VANCOUVER, BC – Vancouver Whitecaps FC (1W-3L-1D) captured their first win of the season on Saturday with a 1-0 victory against Western Conference foes Sporting Kansas City (2W-4L-0D) at BC Place.
Head coach Vanni Sartini started his side in a 3-4-1-2 formation and made four changes from the 'Caps last match at Los Angeles FC, with Ryan Raposo, Ryan Gauld, Brian White and Déiber Caicedo replacing Marcus Godinho, Pedro Vite, Cristian Dájome and Lucas Cavallini.
The 'Caps had their first good chance in the 25th minute, as midfielder Ryan Gauld shot went just wide of the net, after a cross from wingback Javain Brown.
Later in the first half, Gauld won a loose ball and played it into Déiber Caicedo. The Colombian winger then crossed a ball to forward Brian White who saw his shot stopped by Sporting KC goalkeeper Tim Melia.
After the break, goalkeeper Thomas Hasal denied Sporting KC forward Dániel Sallói's effort from outside the box to keep the score level at 0-0.
The 'Caps would continue pushing on and grabbed the go ahead goal in the 73rd minute through Ryan Raposo. The Hamilton, Ontario native poked the ball into the back of the net from inside the six to score his first career MLS goal after a great through ball from substitute Michael Baldisimo, which also bounced off Cavallini.
The away side hunted for an equalizer in the latter stages, but the Blue & White’s strong defensive performance was rewarded as they captured their first three points of the season.
Up next for the 'Caps is their 100th all-time meeting against Cascadia rivals Portland Timbers next Saturday, April 9 at BC Place, with kick-off set for 7 p.m. PT. Tickets are available at www.whitecapsfc.com/tickets.
MATCH DETAILS
VWFC GE Appliances Player of Quality: Ryan Raposo
Referee: Fotis Bazakos
Attendance: 16,772
Scoring Summary
73’ – VAN – Ryan Raposo
Statistics
Possession: VAN ​​47.4% – SKC 52.6%
Shots: VAN 12 – SKC 11
Shots on Goal: VAN 3 – SKC 4
Saves: VAN 4 – SKC 2
Fouls: VAN 12 – SKC 12
Offsides: VAN 1 – SKC 0
Corners: VAN 1 – SKC 3
Cautions
37’ – VAN – Russell Teibert
45’ – VAN – Sebastian Berhalter
60’ – VAN – Lucas Cavallini
90’ – VAN – Marcus Godinho
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
1.Thomas Hasal; 6.Tristan Blackmon (26.Florian Jungwirth 90’), 4.Ranko Veselinović, 28.Jake Nerwinski; 23.Javain Brown, 31.Russell Teibert ©, 16.Sebastian Berhalter (33.Michael Baldisimo 69’), 27.Ryan Raposo (2.Marcus Godinho 79'); 25.Ryan Gauld (45.Pedro Vite 69’); 24.Brian White (9.Lucas Cavallini 58’), 7.Déiber Caicedo (87.Tosaint Ricketts 79’)
Substitutes not used
55.Cody Cropper, 3.Cristián Gutiérrez, 11.Cristian Dájome
Sporting Kansas City
29.Tim Melia; 8.Graham Zusi, 5.Nicolas Isimat-Mirin, 3.Andreu Fontà s, 2.Ben Sweat; 21.Felipe Hernández (28.Cam Duke 77’), 6.Oriol Rosell (15.Roger Espinoza HT), 54.Rémi Walter; 7.Johnny Russell © (27.Marinos Tzionis 77’), 11.Khiry Shelton (19.Nikola Vujnović 80’), 20.Dániel Sallói
Substitutes not used
1.John Pulskamp, 4.Robert Voloder, 17.Jacob Davis, 18.Logan Ndembe
