- With the win, Vancouver Whitecaps FC have started an MLS season 3W-0L-0D for the first time in club history
- In all competitions, the 'Caps are now undefeated in their past five matches (4W-0L-1D)
- 2025 MLS SuperDraft selection Tate Johnson scored his first career MLS goal in his MLS debut and first start
- Mathías Laborda scored his first goal of the season, and first at BC Place
- Pedro Vite has now recorded a goal contribution in each of the first three MLS matches of the season (1G, 2A)
- Ali Ahmed recorded his first assist of the MLS season, and second in all competitions
- Yohei Takaoka recorded his first clean sheet of the MLS season, and second in all competitions
VANCOUVER, BC – It was yet another successful night at BC Place, as Vancouver Whitecaps FC kept their perfect MLS record alive with a 2-0 win over Canadian rivals CF Montréal.
The 'Caps started strong, dominating possession from the off. The home side had a few half-chances inside the opening stages, with Ali Ahmed and Brian White spearheading the attack.
The team had to make some adjustments after captain Ryan Gauld came off after 23 minutes, but they continued to dictate the play. Mathías Laborda tried for the audacious just before the half-hour mark, going for a bicycle kick in the middle of Montréal’s box but his shot fell right into the hands of Jonathan Sirois.
The ‘Caps nearly caught a break minutes later, when an errant back pass from Montréal nearly bypassed Sirois and into the net, but it got cleared before it could cross the line. Whitecaps FC did take advantage of the ensuing corner, however, as after the delivery, some chaos in the box allowed Laborda to poke a shot past Sirois and give the ‘Caps the lead.
Whitecaps FC kept controlling the match all the way until Joe Dickerson blew for halftime, entering the break with an all-important lead.
The ‘Caps did not take long after the restart to double the advantage, thanks to Tate Johnson’s first ever Whitecaps FC goal in his MLS debut and first start. The move began when Pedro Vite found Ahmed in behind on the right. The Canadian then whipped a cross in for Johnson to hit first time, looping his shot into the net for 2-0.
Vite nearly made it 3-0 not long after, catching a bouncing ball sweetly with a half-volley and pushing Sirois into a full-stretch save. Vite forced another strong save from Sirois not long later, this time with the shot fizzing just above the floor.
Yohei Takaoka then came up with a massive save with less than 10 minutes to go, sticking out a leg at the last second after Prince Owusu tried to poke it past him right in front of the net. Blackmon then turned hero right at the end when a ball was bouncing right by the goal line after hitting the framework, clearing the danger before it could turn into a goal.
In the end, another good performance from the 'Caps saw them start the MLS season 3W-0L-0D for the first time in club history, and move to the top of the Western Conference.
Whitecaps FC are back in action this coming Wednesday, March 12 as they travel to Mexico for the second leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 tie against CF Monterrey. Kickoff will be at 5:30 p.m. PT, live on OneSoccer, FuboTV, and TELUS channel 980.
The ‘Caps then travel to Texas to face FC Dallas on Saturday, March 15 at 5:30 p.m. PT before coming back home to BC Place to host Chicago Fire on Saturday, March 22 at 7:30 p.m. PT. For tickets, visit whitecapsfc.com/tickets.
MATCH DETAILS
Attendance: 19,531
Referee: Joe Dickerson
Scoring Summary
32’ – VAN – Mathías Laborda
49’ – VAN – Tate Johnson (Ali Ahmed, Pedro Vite)
Statistics
Possession: VAN 54.6% - MTL 45.4%
Shots: VAN 15 - MTL 10
Shots on Goal: VAN 7 - MTL 2
Saves: VAN 2 - MTL 5
Fouls: VAN 11 - MTL 14
Offsides VAN 0 - MTL 1
Corners: VAN 8 - MTL 7
Cautions
39’ – MTL – Luca Petrasso
41’ – MTL – Brandan Crag
90’+4 – VAN – J.C. Ngando
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
1.Yohei Takaoka; 2.Mathías Laborda, 4.Ranko Veselinović, 33.Tristan Blackmon, 28.Tate Johnson; 45.Pedro Vite, 20.Andrés Cubas, 16.Sebastian Berhalter (13.Ralph Priso 74’); 22.Ali Ahmed (19.Damir Kreilach 87’), 24.Brian White (14.Daniel Ríos 87’), 25.Ryan Gauld ©️ (26.J.C. Ngando 23’)
Substitutes not used
32.Isaac Boehmer, 12.Belal Halbouni, 15.Bjørn Inge Utvik, 27.Giuseppe Bovalina, 52.Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau
CF Montréal
40.Jonathan Sirois, 5.Brandan Craig, 16.Joel Waterman, 13.Luca Petrasso; 39.Aleksandr Guboglo 21.Fabian Herbers (22.Victor Loturi 72’), 19.Nathan Saliba (8.Dominic Iankov 81’), 3.Tom Pearce (11.Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty 61’); 7.Kwadwo Opoku (28.Jules-Anthony Vilsaint 61’), 9.Prince Owusu, 10.Bryce Duke (23.Caden Clark 61’)
Substitutes not used
1.Sebastian Breza, 4.Fernando Álvarez, 14.Sunusi Ibrahim, 27.Dawid Bugaj
