First place in the Western Conference is on the line when the Vancouver Whitecaps visit San Diego FC on Saturday night.
San Diego FC (13-7-3, 42 points) holds a one-point lead over the Whitecaps (12-5-5, 41 points) thanks to a 5-3 victory in Vancouver on June 25.
Both teams have been dragging a bit, however, entering the rematch.
The Whitecaps notched a 3-0 road victory over the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday, but it was just their second win in their past six MLS matches.
San Diego, which leads the MLS with 46 goals, fell 1-0 at home to Toronto FC on Wednesday for its second setback in the past three matches.
The potent San Diego offense was missing in action for much of the contest against Toronto FC. San Diego didn’t take a single shot in the first half and its only shot on goal came in the 71st minute by Chucky Lozano.
“We lost, so we’re all disappointed, and we know that we didn’t play our best,” San Diego coach Mikey Varas said afterward. “We weren’t so sharp on the ball, and we know we’re a lot better than that as a team.
“So at the end of the day, it’s just looking in the mirror knowing that it wasn’t good enough.”
The match was the first since San Diego agreed to a mutual loan termination with Milan Iloski, who was second on the team with 10 goals.
Iloski was the difference-maker in the first encounter with the Whitecaps, as he scored a career-high four goals.
Meanwhile, Vancouver hopes it put its recent malaise in the closet after the solid win in Houston.
Whitecaps star Brian White had a goal and an assist while Emmanuel Sabbi and Sebastian Berhalter had the other goals.
White’s goal was his 11th of the season in MLS play and his first since scoring two on May 24 against Real Salt Lake.
White was away for nearly a month with the United States team playing in the Gold Cup. Since his return, he didn’t score in the first two matches — one a Canadian Championship game, the other a MLS match – before breaking out against the Dynamo.
“It’s not about the game Saturday,” Whitecaps coach Jesper Sorensen said, referencing the showdown with San Diego FC. “It’s about Brian. I talked to him about it that he’s not chasing the game. It’s very important that he’s playing his part and then we know that opportunities will arise.”
Edier Ocampo, Mathias Laborda and Antoine Coupland scored the Vancouver goals in last month’s loss to San Diego.
–Field Level Media
