Report and Reaction: White at the double to sink Saprissa as ‘Caps move on in Champions Cup

Vancouver Whitecaps were made to work hard at BC Place on Thursday evening before advancing in the CONCACAF Champions Cup and setting up a Round of 16 clash with Liga MX giants CF Monterrey.

Trailing by a late goal from last week’s first leg in Costa Rica, the Whitecaps controlled much of the second leg against Deportivo Saprissa in their first round match up, but it took a second half brace from Brian White and surviving some scary moments in the last 15 minutes before they could breathe a sigh of relief at the final whistle.

Both teams hit the woodwork twice, but Saprissa just lacked the killer instinct they showed a week ago and although it wasn’t a perfect performance, and the chances were there to put the tie to bed far earlier than they did, it was another good showing from the Whitecaps in their new era under their new coach.

Jesper Sorensen made four changes to his team from last week’s first leg, with Bjorn Utvik coming in at the back, Ralph Priso and Pedro Vite in the middle, and Nelson on the wing up top. With the ‘Caps playing their third game in eight days and another one looming on Sunday, the ‘Caps coach decided to start the game with Designated Players Ryan Gauld and Andres Cubas on the bench.

Saprissa made one change to their line-up, with the man who put the Costa Ricans ahead in the tie, Ariel Rodriguez, getting the start over Sabin Merino.

Sorensen had wanted his team to come out aggressive, building on the away goal they scored, and taking an early lead in the tie on the night. While they made the early running, the Whitecaps weren’t getting any clear cut chances.

The closest they came in the first half hour was a looping White header that narrowly flew by the right post in the 26th minute.

Ali Ahmed was played in on goal in the 32nd minute and should have done much better as he bore down on goal, before running out of room.

Ahmed got another chance two minutes later when Esteban Alvarado spilled a Sam Adekugbe cross in from the left. The ball fell perfectly for the ‘Caps midfielder but he shanked his shot wide left.

Saprissa were happy to sit back and soak up the pressure, often playing with all 11 players behind the ball and they fairly comfortably saw out the first half, heading in at the break still in the lead.

That lead was to only last for 62 seconds after the restart, when the ‘Caps finally found their breakthrough to go ahead on both the night and on aggregate in the tie.

Fresh off his hat-trick of assists at the weekend, Nelson was back at it, whipping in a delicious ball for White to rise up and head past a rooted Alvarado.

GOAL 🏔️

Jayden Nelson picks out Brian White in the box with a perfect cross and the striker applies the headed finish to tie this series 2-2 on aggregate – and give #VWFC the away-goal advantage 🙌

🔴 Watch LIVE on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/BDUIbaSZ7D

— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) February 28, 2025

The ‘Caps almost added a second in the 52nd minute when White nipped in, hit the byeline, and cut it back, but there were no takers.

Vancouver seemed in complete control, but Saprissa had a couple of half chances around the midway point of the half, forcing a couple of saves out of Yohei Takaoka and reminding the Whitecaps they were still very much in the tie.

With Gauld now on for the ‘Caps, we almost saw the Ryan-Brian connection pay off for the first time in 2025, but the Scot’s cutback agonisingly was sent back off the post by White in the 72nd minute.

David Guzman almost gave the Costa Ricans the equaliser they craved in the 76th minute, but David Guzman’s diving header came crashing off the left post and the danger was cleared.

The game had really opened up now and Gauld poked a square ball from White inches past the right post for the Whitecaps three minutes later.

Everything still felt very much in the balance and it was almost a homecoming of the ages for former Whitecaps captain Kendall Waston when he lost his marker in the box with five minutes to go, superbly meeting a Fidel Escobar corner, but his powerful header crashed off the crossbar.

As the game ticked into the four minutes of stoppage time, Sebastian Berhalter crashed a curling freekick from the edge of the box onto the left post. As Saprissa’s Waston tried to clear the rebound, it fell to White, who showed beautiful control to volley home the crucial second goal for the ‘Caps.

