The 2014 Major League Soccer playoffs kick off on Wednesday night and for the third straight year the league’s post-season festivities will feature a Canadian team.
While the Montreal Impact and Toronto FC finished outside of the playoff zone in the Eastern Conference, the Vancouver Whitecaps held off the surging Portland Timbers to claim the fifth and final playoff berth in the Western Conference.
It’s the second time in franchise history that Vancouver made it to the MLS post-season, having previously lost to the LA Galaxy in the first round in 2012. Vancouver will try to improve on that this time around, with the first obstacle being FC Dallas, who is back in the post-season for the first time since 2011.
The Whitecaps can make history by becoming the first Canadian team to win an MLS playoff game.
Here are five things to know about Wednesday’s four-vs-five Western Conference knockout round playoff game in Texas.
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Vancouver’s defence very stingy
In Blas Perez, FC Dallas has one of the most dangerous and dynamic attacking players in MLS. The Panamanian international led the team in scoring with 11 goals this season—three of those goals came against the Whitecaps. Colombian forward Fabian Castillo, with 10 goals on the campaign, is another scoring threat for the Texas club.
But the Whitecaps’ defence, anchored by veteran Andy O’Brien and fellow centre back Kendall Waston of Costa Rica, has been impenetrable in recent weeks, recording four consecutive shutouts to close the season. Vancouver is riding a 393 minute shutout streak, and hasn’t conceded a goal since the 57th minute of a 2-1 victory over Real Salt Lake on Sept. 27.
“We’ve not been bad over the last few games,” coach Carl Robinson told the Whitecaps’ official website.
“No one expected us to get into the playoffs except me, that group of players and the club. We had a quiet belief about us, without an arrogance, and we did. Now we’re in it, who knows? Spin that wheel.”
Whitecaps defender Steven Beitashour will miss Wednesday’s contest with a hamstring injury. Robinson could go with 19-year-old Sam Adekugbe or 20-year-old Ethen Sampson in the Iranian international’s place.
Who’ll score for Vancouver?
While the Whitecaps have been solid at the back end, scoring goals has proven to be more of a problem. Vancouver has managed just six goals in their last six games, and was shut out twice during that same run.
Chilean midfielder Pedro Morales leads the team in scoring with 10 goals, but the majority of them have been from the penalty spot. The club never really replaced Brazilian forward Camilo, their top scorer and league MVP candidate from last year, and has had to rely on goal-scoring by committee.
Robinson doesn’t seem too concerned, though.
“We’ll be organized defensively as we have been the last five, six games and we’ll make sure that when we get into attacking areas we can try and exploit their weaknesses,” he told the Canadian Press.
“They leave holes. If we can get our attacking players in those pockets of space then it will be down to whether we can finish.”
Whitecaps have momentum
Winning on the road in the playoffs is tough, and playing away from home hasn’t been one of the Whitecaps’ great strengths—they won only three of 17 games away from the B.C. Place Stadium this season.
Vancouver, though, does have one thing going for itself: momentum.
The Whitecaps went 4-0-1 in their final five game of the season—including earning a must-win at home over the Colorado Rapids in their finale—to edge the Portland Timbers for the fifth playoff spot in the West.
With a 12-8-14 record, Vancouver finished tied for the second-least amount of losses in the regular season (the LA Galaxy had seven) and their 50 total points would have been good enough for fourth spot in the Eastern Conference standings, just ahead of reigning league champions Sporting Kansas City.
The Whitecaps also won the regional Cascadia Cup tournament and qualified for the 2015 CONCACAF Championship League. So confidence is high headed into Wednesday’s tilt in Texas, and Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson insists the pressure is on the hosts.
“Dallas (has) finished above us, so they’re probably favorites,” Robinson told the team’s website. “They’re at home. We’ve got nothing to lose.”
Head to head
This is the first MLS playoff meeting between the two sides, but Dallas has dominated the regular season series against Vancouver with seven wins and two draws in 11 all-time meetings. The Whitecaps have been outscored 10-2 while losing all five matches in Dallas.
Vancouver and Dallas met three times during the 2014 regular season, with each team winning at home and the other match ending in a 2-2 draw at B.C. Place Stadium.
It’s been a spirited series—Dallas coach Oscar Pareja and Vancouver assistant Martyn Pert were fined after getting involved in a post-match confrontation following the Whitecaps’ 2-0 home win Oct. 4. A month earlier, Pert and Dallas assistant Josema Bazan were sent off during a 2-1 Dallas victory Sept. 13 at home.
What comes next?
The winner of Wednesday’s game advances to the Western Conference semifinals and will face the Seattle Sounders in a two-game, home-and-home series. The Sounders will host the decisive second leg by virtue of finishing first in the West during the regular season.
The other Western Conference semifinal sees the second-place LA Galaxy take on third-place Real Salt Lake.
This year’s MLS Cup will be staged on Dec. 7 and will be hosted by the finalist with the best regular season record.
