VANCOUVER — Following back-to-back late collapses at home, the Vancouver Whitecaps found themselves comfortably ahead in the dying moments of Wednesday’s game against Real Salt Lake.
Then as they have too often in recent weeks, things started to fray.
A sloppy pass here, a poor clearance there, and Real was on top of the suddenly shell-shocked hosts, with the best chance coming on a shot blasted off the crossbar in injury time that stayed out.
The Whitecaps held on for a much-needed 2-0 victory, but the sequence showed there’s still work to do as the club looks to recapture the form that propelled it to second in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference in 2015, mostly on the back of strong defensive play.
"We need to assess how we perform in the last five, 10 minutes of games, especially being in front," said goalkeeper David Ousted. "I thought we did better (against Salt Lake). We got it closed out, we got the clean sheet, we got the win.
"But there’s still room for improvement."
Vancouver had its heart broken in the dying seconds of the Amway Canadian Championship final against Toronto FC at B.C. Place Stadium on June 29 before another disaster last weekend in MLS when the 10-man Colorado Rapids snatched a point with a 95th-minute equalizer.
That gut punch marked the eighth time the Whitecaps had given up a goal after the 75th minute in league play this season.
Vancouver allowed a couple of early opportunities against Real before the rocky patch that included the shot off the bar, but by and large put in a solid performance in front of goal.
"At times we can be better in decision making to eliminate some of those chances down the stretch," said defender Jordan Harvey, whose team picked up its third shutout of 2016 after tying for a league-high 13 last season. "At the same time, you focus on what happened at the final whistle and that was a clean sheet.
"Hopefully it’s something we can build off."
What also can’t be discounted was the impetus to perform after a pair of Canadian internationals — defender David Edgar and defender/midfielder Marcel de Jong — were signed earlier in the week to help shore up a leaky backline that had surrendered 33 goals in 19 MLS games prior to Wednesday.
Vancouver conceded just 36 times in 34 outings last year, good for a goals-against average of 1.05 compared to 1.65 in 2016.
"With new players coming it does provide competition. That’s part and parcel of football," said Whitecaps assistant coach Gordon Forrest. "It makes everyone step up their levels."
The Whitecaps (8-8-4) find themselves sitting sixth in the air-tight West heading into Saturday’s home date against Orlando City SC (4-5-9).
Vancouver snapped a 1-3-2 run with that win over Salt Lake, while Orlando hasn’t scored in three matches following a 2-0 setback at the New York Red Bulls the same night.
"We’re still looking to play our best soccer," said Harvey. "We haven’t reached our height, our potential. Building on this last game, hopefully we can start to gain some momentum and hit the best part of our season and carry that into the playoffs."
Orlando has just two victories since the beginning of April and fired popular head coach Adrian Heath last week. The club won’t have Brazilian star Kaka for a third straight game because of a groin injury, while Brek Shea is also set to miss out due to yellow card accumulation.
Still, the Whitecaps know they have to be careful against a team that has some firepower up front, especially in the person of Cyle Larin.
The 21-year-old from Brampton, Ont., has eight goals in 15 starts this season, and Edgar joked the best way to stop his teammate with Canada is to "kick him."
"(Larin) is just scratching the surface," said Edgar, who could make his Whitecaps’ debut Tuesday when Vancouver hosts a friendly against English Premier League side Crystal Palace. "He’s a real raw talent. He’s got the physical attributes of a man, he’s strong, he’s powerful and he’s got good feet.
"We have to be very wary of him."
