Peter Canero

A svelte Tony Meola joined the yellow side in goal, and sounded bullish about this season's prospects. He attributed his new look to the constant work he has done during the offseason. "I haven't been sitting around. I took only a couple days off when I left. I had almost a year and a half where I couldn't run, in total. I've been able to go out and jog and run, do all the things I normally do." Meola then reinforced the team's objective this season, saying, "We have to win a championship. We have to get a trophy in the case."

The orange side offered less in terms of star power, but still had some performances worth mentioning. Former USL defender Taylor Graham towered over the opposition and showed a surprising ability to get forward. "I think it's mind-boggling that they didn't keep him in Kansas City for what he did the year before," former Wizards teammate Meola said. Third-round pick Blake Camp was active in central midfield, scoring a goal when he was given an opportunity. Seth Stammler spent the day patrolling the wings, apparently having made the move to midfielder on a more permanent basis following last season's remarkable playoff effort.

The most surprising inclusion in the orange squad was Eddie Gaven, who would, under normal circumstances, be expected to play alongside the first team members. Perhaps it is due to his tenuous situation with the club, or maybe Johnston wanted to send the youngster a message about his place in the starting eleven. Either way, one would imagine lining up alongside likely reserve Jordan Cila is not how Gaven envisioned starting the preseason. Still, it was just the first practice, and afterward Gaven sounded determined to prove his worth to the coaching staff. "I'm really excited about this year," said the Hamilton native. "I want to have a really good preseason with this team, get really fit, try to get a little stronger, come out this year firing on all cylinders. That's what my goal is." He later added, "In past preseasons, sometimes I was in, sometimes I was out with one team or another. This year, hopefully I'll be with this team. I just want to be able to focus. I think sometimes, in previous years during the preseason, I didn't focus as much as I could." When asked about his reaction to the trade rumors that had been circulating about him, he responded, "It's something where I read some stuff, I called my agent about it, and talked about it a little bit. That was basically it. I could've stayed up all night worrying about where I was going, but that's just not who I am."

At the end of the practice, Johnston was approached with a number of questions about the squad as it exists at the moment. "(We're) not really finished yet," said Johnston. "(There's) still certain moves to be made and hopefully we can get them done. There's still other guys to come in, we've got another four or five others to come in for training camp." When asked if the moves he mentioned were with the absent Guevara in mind, Johnston replied, "So far, the two or three moves that we may make, don't include Amado Guevara." He went so far as to say, "contrary to what every one of you have heard, Amado Guevara is not on the trading block." As for what positions the club has prioritized with its remaining acquisitions, Johnston said, "Obviously, (we're looking for) someone more experienced in the back. Midfield, where we have our eye on a Portuguese guy. We've obviously got the two Canadians, and we'll have a look at them. (We've) got an Icelandic kid who's very good, comes from a good pedigree."