VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) Kenny Miller scored twice and the Vancouver Whitecaps beat the New York Red Bulls 4-1 on Saturday night in the season opener before a sellout crowd of 21,000 at B.C. Place Stadium.
Vancouver gave Carl Robinson a victory in his first game as the team's head coach.
''I think it was written in the stars, the way the first game came out, and it was my old team, things like that,'' said Robinson, a former Red Bulls player and assistant coach. ''But it's just the beginning.''
Miller scored in the 34th and 70th minutes. Second-half substitute Pedro Morales added a goal and an assist, and Sebastian Fernandez also scored for the Whitecaps.
''We're absolutely delighted with the way we've played,'' Miller said. ''A lot of the things that we worked on in the pre-season really came into fruition today.''
Bradley Wright-Phillips scored for New York with two minutes left.
Miller opened the scoring on a penalty kick in the 34th minute, sending a sent a shot into the corner while goalkeeper Luis Robles went the other way. The spot kick was awarded after Richard Eckersley was called for a handball in New York's box off Matias Laba shot.
Fernandez made it 2-0 early in the second half, firing a shot from about 25 yards into the top right corner. Robles got his hand on the shot, but could not stop it from going in.
In the 70th, Morales sent Miller a long lead ball from deep in Vancouver territory. Miller ran onto it well beyond defenders and lobbed a bouncing ball over Robles.
Morales made it 4-0 in the 89th. Wright-Phillips then spoiled David Ousted's shutout bid.
''We can't use excuses,'' Eckersley said. ''We got well beaten today.''
