The Vancouver Whitecaps look to build on their first-place status and create some separation from the pack when they host Austin FC on Sunday afternoon in a Western Conference match.
Vancouver (14-5-4, 46 points) begins the weekend three points clear of second-place Houston in the West and seven points behind Eastern Conference frontrunner Nashville SC in the Supporters’ Shield race. The Whitecaps are 4-2-0 over their last six contests, with their most recent outing a 3-0 win at home over the LA Galaxy on Wednesday.
Ryan Gauld, Brian White and Bruno Caicedo scored goals for Vancouver in the victory and goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka recorded his 11th clean sheet of the year while recording five saves. The Whitecaps bounced back from a 3-1 loss to St. Louis on Sept. 5.
“We need to find the consistency,” Gauld said Wednesday. “That’s how we take ourselves to a higher level. There has been a few games that have been a bit flatter, and we’ve struggled a little bit. So, it’s down to managing to play at a level and play in a way that we’re always trying to be in control of games.”
Gauld’s goal was his 50th in a Whitecaps’ kit, as he became the first player to reach 50 goals and 50 assists in the team’s MLS history.
The Verde (6-10-8, 26 points) head to the Pacific Northwest after drawing its past three league matches, the most recent a 1-1 decision at home against Colorado on Wednesday. Facundo Torres produced the equalizer for Austin in the 79th minute.
Torres’ goal was his fourth of the season and third in his past five games, as the Verde rallied late to split the points in a match at home for the second time in five days and boosted their unbeaten streak to five consecutive MLS outings.
Austin remains in 14th place in the 15-team West but is still just four points below ninth place and a spot in the conference’s play-in game with 10 matches remaining.
“You know, we stay in it,” Austin FC interim coach Davy Arnaud said. “Again, these guys have character; they have personality. The response is always strong. And that speaks to their character and their desire.
“We’ve been we’ve been grinding, man. These guys have been working really hard, and we don’t forget about that stretch of six or seven weeks where we were playing back to back to back, and these guys don’t complain. They get after it.”
This is the first of two matches between the teams this season, with the follow-up coming on Oct. 17 in Austin. Vancouver has dominated the Verde of late, winning three of the past five matches and drawing twice. Austin has won just once in the 10 all-time games with the Whitecaps.
–Field Level Media
