VANCOUVER, B.C. – After nine scoreless halves of soccer, the Vancouver Whitecaps finally ended their scoring drought, although it took a penalty and a goal from a defender to do it.
A Pedro Morales spot kick and a first MLS goal from center back Kendall Waston saw the Whitecaps over the line in a 2-0 win over San Jose Earthquakes at BC Place, whilst goalkeeper David Ousted recorded a league-leading ninth clean sheet of the season.
Despite their recent struggles, the win moves Vancouver (8-6-13; 37 points) back into the playoff places in the West and gives them a two point cushion over the chasing Portland Timbers. San Jose (6-11-9; 27 points) remain second bottom in the Western Conference, 10 points adrift of the final playoff spot.
Carl Robinson had challenged his side to shoot more and Vancouver seemed to have taken the advice to heart but weren't troubling Jon Busch in the San Jose goal.
Waston came closest to either side opening the scoring in the early going, heading a corner narrowly over 13 minutes in, and the Costa Rican was in the thick of the action in the move that saw Vancouver take the lead when Victor Bernardez bundled him over in the box at a free kick in the 37th minute.
Morales stepped up to drill the penalty past Busch and ended the Whitecaps’ 449 minute drought.
The Earthquakes looked livelier as the second half got underway but Vancouver doubled their advantage in the 56th minute when Waston powered home a Morales corner through the legs of Cordell Cato on the goalline.
The goal seemed to deflate San Jose and Vancouver pushed forward for more, but were unable to find a further breakthrough, despite an array of shots.
Both teams now face tricky Western Conference match-ups this coming weekend. Vancouver look to remain in the playoff places when they travel to Dallas on Saturday night, with San Jose hosting the LA Galaxy on Sunday afternoon.
MLSsoccer.com Men of the Match
Rank |
Player |
What We Saw |
1 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/kendall-waston" target="_blank"><strong><span style="font-size: 12px;">Kendall Waston</span></strong></a> |
Created the first goal, scored the second and kept the San Jose attack under wraps for the entire 90 minutes. |
2 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/russell-teibert" target="_blank"><strong><span style="font-size:12px;">Russell Teibert</span></strong></a> |
Moved play forward quickly via both his passing and aggression on the dribble. The outside of the diamond suits him. |
3 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/pedro-morales" target="_blank"><strong><span style="font-size:12px;">Pedro Morales</span></strong></a> |
Will get MVP buzz if he continues to play like this and the 'Caps make the playoffs. His range of passing is astounding. |
