Report and Reaction: Resilient Whitecaps clinch Cascadia Cup and a top four finish after battling draw in Seattle

(Photo courtesy of @WhitecapsFC/x.com)

On what was a night of highs, it was also a night tinged with some disappointment and concern. That seems to be Vancouver Whitecaps’ season in a nutshell. The adversity thrown at this team has been incredible, but they’ve never broken and still come out fighting and exceeding expectations time and time again. This is a special group.

The Whitecaps’ battling 2-2 draw at Seattle Sounders on Saturday saw Vancouver lift a record eighth Cascadia Cup, guaranteeing a top four finish and home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs in the process. They did it with a decimated backline and a near complete starting 11 out injured, and they may have more to add to that number now.

A goalless first half exploded after the restart, with three goals in a three minute spell seeing Brian White open the scoring for the Whitecaps before goals from Jackson Ragen and Albert Rusnak quickly saw the Sounders jump out into the lead. Mathias Laborda headed the ‘Caps back level, but neither side could find a winner in the closing moments and had to settle for a share of the spoils.

White, a half time sub as he returns from another hamstring injury, was to last only 32 minutes before another tweak forced him back off. How serious it is we’ll have to wait and see, but it’s very concerning, especially at this stage of the season, and a definite worry from everyone of a blue and white persuasion.

Jesper Sorensen made six changes to his starting line-up from the side that drew 1-1 with Portland on Wednesday, with Belal Halbouni and Kenji Cabrera both picking up knocks in that game that ruled them out. With the ‘Caps down to bare bones on the defensive side, Ralph Priso slid into the centre back position alongside Mathias Laborda, with Jeevan Badwal partnering Andres Cubas in the midfield pivot to give a fatigued Sebastian Berhalter some rest.

But the Sounders were soon to be hit with their own defensive problems after injuries to Alex Roldan and Yeimar forcing Seattle to burn two of their substitution windows by the 16th minute, weakening their own backline in the process.

It was a first half that felt a little cagey at times. Both sides were very aware of how important picking up points in this one was in terms of positioning, while weakened defences and dangerous frontlines saw a more cautious approach than what we are used to with these teams.

The Whitecaps probably edged the first half danger counter, but both sides really only had one great chance to open the scoring.

Vancouver’s came in the 25th minute when Ali Ahmed forced a strong near post save from Stefan Frei, while Yohei Takaoka saves a Morris header from an Rusnak cross four minutes later.

The teams headed in level and scoreless, which after seeing that initial Whitecaps starting line-up, was something many Vancouver fans would have taken before kick off.

The ‘Caps rolled the diced for the second half bringing White on for Daniel Rios. The Mexican had once again done well with his hold up and connecting play through the first 45 minutes, without feeling like a genuine goal threat. They now had that for the second 45. It was a tactic we saw Sorensen use to good effect in a couple of the CONCACAF Champions Cup second legs in Mexico. Could it reap its rewards in enemy territory closer to home?

We only had to wait seven minutes to find out, as Cubas forced a turnover in the Sounders half, allowing Thomas Muller to play in White with a perfectly timed pass and the ‘Caps leading scorer made it two in two to fire the Whitecaps into the lead.

Vancouver’s joy wasn’t to last long.

Seattle took the game straight to their visitors, winning a corner in the 54th minute that Rusnak swung in from the left. Ragen got the better of Laborda to head goalwards and although Takaoka got a hand on it, and probably should have done better, it got past him and the Sounders were level.

90 second later and Seattle had the lead.

The Sounders powered forward as Paul Rothrock played in Jesus Ferreira. His cross deflected off a couple of ‘Caps, falling to a wide open Rusnak, who blasted home and Seattle had what looked like an unlikely lead just two minutes earlier.

Vancouver’s resilience this season has been there for all to see. When they fall behind, most times you feel it’s fine, they’ll come back. But with all these absences, was this one ask too many? Of course not and the ‘Caps leveled things up once again in the 69th minute.

Sebastian Berhalter’s set piece deliveries have been on-point all season and he’s linked up very well with corners into centre backs, especially Laborda.

The dynamic duo struck again as Berhalter whipped one in from the right and the Uruguayan rose above everyone to head home his fifth of the season and we were all tied up once again.

