SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – Vancouver Whitecaps FC saw their seven-match undefeated streak come to a halt as Seattle Sounders FC won 3-0 behind a goal and two assists from Nicolás Lodeiro at CenturyLink Field on Wednesday evening.
The loss dashes the ‘Caps hopes of repeating as Cascadia Cup champions and clinching their spot for the MLS Cup Playoffs for a few more nights. Whitecaps FC (14W-10L-6D) get another chance to punch their postseason ticket on Saturday when they visit second-place Sporting Kansas City (12W-6L-11D) - 6 p.m. on TSN2, TSN 1040.
Seattle improve to a 12W-8L-11D record and within a point of the ‘Caps for the Western Conference lead, but Vancouver have a game in hand on their Cascadia rivals.
Sounders FC opened the scoring in the 17th minute with Victor RodrÃguez finding the bottom corner of the ‘Caps net from distance. The tally came on the heels of an initial Cristian Roldan attempt that bounced off the far right post. Seattle did well to reinitiate the attack, capitalizing while Vancouver momentarily had a man down on defence.
Fredy Montero, making his first appearance back in Seattle since 2012, nearly equalized off a direct free kick in the 37th minute from over 25 yards, aiming for the top-right corner only to be stopped by a leaping Stefan Frei.
The match turned in the second half, with Seattle tallying a pair of insurance goals. The first came shortly after the hour mark on a clinical counterattack with RodrÃguez orchestrating down the middle, and Lodeiro converting off a feed from Joevin Jones.
Clint Dempsey put the finishing touches on the Sounders FC victory with excellent holdup play in the midfield, before ultimately finishing on a half-volley in the 69th minute.
Whitecaps FC ended the match with just 10 men after Tony Tchani was shown a red card in the dying moments for a challenge on Roldan. As a result, Tchani will sit out this weekend’s match at Children’s Mercy Park.
The ‘Caps continue their road trip with a visit to Kansas City on Saturday, then a match at New York Red Bulls on the following weekend. They are back at BC Place on Sunday, October 15 when they host San Jose Earthquakes for their regular season home finale. Visit whitecapsfc.com for ticket information.
MATCH DETAILS
Budweiser Man of the Match: Fredy Montero
Referee: Robert Sibiga
Attendance: 41,868
Scoring Summary
17’ – SEA – Victor RodrÃguez (Nicolás Lodeiro)
62’ – SEA – Nicolás Lodeiro (Joevin Jones, VÃctor RodrÃguez)
69’ – SEA – Clint Dempsey (Nicolás Lodeiro)
Statistics
Possession: Seattle 58.8% – Vancouver 41.2%
Shots: Seattle 20 – Vancouver 8
Shots on Goal: Seattle 4 – Vancouver 1
Saves: Seattle 1 – Vancouver 1
Fouls: Seattle 8 – Vancouver 21
Offsides: Seattle 0 – Vancouver 0
Corners: Seattle 5 – Vancouver 4
Cautions
24’ – VAN – Yordy Reyna
26’ – VAN – Kendall Waston
35’ – SEA – Osvaldo Alonso
90’+1 – VAN – Sheanon Williams
Ejection
90’+2’ – VAN – Tony Tchani
Seattle Sounders FC
24.Stefan Frei; 18.Kelvin Leerdam, 29.Román Torres (15.Tony Alfaro 78‘), 14.Chad Marshall, 33.Joevin Jones (17.Will Bruin 76‘); 6.Osvaldo Alonso © (5.Nouhou 45’), 4.Gustav Svensson; 10.Nicolás Lodeiro, 7.Cristian Roldan, 8.Victor RodrÃguez; 2.Clint Dempsey
Substitutes not used
1.Tyler Miller, 21.Jordy Delem, 23.Henry Wingo, 27.Lamar Neagle
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
1.David Ousted; 25.Sheanon Williams, 4.Kendall Waston ©, 26.Tim Parker, 2.Jordan Harvey; 16.Tony Tchani, 31.Russell Teibert; 23.Bernie Ibini (13.Cristian Techera 67‘), 29.Yordy Reyna (67.Alphonso Davies 67‘), 7.Christian Bolaños (77.Mauro Rosales 75‘); 12.Fredy Montero
Substitutes not used
24.Stefan Marinović, 8.Andrew Jacobson, 17.Marcel de Jong, 20.Brek Shea
