The Whitecaps season is in jeopardy and they desperately need a win tonight to keep their playoff dreams alive.

Lucas Cavallini is the Whitecaps leading scorer. He will need to step up big tonight for a Whitecaps win. Photo from here.

MLS recently announced they would be changing the standings to points per game to see who would compete in the playoffs. This means that despite having more points (24) and wins (8) than eighth place Colorado (19 Points, 5 Wins.) Vancouver sits just outside of a playoff spot due to their lower points per game (1.14 vs Colorado’s 1.27).

Vancouver suffered a 2-0 lose to Seattle on Tuesday. They will have a tough matchup against Portland, who has just won three in a row. Their last meeting didn’t go the Whitecaps way – the Timbers took the game 1-0.

A 2-0 defeat may look bad, but the score doesn’t tell the whole story. The Whitecaps defence held off Seattle until a Raúl Ruidíaz goal in the 54th minute ended the shutout. Nicolás Lodeiro got an insurance goal just six minutes later.

If the Whitecaps defence can play as well as they did last time they have a shot, but Vancouver’s offence will have to rise to the occasion. Goals have been an issue for Vancouver all season long. The ‘Caps are tied for the lowest scoring team in the West with only 24 goals. Vancouver’s net has been filled 43 times; the second most in the league.

After the loss to the Sounders, ‘Caps Couch Marcos Dos Santos was quoted saying “We have to move on, we’ll look at some things of this game but right now our ambition our work, what we want to put in effort, recovery, everything is for the Portland game.” Adding that the matchup against the Timbers “Is a crucial game for us as a club.”

With only two games in the season left to make the playoffs the Whitecaps will need to step up the scoring and shutdown their opponents. So far that’s proven to be a challenge, but it’s never too late… right?