Brian White breaks VWFC MLS era goal-scoring record, ‘Caps earn a hard-fought road point

HARRISON, NJ – It was a heated affair in the Garden State as Vancouver Whitecaps FC earned a tough 1-1 draw on the road against New York Red Bulls, after Brian White scored his historic 44th goal for the club.

• On 17 points (5W-2L-2D), the ‘Caps equaled 2012 with their best start in MLS through the first nine matches
• VWFC sit third in the conference, one point out of first with a game in-hand on both LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake
• With a +8 goal difference, the ‘Caps are tied with RSL for second best in the league, two behind Inter Miami CF
• Whitecaps FC are the only team in MLS to have scored in every match this season
• Whitecaps FC remain undefeated on the road in MLS action (3W-0L-1D) and have conceded a league best two goals away from home
• The ‘Caps and FC Cincinnati share the best road record in MLS since June 24, 2023 at 7W-3L-4D
• Vancouver are now 2W-1L-3D all-time at Red Bull Arena
• With his goal, New Jersey product, Brian White is now the club’s leading goalscorer with 44 goals across all competitions in the MLS era. White has five goals and three assists in 10 games across all competitions this year
• Ryan Raposo has increased his goal contributions to five in nine MLS appearances this season – two goals, three assists

The game began in lightning fashion, with New York Red Bulls calling Yohei Takaoka into quick action. Lewis Morgan tried twice to get past Takaoka after slipping in behind the ‘Caps defence, but the Japanese keeper came out big to deny both shots from the in-form striker. Takaoka was called to duty once again as his fingertips denied a dangerous cross into the box off a Red Bulls counter-attack inside 15 minutes.

Yet, despite being under heavy Red Bull pressure, it was Whitecaps FC that opened the scoring just a minute later. Pedro Vite sent Ryan Raposo through on the right side, who managed to cut it across the box. Brian White, making his return to his home state, neatly finished it to give the ‘Caps the lead. With that goal, White became the club’s all-time record goalscorer in the MLS era across all competitions.

White nearly made it a brace inside half-an-hour when he was sent through clean on goal, but was denied when trying to squeeze it underneath RBNY keeper Carlos Coronel. The Red Bulls continued to search for that equalizer in the first half, but were consistently denied by the likes of Ranko Veselinović, Mathías Laborda and Tristan Blackmon in defence.

Berhalter had a great opportunity right before half from a free-kick just outside the box; however, his shot clamored straight into the wall. Whitecaps FC would come into the break maintaining the one-goal lead in New Jersey.

The second half then began similar to the first, with the ‘Caps enduring a huge attacking storm by the Red Bulls.

Whitecaps FC did well to withstand that pressure for 10 minutes, but a dangerous corner allowed Lewis Morgan to redirect it into the back of the net and equalize the match.

White had the opportunity to get the go-ahead goal not long after off a nice through ball from Ali Ahmed. White squared up to Coronel but was unable to get his shot away as a diving Daniel Edelman blocked it safely for a corner.

On the otherside, Veselinović then had a goal-saving tackle in the 65th minute, coming across Dante Vanzeir to dispossess him in the box and deny the opportunity to score. ‘Caps keeper Takaoka was the hero once again just a few minutes later, denying Lewis Morgan a second goal and then punching out the resulting corner.

The game turned as New York went down to 10 men with just over 15 minutes to play. Defender Noah Elie handled the ball and denied Gauld a goal-scoring opportunity.

Berhalter stepped up to the plate for the ensuing free-kick, but could only manage to clip the top of the Red Bulls wall for a throw-in.

Ahmed and Blackmon both had shots denied by Coronel in the last 10 minutes, as the ‘Caps looked for that go-ahead goal in the closing stages. And despite the ‘Caps throwing everything they had to earn the late victory, the match ended with each side earning a point.

Whitecaps FC are back in action at home next Saturday, May 4 as they host Austin FC at 7:30pm PT. For tickets, visit whitecapsfc.com/tickets.

MATCH DETAILS
VWFC GE Appliances Player of Quality: Ranko Veselinović
Attendance: 17,525
Referee: Mark Allatin

Scoring Summary
15’ – VAN – Brian White (Ryan Raposo, Pedro Vite)
56’ – RBNY – Lewis Morgan (Emil Forsberg)

Statistics
Possession: RBNY 59.3 – VAN 40.7
Shots: RBNY 16 – VAN 12
Shots on Goal: RBNY 9 – VAN 4
Saves: RBNY 3 – VAN 8
Fouls: RBNY 10 – VAN 9
Offsides: RBNY 0 – VAN 1
Corners: RBNY 6 – VAN 5

Cautions
22’ – VAN – Sam Adekugbe
34’ – RBNY – Dante Vanzeir
43’ – RBNY – Wilkeman Carmona
45’+3 – VAN – Ryan Raposo
58’ – RBNY – Daniel Edelman
71’ – VAN – Mathías Laborda
90’+1 – RBNY – Dylan Nealis

Ejection
74’ – RBNY – Noah Elie

New York Red Bulls
31.Carlos Coronel; 12.Dylan Nealis, 15.Sean Nealis, 3.Noah Elie, 47.John Tolkin (6.Kyle Duncan 79’); 2.Dennis Gjengaar (17.Cameron Harper 66’), 75.Daniel Edelman, 19.Wilkeman Carmona (8.Frankie Amaya 66’), 10.Emil Forsberg (7.Cory Burke 90’); 13.Dante Vanzeir (11.Elias Manoel 66’), 9.Lewis Morgan

Substitutes not used
18.Ryan Meara,16.Julian Hall, 23.Aiden O’Connor, 91.Bento Estrela

Vancouver Whitecaps FC
1.Yohei Takaoka; 2.Mathías Laborda (11.Fafà Picault 79’), 4.Ranko Veselinović, 6.Tristan Blackmon; 7.Ryan Raposo (13.Ralph Priso 61’), 45.Pedro Vite, 16.Sebastian Berhalter (19.Damir Kreilach 87’), 22.Ali Ahmed; 25.Ryan Gauld ©, 24.Brian White, 3.Sam Adekugbe (23.Javain Brown 61’)

Substitutes not used
32.Isaac Boehmer, 12.Belal Halbouni, 14.Luís Martins, 15.Bjørn Inge Utvik, 28.Levonte Johnson