HOUSTON, TX – Vancouver Whitecaps FC fell 2-1 against Western Conference foes Houston Dynamo FC at PNC Stadium on Saturday.
The ‘Caps opened the scoring at the 14th minute of the match after Cristian Dájome whipped in a cross to Lucas Cavallini, who redirected in his first goal of the season to make it 1-0 Vancouver.
Pedro Vite made his first MLS start for Vancouver, but was later substituted out of the match for Javain Brown at the 24th minute on the Concussion Substitute Initiative.
At the 33rd minute, Houston midfielder Darwin Quintero made it 1-1 after he found a pass from Corey Baird right inside the box. Moments later, Hasal came up big by making a terrific save off a Quintero chance inside the 39th minute of the match.
In the second half, a powerful shot outside the box from Quintero found its way into the top corner of the net at the 50th minute to make it 2-1 Houston. Vancouver’s biggest chance in the second came off a Cavallini header, which was blocked off the line by Dynamo defender Tim Parker at the 72nd minute.
Later on in the 89th minute, Dynamo midfielder Memo RodrÃguez curled in a free kick chance off the bar to which Vancouver defenders cleared. The ‘Caps pushed in for a late equalizer but came up short after the final whistle blew.
The Blue and White are set to wrap up their road trip against LAFC at the Banc of California Stadium. The match will kick off on Sunday, March 20 at 7 p.m. PT live on TSN and AM730 radio. The ‘Caps then return home to BC Place on Saturday, April 2 against Sporting Kansas City at 5 p.m. PT. For tickets go to whitecapsfc.com/tickets.
MATCH DETAILS
GE Appliances VWFC Player of Quality: Lucas Cavallini
Referee: Pierre-Luc Lauziere
Attendance: 13,028
Scoring Summary
14' – VAN – Lucas Cavallini (Cristian Dájome, Ryan Gauld)
33' – HOU – Darwin Quintero (Corey Baird, Adalberto Carrasquilla)
50' – HOU – Darwin Quintero (Sebastián Ferreira)
Statistics
Possession: HOU 59% – VAN 41%
Shots: HOU 16 – VAN 17
Shots on Goal: HOU 4 – VAN 2
Saves: HOU 0 – VAN 2
Fouls: HOU 12 – VAN 9
Offsides: HOU 1 – VAN 2
Corners: HOU 9 – VAN 10
Cautions
28' – VAN – Javain Brown
80' – VAN – Ranko Veselinović
87' – HOU – Thorleifur Úlfarsson
Houston Dynamo FC
12.Steve Clark; 25.Griffin Dorsey, 5.Tim Parker ©, 2.Daniel Steres, 3.Adam Lundkvist; 23.Darwin Quintero (8.Memo RodrÃguez 75'), 22.MatÃas Vera, 20.Adalberto Carrasquilla (24.Darwin Cerén 78'); 10.Fafa Picault (17.Teenage Hadebe 90'+2), 9.Sebastián Ferreira (34.Thorleifur Úlfarsson 75'), 11.Corey Baird
Substitutes not used
26.Michael Nelson, 4.Zarek Valentin, 19.Tyler Pasher, 29.Sam Junqua, 37.Zeca
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
1.Thomas Hasal; 6.Tristan Blackmon, 4.Ranko Veselinović (27.Ryan Raposo 84'), 26.Florian Jungwirth (2.Marcus Godinho 66'); 3.Cristián Gutiérrez, 31.Russell Teibert © (87.Tosaint Ricketts 90'+5), 17.Leonard Owusu (7.Déiber Caicedo 66'), 11.Cristian Dájome; 25.Ryan Gauld, 45. Pedro Vite (23.Javain Brown 24'); 9.Lucas Cavallini
Substitutes not used
60.Isaac Boehmer, 16.Sebastian Berhalter, 23.Javain Brown, 28.Jake Nerwinski, 33.Michael Baldisimo
