-half performance.

4. SOUNDERS LOSE IN CCL

The Seattle Sounders lost their game in Honduras against CD Olimpia 1-0 and, with it, they also lost control of their destiny in the CONCACAF Champions League. Still, with the focus now on the Portland Timbers this weekend, the Sounders cited their young squad as one of the reasons for the loss.

5. DUNIVANT’S ALMOST DONE

There was bittersweet news for the LA Galaxy on Wednesday, as Todd Dunivant, a 13-year veteran of MLS, has announced he will retire at the end of this year. Yet despite injuries forcing his hand in the decision, the defender feels he’s in a good place. Meanwhile, does teammate Steven Gerrard have a future as a manager?

6. KAMARA GETS EMOTIONAL

Columbus Crew SC’s 3-2 win over Sporting Kansas City last Saturday proved to be a good day for the team, even for MLS leading scorer Kei Kamara, who despite feeling a great many emotions at the time, was eventually happy with how things played out.

7. NEUMANN BIDDING HIS TIME

Playing time for the New England Revolution’s Steve Neumann has been a lot harder to come by in 2015, yet the second-year player remains patient in his approach, stating “I’m coming in each and every day, working to get that chance.”

8. SECRET TO SUCCESS

Following Toronto FC’s comprehensive victory over Orlando City SC last week, a win against Canadian rivals the Montreal Impact on Saturday (4 pm ET, TSN in Canada, MLS LIVE in the US) would help cement their place in this season’s playoffs. People will be looking to Sebastian Giovinco, Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore to help deliver the results, but could Benoit Cheyrou be the real key to their success?

9. BRADLEY TO STAY IN TORONTO?

Speaking of Bradley, after missing eight games this season due to international duty, it appears that he will not be making the trip to Washington, D.C. with the rest of his national team teammates on September 4 according to reports.

10. BLAKE TAKING HIS CHANCE

Andre Blake’s time to shine with the Philadelphia Union has arrived and the goalkeeper certainly made the most of it in his appearance against the Montreal Impact. Whether or not he gets the start in the US Open Cup final, however, remains to be seen. But it appears the Union are taking their preparations extremely seriously.

11. PICK A NUMBER

Did you think Portland Timbers players were just assigned their numbers randomly? Maybe you though it just went on position? Well, turns out there’s a lot more thought goes into some of them than that, as this interesting photo gallery explains.

12. COPA AMERICA UPDATE

With the recent turmoil in the FIFA ranks, many have wondered whether the Copa America Centenario will go ahead as planned in 2016. The president of the South American federation CONMEBOL spoke on the subject on Wednesday night.

13. ST. PAUL PUSHES FORWARD

St. Paul has taken another step forward in its bid to become the new home of Minnesota United, with the city council voting unanimously in favor of building a soccer-specific stadium on the site of a former bus barn.

14. ZELALEM DAZZLES ON DEBUT

Gedion Zelalem made a good start to his loan spell with Rangers, with the young US international getting two assists on his debut as Rangers rolled to a 5-0 victory in the Scottish League Cup.

15. TWELLMAN AND CONCUSSION AWARENESS

ESPN analyst Taylor Twellman has long championed greater awareness and understanding of concussions. Now, the former New England Revolution forward is set to launch his own Concussion Awareness Week, from September 21-25.

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