Vancouver Whitecaps looking to avoid 'déjà vù' at BC Place in game #2 vs. LAFC: "We just need to piece it all together"
It’s a strangely familiar scenario.
For a second straight season, the Vancouver Whitecaps sit with their backs against the wall heading into the second game of their first-round playoff series, as they trail LAFC 1-0 in their best-of-three matchup after losing 2-1 in game #1 at BMO Stadium on Sunday.
As a result, they head back to BC Place for game #2 next Sunday needing to win to keep their season alive.
This is a familiar scenario for these Whitecaps, who faced LAFC in the first round of the 2023 MLS Cup playoffs, falling 5-2 in the opening game. They’ll be hoping for a better ending this time around - they fell 1-0 in game #2 last year, which ended their season.
Denis Bouanga buries the PK and @LAFC lead in the first half. 👊
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) October 28, 2024
📺 Watch free on Apple TV: https://t.co/wB4NH8bsBE // Audi #MLSCupPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/shdo0tMwmT
For them to repeat a similar story this time would feel like an underwhelming ending, marking stagnation for a team that was supposed to build on the one that won a Canadian Championship, made the playoffs and made some noise in the Concacaf Champions Cup and Leagues Cup in 2023.
“A difference from last year is that we arrived to that (second) game (in 2023) with a different kind of approach because we smashed them in the last regular season game but then tied with (Ryan) Gauld missing the two penalties, so we had gone to LA a bit too (confident) that we could beat them, people around MLS were talking about how we could make an upset, and that brought us back to earth,” Vanni Sartini offered when asked to compare this year’s series to last year.
“This time, it’s been calmer this week, the last game was toe-to-toe, the game before was toe-to-toe, but we realize that it’s not enough to play well against these guys, because if we just play well, it’ll end like the last two games (a pair of 2-1 wins for LAFC), so we need to play well and play with a killer instinct.”
Ultimately, this 2024 campaign has proven to be very similar to 2023 for the Whitecaps - they’ve won another Canadian Championship (their third straight) and are back in the playoffs in consecutive years for the first time since 2014 and 2015, but they also made a shorter run in the Champions Cup and fell in the same stage in the Leagues Cup.
Because of that, this second LAFC game represents a chance not just at survival, but an opportunity for progress, too.
A loss in game #2 proves that the Whitecaps are exactly where they were a year ago - able to compete with the best teams in North America, but lacking the ability to beat them on the biggest stage. With a win, however, they’d at least prove they can push one of the best in the region to the brink, while still maintaining hope that they can get past them in the third game of this series.
Cristian Olivera with an absolute rocket to give @LAFC a two goal lead. 🚀
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) October 28, 2024
📺 Watch for free on Apple TV: https://t.co/wB4NH8bsBE // Audi #MLSCupPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/bBhN5Zx049
Safe to say, this could be an era-defining moment for this team, and for good reason.
“It is what it is,” Sartini said. “We’ve played LAFC a million times, we faced them in this exact same situation last year, but the thing is that we’re not bored of playing them, because we want to play them another time (in a third game).”
For what it’s worth, however, this isn’t the first time they’ve dealt with a game like this as of late. In fact, they’ve had two such matches over the past six weeks or so.
First, they had to find a way to beat Toronto FC in the Canadian Championship final, which they did despite playing their best game, which is something they’ve struggled to do in the past. A sign of their growing maturity as a group, they hoped to carry over to the playoffs, where it can be as much about survival as it is about playing well and dominating.
CANADIAN CHAMPIONS 🇨🇦#VWFC – the 2024 TELUS #CanChamp winners, for a third consecutive year, hoist the Voyageurs Cup at BC Place! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/2sC8BdvVaN
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) September 26, 2024
Then, they had to take on the Portland Timbers in the Western Conference #8 vs #9 Wild Card game last week to even reach the playoffs proper. A match they were never supposed to be in after flirting with a top-four spot for a large chunk of the season but dropped into after losing four straight to end the year, they needed a response, and they got it in the form of a 5-0 win that ranks among the best performances of their MLS era.
Now, however, they’ll hope to conjure up what they showed in both of those performances as they get set for this second game vs. LAFC.
In front of what is expected to be a strong BC Place crowd, they’ve got the chance to re-write some history, as they look to erase past memories of painful playoff defeats at BC Place. Other than a 5-0 demolition of the San Jose Earthquakes in the 2017 MLS Cup playoffs, BC Place has been home to more frustrating Whitecaps results in the playoffs, such as their 1-0 loss in game #2 last year, their 0-0 draw to the Seattle Sounders in leg one of their 2017 Western Conference semi-final matchup, and their 2-0 loss to the Portland Timbers in leg two of their 2015 Western Conference semi-final battle.
That’s why this match is so important for the Whitecaps. A team that has sometimes struggled to capture the attention of the city for different reasons, they’ve got the chance to do so with a win in this match.
Faced up against a top MLS side, one who won the 2022 MLS Cup and reached the 2023 MLS Cup final, no better way to send a message that this Whitecaps team can indeed be a threat to make a deep run themselves than with a win.
In a Vancouver sporting market that is always eager to throw itself behind a winner, this is a chance to give them something to rally behind, instead of having the narrative of “the same old Whitecaps”.
Nearing the end of their 50th year anniversary as a club, it’s important to remember that this is a team that has won at every other level they’ve played, including in the NASL, CSL and USL, but that same success has remained elusive in MLS.
Ryan Gauld pulls one back for Vancouver! 🏴@WhitecapsFC // Audi #MLSCupPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/eDslki1jQx
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) October 28, 2024
Now, they’ve got a chance to change that, and perhaps, maybe entering this must-win game will be exactly what they need to get that push over the line.
“When we talk about belief, there’s more of a feeling between the players and the staff that we’re capable of putting in good performances and matching the best teams, we just need to piece it all together,” Gauld said.
“Obviously LAFC are a very good team, so we can’t take anything for granted, and a lot of times this year we haven’t pieced it all together to defend well, attack well, keep the ball and be good on set pieces, Portland was the one we did it, and we got our best performance of the season. We need to be on it in every stage of the game, and that can be a big difference.”
