Whitecaps drop chance to win Cascadia Cup to Sounders

Photo: Gerrit te Hennepe

Vancouver Whitecaps 0-3 Seattle Sounders

VANCOUVER, BC–Vancouver Whitecaps entered this match needed just to win this match to retain the Cascadia Cup while Seattle Sounders needed to win this match and the one against Portland on Decision Day to win it back. Now, Vancouver will have to sit on the sidelines while the Cascadia Cup will be decided on Decision Day (October 19th) as the Sounders left BC Place 3-0 winners on Wednesday.

With the result, the Sounders jump to third place in the Western Conference, level on points with Real Salt Lake and ahead on wins. The Whitecaps are now winless in their last four league matches and a team that had been eyeing the top four themselves, now find themselves just a point clear of the wildcard game in seventh.

The Sounders in their Bruce Lee kits took the lead in the 14th minute off a corner kick by Georgi Minoungou. The Whitecaps were routinely thwarted in their quest for an equalizer by either lack of finishing or brilliant defending by the Sounders.

The Sounders doubled their advantage in the 65th minute from the penalty spot after Paul Rothrock was taken down in the area by Ranko Veselinovic. Albert Rusnak would convert the penalty. Two minutes later, Rothrock got his own goal on the counter attack beating Yohei Takaoka far post.

The Whitecaps’ misery was completed in the 88th minute as Fafa Picault was sent off for a second yellow card. He will miss the Whitecaps’ match on Saturday against Minnesota (7:30pm PT, Apple TV) which is now a match to avoid the wildcard game as the Loons are just a point behind in eighth. Portland are two points back in ninth and will clinch a playoff spot with a point in either of their final two matches.

Portland will win the Cascadia Cup with at least a draw (based on goal difference over the Whitecaps and goals scored over the Sounders) on Decision Day. The Sounder can win the Cascadia Cup with a win on Decision Day, but first, they go to Colorado to consolidate their top four spot in the West (6:30pm PT, Apple TV).

For more of Gerrit te Hennepe’s photos from the night at BC Place, please click on the link to his gallery.