Surrey’s own Jeevan Badwal scores the winner as ‘Caps return to the top of the MLS Supporters’ Shield standings
- With the win, Whitecaps FC have now set a club-record 11-match unbeaten run in MLS play
- Whitecaps FC remain in first place in the Western Conference and return to the top of the overall MLS Supporters’ Shield standings, with a game in hand
- The crowd of 24,276 was the largest MLS home crowd of the year at BC Place
- Whitecaps FC BMO Academy graduate Jeevan Badwal scored his first career MLS goal in his first career MLS home start at BC Place
- J.C. Ngando recorded his fourth assist across all competitions this season
- Édier Ocampo recorded his third assist across all competitions this season. He is now up to four goal contributions this season (one goal, three assists)
- Daniel Ríos scored his second MLS goal of the season. He is now up to five goal contributions across all competitions this season (two goals, three assists)
- Ralph Priso recorded his third assist across all competitions this season
- Damir Kreilach scored his first goal of the season. Whitecaps FC are now up to 16 goalscorers across all competitions this season, surpassing their total of 14 from last year
- Yohei Takaoka kept his eighth clean sheet of the season, tied for the league lead, and his 10th in all competitions
- Tristan Blackmon and Ranko Veselinović made their 99th start together
VANCOUVER, BC – It was already a warm evening at BC Place on Sunday, but Vancouver Whitecaps FC turned up the heat with a red-hot 3-0 win over Cascadia rivals Seattle Sounders FC.
Seattle got the first look on goal early on, after Cristian Roldán tried to volley inside the box after a short clearance, but his shot went wide.
Édier Ocampo came close for Whitecaps FC after cutting in from the left, but his ball into the box went just wide of the far post. That lit a spark for the ‘Caps, as both Emmanuel Sabbi and Daniel Ríos had chances inside the box that forced Sounders FC to make heroic defending to deny Whitecaps FC a goal after 15 minutes.
After a sustained period of ‘Caps pressure, Pedro de la Vega nearly got one against the run of play after finding the ball on the edge of the box and whipping a curling effort towards the far post, but it went wide of net.
The ‘Caps then broke the deadlock after 40 minutes, through Whitecaps FC BMO Academy product Jeevan Badwal scoring his first MLS goal. The ball went wide for Ocampo on the left and he drilled a low cross into the box, deflected by J.C. Ngando for Badwal to poke the ball into the back of the net with an outstretched toe.
The second half saw Seattle go down to 10 men after just seven minutes, as Nouhou dragged down Mathías Laborda after the ‘Caps defender was able to get around him and head clean in towards goal.
With the advantage and the lead in their favour, Whitecaps FC began to dictate play and get in behind the Seattle defence. That began to cause some serious trouble for Seattle, who got caught flat-footed defensively and earned themselves another red card in the 55th minute to Jon Bell as he clipped Sabbi who would have been in on goal.
After 15 minutes of patient play, Whitecaps FC made the most of their two-man advantage with a second goal in the 70th minute through Ríos. With just a small window to shoot on the edge of the box, Ríos blasted a tenacious effort that left Sounders FC ‘keeper Stefan Frei no chance as it bulged the side netting.
Ocampo nearly made it 3-0 after meeting a Laborda cross with an acrobatic volley inside the box that forced Frei to parry out his vicious effort. Ralph Priso tried his luck minutes later after hitting a shot first time on the edge of the box, bending under the crossbar and being tipped over by a busy Frei.
The closing stages saw Whitecaps FC continue to attack through Ocampo and Sabbi, the latter of which earned his side a penalty in the 87th minute. Up stepped Damir Kreilach who slotted it cooly, sending the ‘keeper the wrong way and making it 3-0 on the night.
That would be it as Whitecaps FC continued their charge at the top of the table with a clean sheet and an impressive three points. Whitecaps FC are back in action next Saturday, June 14 as they travel to the East Coast to face Columbus Crew SC in Ohio. Kickoff is at 4:30 p.m. PT.
The ‘Caps then come back home to host San Diego FC for the very first time on Wednesday, June 25. Kickoff for that one is at 7:30 p.m. PT. For tickets, visit whitecapsfc.com/tickets.
MATCH DETAILS
Attendance: 24,276
Referee: Ricardo Fierro
Scoring Summary
40’ – VAN – Jeevan Badwal (Édier Ocampo, J.C. Ngando)
70’ – VAN – Daniel Ríos (Ralph Priso)
88’ – VAN – Damir Kreilach (penalty kick)
Statistics
Possession: VAN 46.1% – SEA 53.9%
Shots: VAN 13 – SEA 7
Shots on Goal: VAN 5 – SEA 0
Saves: VAN 0 – SEA 2
Fouls: VAN 10 – SEA 11
Offsides: VAN 0 – SEA 1
Corners: VAN 3 – SEA 3
Ejections
52’ – SEA – Nouhou
55’ – SEA – Jon Bell
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
1.Yohei Takaoka; 2.Mathías Laborda,15.Bjørn Inge Utvik (12.Belal Halbouni 64’), 4.Ranko Veselinović, 33.Tristan Blackmon, 18.Édier Ocampo; 59.Jeevan Badwal (19.Damir Kreilach 74′), 13.Ralph Priso; 11.Emmanuel Sabbi, 14.Daniel Ríos, 26.J.C. Ngando
Substitutes not used
32.Isaac Boehmer, 41.Nikola Djordjevic, 43.Antoine Coupland, 44.Jackson Castro, 48.Adrián Pelayo, 54.Daniel Russo, 63.Johnny Selemani
Seattle Sounders FC
24.Stefan Frei; 16.Álex Roldán, 25.Jackson Ragen (33.Cody Baker 81’), 15.Jon Bell, 5.Nouhou; 18.Obed Vargas, 7.Cristian Roldán; 10.Pedro de la Vega (14. Paul Rothrock 60’), 11.Albert Rusnák (6.João Paulo 61’), 77.Ryan Kent (19. Danny Musovski 60’); 9.Jesús Ferreira (85.Kalani Kossa-Rienzi 60′)
Substitutes not used
26.Andrew Thomas, 3.Travian Sousa, 75.Danny Leyva, 93.Georgi Minoungou
