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Sandy • It's Orlando City Soccer Club — not former Real Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis — who will have first pick in the 2014 MLS Expansion Draft on Dec. 10. The Lions beat out fellow Eastern Conference expansion side New York City FC in the draw Wednesday afternoon at Major League Soccer's headquarters in New York City.

The two incoming 2015 franchises had several choices in Wednesday's split as the Expansion Draft, MLS SuperDraft, Allocation Ranking, Discovery Rankings, USL-PRO/NASL ranking and the waiver/re-entry spot as well as the top spot in the Designated Player ranking were to be drafted in one form or the other.

The Expansion Draft will take place on Dec. 10, three days after the 2014 MLS Cup final on Dec. 7. Clubs in MLS must submit their list of 11 protected players to the league on Dec. 8. Homegrown players are exempt and cannot be drafted by either expansion side, but after that, it's a free-for-all. Designated Players can be selected.

Per Expansion Draft rules, a club cannot lose more than two players from the list of unprotected talent submitted for potential selection. Once a club has a player selected by either Orlando or NYCFC in December, it will be able to take a player off the unprotected list.

Kreis has already added some RSL flair to his growing list of NYCFC players. Former goalkeeper Josh Saunders and center back Kwame Watson-Siriboe have been acquired by Kreis. The big splashes made thus far, however, are world-renowned Spanish striker David Villa and English midfielder Frank Lampard. Orlando, in its transition from USL Pro to MLS, has already penned Brazilian star Kaka.

In previous Expansion Drafts, RSL lost former SuperDraft pick Collen Warner to Montreal Impact in the 2011 Expansion Draft. In the 2010 Expansion Draft, RSL lost defender David Horst to the Portland Timbers. The rights to forward Robbie Findley also went to Portland that year, but Findley went overseas before returning to RSL in 2013.

For a full breakdown of today's split draft, read Orlando City beat writer Paul Tenorio's recap here.

Vancouver venture

Saturday's match will very nearly be exactly a year since a make-shift RSL lineup went to BC Place and snagged three points. Forward Devon Sandoval scored the game-winner in the 9th minute of play, and it was enough for RSL to earn its first-ever win in Vancouver, 1-0.

Nearly a year into the present, RSL heads back to BC Place. Could coach Jeff Cassar field a similar starting XI Saturday afternoon?

"We need a result," he said. "We're going to have to put the best team out there that we feel is going to get us a result, but at the same time, we have to be smart. We're getting toward the end of the year, but I feel very confident in the team we're going to put out on the field."

The two Western Conference sides are 0-0-2 against one another in 2014, as the Whitecaps have earned two wild draws at Rio Tinto Stadium this season. Vancouver's Sebastian Fernandez drilled a 35-yard shot in the 94th minute of play to secure a 2-2 draw in late April. On July 19, it was RSL who needed to recover after Nat Borchers was whistled for a questionable penalty-kick call late. Once Vancouver took the lead, Joao Plata ensured it wouldn't stick. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.

The Caps are 8-8-13 and at 37 points through 29 matches. They're coming off a 3-0 drubbing against Cascadia rivals Portland in the Rose City last weekend, a victory that currently has the Timbers two points clear for the fifth and final playoff spot out West.

"This is going to be a tough game, for sure," Borchers said. "These guys have their backs against the wall. It just means they're going to be that much more aggressive and means it's going to create more opportunities for us. Defensively, we have to be sharp on the ball.

"There's plenty of games left for them to get back into it."

Since their impressive 2-0 win over defending MLS Cup champions Sporting Kansas City on Aug. 10, the Whitecaps are 2-3-2. There's also the turf factor. Vancouver's turf has been noted as less-than-ideal throughout MLS. Borchers said it's similar to Seattle and Portland, but added, "it's a little more stiff."

Outside back Chris Wingert said: "For us, it's just hard on the body and the bounce isn't as true and everything like that … We've had some success on some turf before."

Injury update

Defender Tony Beltran stood over the ball, took an awkward turn in training Tuesday and went down. He immediately grabbed at his lower back as the RSL training staff began to examine the 26-year-old outside back. Soon after getting up and walking gingerly, he left America First Field.

On Wednesday, Cassar said Beltran's in some discomfort right now.

"It's a day-to-day thing," he said. "He's like more in shock than anything. It's just odd. He just twisted and [his back] just seized up. But listen, Tony needed a break anyways. He's been logging tons of minutes this year. Thank goodness he's stayed healthy. This isn't a real injury, it's more of a hinderance right now, so it's going to be OK."

Center back Chris Schuler and forward Olmes Garcia were limited for the second-straight day Wednesday. Cassar said Schuler's adductor began tightening up against Seattle on Sept. 12 and that the staff is taking extra precautions. Garcia tweaked his right hamstring last week and is still working on returning to full fitness.

"Now's not a time to have any setbacks," Cassar said.

-Chris Kamrani

Twitter: @chriskamrani