SAN JOSE, CA – In their third match in a span of 15 days, Vancouver Whitecaps FC secured a vital road point on Saturday night, drawing 1-1 with fellow Western Conference side San Jose Earthquakes at PayPal Park in San Jose, California.
In the early moments of the match, ‘Caps goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau was forced into a key save in the fourth minute of play as he denied San Jose striker Jeremy Ebobisse right on the doorstep to keep the match scoreless.
The rest of first half saw both sides exchange promising counter attacks but neither could find a clear opportunity at goal, meaning the teams would go into the break deadlocked at 0-0.
In the 53rd minute, the ‘Caps would take advantage of some early second half pressure as Brian White fired a shot on goal from outside the box, with the rebound falling to Bruno Gaspar to smash home his first MLS goal to give the Blue and White the lead.
Seven minutes later, San Jose would nab the equalizer as Benjamin Kikanovic volleyed a shot past Crépeau to tie the match at 1-1.
In second half stoppage time, Crépeau would once again come up huge for the ‘Caps, denying San Jose substitute Chris Wondolowski from scoring the game winner just inches away from an open goal.
The ‘Caps were able to hold on for the draw and will now shift their focus towards a mid-week Western Conference showdown at BC Place against Minnesota United FC. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. PT. You can catch the match live on TSN1 and AM730, with the radio pre-game show starting at 6 p.m. PT. Tickets are still available at whitecapsfc.com/tickets.
MATCH DETAILS
GE Appliances VWFC Player of Quality: Bruno Gaspar
Referee: Marcos de Oliveira
Scoring Summary
53' – VAN – Bruno Gaspar
60' – SJ – Benji Kikanovic (Cristian Espinoza, Eric Remedi)
Statistics
Possession: SJ 64% – VAN 36%
Shots: SJ 16 – VAN 7
Shots on Goal: SJ 3 – VAN 3
Saves: SJ 2 – VAN 2
Fouls: SJ 13 – VAN 16
Offsides: SJ 1 – VAN 0
Corners: SJ 5 – VAN 2
Cautions
45'+1 – SJ – Tommy Thompson
San Jose Earthquakes
1.JT Marcinkowski; 22.Tommy Thompson (6.Shea Salinas 69'), 15.Tanner Beason, 3.Paul Marie (16.Jack Skahan 82'); 10.Cristian Espinoza (7.Carlos Fierro 69'), 5.Eric Remedi, 14.Jackson Yueill ©, 28.Benji Kikanovic; 9.Javier López (8.Chris Wondolowski 69'), 25.Andrés RÃos (44.Cade Cowell 82'); 11.Jeremy Ebobisse
Substitutes not used
17.Daniel Vega, 4.Oswaldo AlanÃs, 19.Siad Haji, 93.Judson
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
16.Maxime Crépeau; 22.Erik Godoy (28.Jake Nerwinski 85'), 4.Ranko Veselinović, 26.Florian Jungwirth; 6.Bruno Gaspar, 31.Russell Teibert ©, 17.Leonard Owusu (55.Michael Baldisimo 63'), 11.Cristian Dájome (23.Javain Brown 71'); 25.Ryan Gauld (27.Ryan Raposo 85'); 24.Brian White, 7.Déiber Caicedo (9.Lucas Cavallini 63')
Substitutes not used
1.Thomas Hasal, 2.Marcus Godinho, 3.Cristian Gutiérrez, 32.Patrick Metcalfe
