VANCOUVER, BC – In the 150th all-time meeting between two of North America's oldest professional soccer clubs, Vancouver Whitecaps FC twice took the lead before falling late in a 3-2 thriller against Cascadia rivals Seattle Sounders FC.
It was an end-to-end start for the game, with both teams getting plenty of half-chances in the opening stages. Whitecaps FC’s defence had their hands busy, with LuÃs Martins, MathÃas Laborda, and Ranko Veselinović coming up with huge blocks to keep Seattle at bay.
After an exciting start to the match, the deadlock was finally broken in the 24th minute thanks to some good work from Levonte Johnson to win a dangerous free kick. Ryan Gauld stepped up and delivered a picture-perfect cross for Veselinović to flick on into the side netting.
The ‘Caps would continue to put the pressure on through Laborda, with his headed effort hitting the post off a corner in the 34th minute. White was close to securing a two-goal advantage off a close-range header, but was pulled back for offside in the 38th minute. It was then a flurry of chances for both sides at the end of the half before the referee blew for the break.
Seattle would start the second half strong, and equalize through Léo Chú from a Nico Lodeiro corner.
The Blue and White would then fight back to retake the lead thanks to a clever flick-on by Brian White for Gauld, who drove straight in on goal and tucked it away to make it 2-1.
The game would end in heartbreak, however, as Chú once again scored off a set-piece thanks to a Jackson Ragen header across goal, making it 2-2.
Late in the match, Laborda was shown a second yellow card and subsequent red card to reduce the 'Caps to 10 men. Moments later, Sounders FC defender Yeimar slammed in a rebound in stoppage time to give Seattle all three points.
The 'Caps now face another quick return to BC Place, hosting Austin FC this coming Wednesday, July 12, and then back again against LA Galaxy on Saturday, July 15. Kickoff for both matches is at 7:30 p.m. PT, with tickets available at whitecapsfc.com/tickets.
MATCH DETAILS
VWFC GE Appliances Player of Quality: Ryan Gauld
Attendance: 16,399
Referee: Ramy Touchan
Scoring Summary
24’ – VAN – Ranko Veselinović (Ryan Gauld)
60’ – SEA – Léo Chú (Jackson Ragen, Nicolas Lodeiro)
72’ – VAN – Ryan Gauld (Brian White, Yohei Takaoka)
76’ – SEA – Léo Chú (Jackson Ragen, Nicolas Lodeiro)
90’+1 – SEA – Yeimar Gómez Andrade
Statistics
Possession: VAN 34.1% - SEA 65.9%
Shots: VAN 12 - SEA 15
Shots on Goal: VAN 5 - SEA 6
Saves: VAN 3 - SEA 3
Fouls: VAN 15 - SEA 7
Offsides: VAN 1 - SEA 1
Corners: VAN 8 - SEA 7
Cautions
48’ – SEA – Raúl RuidÃaz
75’ – VAN – Tristan Blackmon
79’ – SEA – Nicolas Lodeiro
82’ – VAN – MathÃas Laborda
Ejections
89’ – VAN – MathÃas Laborda
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
18. Yohei Takaoka; 2.MathÃas Laborda, 4.Ranko Veselinović, 14.LuÃs Martins; 27.Ryan Raposo (6.Tristan Blackmon 71’), 8.Alessandro Schöpf (26.J.C. Ngando 90’+3),16.Sebastian Berhalter (7.Déiber Caicedo 90’+3), 28.Levonte Johnson (29.Simon Becher 83’); 9.Sergio Córdova (45.Pedro Vite 71’), 25.Ryan Gauld; 24.Brian White
Substitutes not used
1.Thomas Hasal, 12.Karifa Yao, 31.Russell Teibert,
Seattle Sounders FC
30.Stefan Cleveland; 16.Alex Roldan (33.Cody Baker 90’+3), 28.Yeimar Gómez Andrade, 25.Jackson Ragen, 5.Nouhou; 73.Obed Vargas, 6.João Paulo; 10.Nicolas Lodeiro, 11.Albert Rusnák, 23.Léo Chú; 9.Raúl RuidÃaz (92.Abdoulaye Cissoko 90’+5)
Substitutes not used
26.Andrew Thomas, 12.Fredy Montero, 19.Héber, 21.Reed Baker-Whiting, 84.Josh Atencio, 99.Dylan Teves
