VANCOUVER, BC – Vancouver Whitecaps FC fought for the full 90 minutes and ultimately came from behind to earn a point in a 1-1 draw against Western Conference rivals Sporting Kansas City this Saturday evening at BC Place.
The visitors opened the scoring in the 20th minute. On a corner kick, Erik Thommy’s delivery connected to Alan Pulido, who headed it in to make it 1-0.
After the halftime interval, Vancouver continued to find multiple opportunities in the final third. Midfielder Andrés Cubas’ quick pass sprung Ryan Gauld on a counterattack, which concluded with Brian White’s attempt on target tipped by goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh before it hit the post in the 60th minute.
As the match neared its end, substitute Déiber Caicedo was taken down in the box, and after video review the 'Caps were awarded a penalty kick. Gauld calmly converted from the spot to put his squad back in the game and level the match at 1-1 in the 88th minute.
Vancouver looked to find the winner at the death. Simon Becher intercepted a pass from McIntosh in net, and drove forward before laying off to Gauld. The Scotsman's cross connected to Caicedo, but his volley went over the net just before the referee blew the full-time whistle.
Whitecaps FC now set their sights firmly on the Canadian Championship Final. The 'Caps look to defend their Voyageurs Cup title this upcoming Wednesday, June 7, as the club will host CF Montréal in a 7 p.m. PT kickoff at BC Place. The first 15,000 fans will receive a rally towel, and the club will be paying for 50 per cent off all drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, from The Warmup patio at 4 p.m. PT until kickoff in-stadium. For tickets, visit whitecapsfc.com/runitback.
The 'Caps are then back at BC Place next Saturday, June 10 against league-leading FC Cincinnati. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. PT and tickets are available at whitecapsfc.com/tickets.
MATCH DETAILS
VWFC GE Appliances Player of Quality: Ranko Veselinović
Attendance: 13,739*
Referee*: Lukasz Szpala
Scoring Summary
20’ – SKC – Alan Pulido (Erik Thommy)
88’ – VAN – Ryan Gauld
Statistics
Possession: VAN 54.8% – SKC 45.2%
Shots: VAN 11 – SKC 12
Shots on Goal: VAN 3 – SKC 2
Saves: VAN 1 – SKC 2
Fouls: VAN 11 – SKC 7
Offsides: VAN 6 – SKC 0
Corners: VAN 4 – SKC 5
Cautions
7’ – SKC – Robert Castellanos
39’ – VAN – Brian White
63’ – VAN – Tristan Blackmon
69’ – VAN – Andrés Cubas
78’ – VAN – Ryan Gauld
79’ – SKC – Gadi Kinda
86’ – VAN – Vanni Sartini
90’+’5 – SKC – Kendall McIntosh
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
18.Yohei Takaoka; 2.MathÃas Laborda (8.Alessandro Schöpf 66’), 4.Ranko Veselinović, 6.Tristan Blackmon, 14.LuÃs Martins; 19.Julian Gressel, 20.Andrés Cubas (7.Déiber Caicedo 76’), 45.Pedro Vite (16.Sebastian Berhalter 89’); 25.Ryan Gauld ©, 24.Brian White; 9.Sergio Córdova (29.Simon Becher 76’)
Substitutes not used
32.Isaac Boehmer, 23.Javain Brown, 27.Ryan Raposo, 31.Russell Teibert, 61.Matteo Campagna
Sporting Kansas City
22.Kendall McIntosh; 17.Jake Davis, 19.Robert Castellanos, 3.Andreu Fontàs (4.Robert Voloder HT), 18.Logan Ndenbe (14.Tim Leibold 42’); 54.Rémi Walter, 6.Nemanja Radoja, 26.Erik Thommy (15.Roger Espinoza 89’); 77.Marinos Tzionis (11.Khiry Shelton 71’), 9.Alan Pulido (10.Gadi Kinda 71’), 20.Dániel Sallói
Substitutes not used
1.John Pulskamp,, 21.Felipe Hernández, 28.Cam Duke, 30.Stephen Afrifa