Now, again, you felt Vancouver could go on and win this and get a massive three points.

Those hopes were tempered though when White went to ground off the ball feeling a tweak of something and had to be replaced just over half an hour after coming on. It’s hopefully precautionary, and he’ll be good to go with a week’s rest, which would mean missing the Canadian Championship final but the Whitecaps should have more than enough firepower to wrap that up without him. Nonetheless, it’s a very big concern to have him and keep him healthy for the postseason.

Both teams had some half chances in the closing minutes, with the Whitecaps looking the most dangerous, but just failing to find the telling final ball and finish.

Sorenson seemed content with the draw postgame. You’d have taken one beforehand with the line-up and injuries. But there was enough on display in that second half to feel disappointed that it wasn’t all three. A full strength Whitecaps side would have won that game. Five more minutes and the players that were on the pitch very well may have.

The potential White injury is a genuine concern, as is the centre back curse hitting the team right now. Priso was outstanding in his makeshift role in the centre of the defence and deserves every plaudit going. As does Laborda, who was probably lucky not to see a second yellow card in the game. He continues to excel in every position he’s being asked to play and his goal threat this year has been exceptional.

Two draws in two matches has realistically likely seen the Whitecaps’ Supporters Shield hopes disappear. That’s Philadelphia’s to lose now. It would have been nice, but I’d much rather have top seeding in the West, which is still very much in play, and ideally a finish that avoids LAFC in the early playoff rounds. If that is second in the West, I take that.

The performances of the understrength ‘Caps have been phenomenal this year. Can they keep that going? Will they need to? I’ve never seen a season like this for a team in terms of injuries to hugely key players, but still performing out of their skin.

Next up they have a chance to win their first silverware of the season. Bring it on.

FINAL SCORE: Seattle Sounders 2 – 2 Vancouver Whitecaps

ATT: 32,750

SEATTLE: 24.Stefan Frei; 16.Alex Roldan (85.Kalani Kossa-Rienzi 11′), 25.Jackson Ragen, 28.Yeimar Gomez Andrade (20.Kim Kee-Hee 18′), 5.Nouhou Tolo; 7.Cristian Roldan, 37.Snyder Brunell (93.Georgi Minoungou 82′); 9.Jesús Ferreira (95.Osaze De Rosario 82′), 11.Albert Rusnák, 14.Paul Rothrock; 13.Jordan Morris (19.Danny Musovski 46′) [Substitutes not used: 26.Andrew Thomas, 6.João Paulo, 10.Pedro de la Vega, 75.Danny Leyva]

VANCOUVER: 1.Yohei Takaoka; 18.Édier Ocampo, 2.Mathías Laborda, 6.Ralph Priso, 28.Tate Johnson; 59.Jeevan Badwal, 20.Andrés Cubas; 11.Emmanuel Sabbi (7.Jayden Nelson 62′), 13.Thomas Müller © (16.Sebastian Berhalter 62′), 22.Ali Ahmed; 14.Daniel Ríos (24.Brian White 46′, 75.Rayan Elloumi 78′) [Substitutes not used: 30.Adrían Zendejas, 32.Isaac Boehmer, 26.J.C. Ngando, 27.Giuseppe Bovalina, 53.Mark O’Neill]

SCORING SUMMARY:
52’ – VAN – Brian White (Thomas Müller)
54’ – SEA – Jackson Ragen (Albert Rusnák)
55’ – SEA – Albert Rusnák
69’ – VAN – Mathías Laborda (Sebastian Berhalter)

STATS:
Possession: SEA 45% – VAN 55%
Shots: SEA 10 – VAN 11
Shots on Goal: SEA 6 – VAN 5
Saves: SEA 3 – VAN 3
Fouls: SEA 10 – VAN 17
Offsides: SEA 2 – VAN 3
Corners: SEA 3 – VAN 3

CARDS:
4’ – VAN – Mathías Laborda
40’ – SEA – Paul Rothrock
45+2’ – SEA – Nouhou Tolo

REACTION:

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS

JESPER SORENSEN

On the match:

“I think it was a great game. I think it was very intense, it was a high pace, it was with a lot of good players on the pitch and good moments [from] both sides. It was exciting – it was stressful to be coaching – but it was also, on the other hand, a great spectacle to watch on the pitch where both teams gave everything. I think it was a great game to watch, a little bit back and forth. The second half really opened up, where players got a little bit more tired, spaces became bigger, and it was more difficult to cover, but I think still it was a very good game from both sides.”