GOAL 🏔️🏔️

BRIAN WHITE makes it 2-0 for the Vancouver Whitecaps over Saprissa, getting on the end of a rebound from a Ryan Gauld free kick – can #VWFC hold on and secure the 3-2 agg. win? 👀

🔴 Watch #ConcaChampions on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/ExwAPCBldV

— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) February 28, 2025

With three minutes left, Vancouver couldn’t rest on their laurels. A Saprissa goal now would have sent the game to extra time, and although the Costa Rican side pushed hard, they weren’t able to find a way through and Vancouver moved on to a Mexican showdown over the next two weeks.

It was a workmanlike performance for the Whitecaps, that both utilised their depth, getting some players a little rest for the Galaxy game on Sunday, but also showed it up for need more in the midfield.

The chances were there to make it an easy night at the office, and they need to start being more clinical in front of goal. Nitpicking after a victory, and still very early in the season, but it was certainly something on Sorensen’s mind post game too.

All in all, another key step in the Sorensen era and now a couple of big tests coming up with three games at home in a week.

FINAL SCORE: Vancouver Whitecaps 2 – 0 Deportivo Saprissa [Whitecaps win 3-2 on aggregate]

ATT: 14,059

SCORING SUMMARY:
46’ – VAN – Brian White (Jayden Nelson)
90’+1 – VAN – Brian White

STATS:
Possession: VAN 64% – SAP 36%
Shots: VAN 12 – SAP 16
Shots on Goal: VAN 3 – SAP 2
Saves: VAN 2 – SAP 1
Fouls: VAN 9 – SAP 10
Offsides: VAN 2 – SAP 3
Corners: VAN 4 – SAP 5

CARDS:
26’ – SAP – David Guzmán (Yellow)

VANCOUVER: Yohei Takaoka; Mathías Laborda, Bjørn Inge Utvik (Ranko Veselinović 82’), Tristan Blackmon, Sam Adekugbe (Édier Ocampo 76’); Pedro Vite (Andrés Cubas 75’), Ralph Priso (J.C. Ngando 63’), Sebastian Berhalter; Jayden Nelson (Ryan Gauld 63’), Brian White, Ali Ahmed [Substitutes not used: Adrían Zendejas, Isaac Boehmer, Belal Halbouni, Damir Kreilach, Tate Johnson, Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau, Jeevan Badwal]

SAPRISSA: Esteban Alvarado; Jefry Valverde, Eduardo Anderson, Fidel Escobar, Ryan Bolaños (Gerson Torres 61’), Joseph Mora; Mariano Torres, Sebastian Acuña (Orlando Sinclair 90’), David Guzmán; Kendall Waston, Ariel Rodríguez (Deyver Vega 61’) [Substitutes not used: Isaac Alfaro, Jafeth López, Yoserth Hernandez,D ouglas Sequeira, Kenay Myrie, Dax Palmer, Gino Vivi, Alberth Barahona, Samir Taylor]

REACTION:

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS

JESPER SORENSEN

On winning the game and the tie tonight:

“Of course, I’m happy with the way things played out. I do think we made things difficult for ourselves a week ago. Today, I liked a lot from what I saw from the players, but also it was a little bit concerning that we were not sharper when we had the big chances, because we had some very big opportunities. But we’re a team that’s in a learning process as well. I though we just needed to finish the game earlier on, since in the end, they had that header on the crossbar that might as well have been turned to a goal. So I think overall performance, I think that over the two games we were the better team and we deservedly went through.”

On Brian White and his performance:

“A very strong performance [from him]. I’ve seen it all through and today, I think it was special with the goals, of course. Brian [White] as an attacker will always be measured up upon how many goals he scored. That’s just how it is. But to me, he’s a player that brings so many different things. He was very good in the build up, he was very strong when we needed him to be. He’s also the first hard-working guy in the press. Two goals always makes things special when you win 2-0, and I think that he played very well and had a strong performance.”

BRIAN WHITE

On his two goals:

“Jayden [Nelson] put a good cross in [for the first]. I knew that, if I could play in-between the lines of the centre backs and find a little space, you put a good ball in and I was able to score that header. And then the second one, the ball was just bouncing around, you try to stay alive in the box and get on the end of it to tap it, so I was fortunate to have that opportunity to shoot on goal.”