The Vancouver Whitecaps continued their fine form this year with a convincing 2-0 win over their rivals Seattle Sounders, the latter only having one win so far this season. The Sounders have been a thorn in the side of the ‘Caps and their fans for a long time, especially at Lume Field where Seattle hosts their games. Since the MLS began, Vancouver has won 10, tied 9, and lost 17 times to the Sounders. But that thorn may be getting removed slowly, with the Whitecaps winning in Seattle for the first time since 2016, yes, eight years ago.

Now after a bit of history, here’s how Saturday went down. The Whitecaps head coach Vinni Sartini opted to go for 3-4-3 formation this weekend, meaning three defenders, 4 midfielders, and 3 forwards. This formation allows the team to have two extra players on the attack, as well as having two extra players when defending. When executed correctly, it can be a lot for opposing teams to handle.

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The first half was lacklustre, with both teams unable to put the ball in the back of the net and the Whitecaps feeling as if it would be another disappointing trip to Seattle. All until Jackson Ragen received a red card in the 43 minute of the first half. This ended up being the turning point of the game. With a man down, Seattle had to sit back and hang on for dear life as the fast paced formation the Whitecaps were in began to be too much to handle. After the goalless first half ended, the game got a spark of excitement as captain Ryan Gauld fired the ‘Caps in front with his third goal of the season.

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Vancouver continued to pile on the pressure for the remainder of the game, having 63% of the possession to Seattle’s 37%. There wasn’t much the Sounders could do for the rest of the game while being a man, only being able to manage one shot on goal. It went from bad to worse for them when Brian White stole the ball off of defender Xavier Arreaga and slotted the ball past the keeper to make it 2-0. White made it his fourth goal in seven games. He now leads the team with six goal contributions this season.

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After the second goal, it was all but over for the Sounders. To make matters worse for them, defender Alex Roldan received the team’s second red cad of the night in the 74th minute, putting all hopes of a comeback to bed. 

The Whitecaps still sit in second in the Western Conference with a 5-2-1 record, and look to continue their form on Saturday, April 27th against the NY Red Bulls who sit in second in the Eastern Conference with a 4-1-4 record.

Kickoff is at 4:30 PST in New York.