On Ralph Priso playing centre back for the first time:

“Great. A lot of credit to Ralph. He hasn’t played there before, but we’ve worked with him in training sessions because we have now seen that everything can happen, and we want to be in front of whatever could happen. Belal [Halbouni] was not able to go today, so Ralph stepped in, and he did excellent. I think he played with great force in duels. He was aware of the threats in the backspace. He was good to cover underneath Tate [Johnson]. He was good, he got better and better with the ball throughout the game. So I think that he was doing very, very well in that position.”

On lifting the Cascadia Cup in front of the traveling fans:

“It’s great. It was fantastic that all the fans made the trip down here, and also it was great that we could lift the trophy afterwards, to share a great moment with them. We hope there’ll be many more to come, but it was nice, and it was great. We could hear them all through warm-up and it was great. We hope for many more occasions like this.”

On facing Vancouver FC in the TELUS Canadian Championship Final on Wednesday:

“Playing a final at BC Place, playing another team from Vancouver is going to be a great experience. We hope for a lot of people to come and watch and be excited about the game. We will do whatever we can to win it. It’s a big thing to win the Canadian Championship, and we will do whatever we can to win. So I think it’s great that we have these games coming up. It’s fun for the fans, it’s fun for us, and we’re excited about having a final to play. And I know that people say that we might have more to lose than to gain, but I don’t agree. I think we have a lot to gain, have the opportunity to win another title and be the first team to win four in a row. So it’s a major achievement we can make ahead of us. So I think t’s going to be exciting and we’ll be ready for Wednesday.”

CENTRE BACK RALPH PRISO

On the match:

“I think the first half was kind of just both teams feeling each other out. And then we started the second half well, got a goal, and then just kind of took two quick punches with two quick goals from them. But I think the reaction after the two goals were good, put our foot on the ball, played in their half, and then found the second goal and then pushed for the third. So I think outside of those kind of five minutes after we scored our goal, I think the overall performance was good today.”

On playing centre back for the first time:

“Jesper [Sørensen], Jan [Michaelsen], and the coaches have kind of been preparing me just in case of an emergency, and then the emergency happened, so I think I was ready for it. I’ve been kind of taking reps as a centre back in training for a while now, so not worried about anything, just kind of just a weird feeling because you’re seeing the field a different way. So it took a little bit of time to just get into it, but I thought I did okay.”

On facing his brother in the Canadian Championship Final on Wednesday:

“It’ll be fun. My mom’s going to come out, so it’ll be nice for her to see me and my brother play against each other for the first time. Me and him have been texting, talking on the phone, kind of going back and forth. So we’ll both be ready for it. It’ll be fun. We’ll be bantering a little bit for the next couple of days.”

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

HEAD COACH BRIAN SCHMETZER

On the early injuries:

“Alex [Roldan] was a kind of unusual injury the mechanism for that hip injury. Yeimar has played a lot of minutes, but there’s other guys on the team that have played more minutes that haven’t been injured. There are guys that have played less minutes that have gotten injured than Yeimar. So, injuries are part of our sport. It’s unfortunate that we, lost two players tonight. But, as always, the strength of this team as the next man steps up, and we will move forward and do the same. The guys that came on the field tonight were good.”

MIDFIELDER ALBERT RUSNÁK

On how he feels about the match:

“The most important thing [is the] result. With ties at home, we’re not going to be able to catch any of those teams above us. There are positives in that game. I think, how we responded to going down right after the halftime, I think was good. [Scoring] two goals in less than five minutes. It’s always good, but there are still some things that you know you got to fix going into playoffs, especially. But overall, I thought it was a competitive game. Almost had that feeling of a playoff match. So overall feeling, I would say, is a little bit
of disappointment. I feel like, if you don’t win at home it’s never good.”

DEFENDER JACKSON RAGEN

On the early injuries:

“It’s tough. But I think guys who came in did well. And I think we can bring in anyone from the bench and they’re going to have a good performance. I think that’s that shows the depth of this team and just the culture of this club is next man up.”