Whitecaps lose to Sounders 3-0 in Cascadia Cup Clash

Vancouver 0 – Seattle 3 (Ivanschitz, Pineda, Martins)

The Vancouver Whitecaps gave up a late first half goal, then were hit on the counter twice in the 2^nd half as the Seattle Sounders won 3-0 to win the 2015 edition of the Cascadia Cup and move to within three points of the Whitecaps in the MLS Western Conference playoff chase. Andreas Ivanschitz scored his first MLS goal as he beat Jordan Smith and then went five-hole on David Ousted to make it 1-0 right before the half. In the 71^st minute Gonzalo Pineda made it 2-0 as he took the Clint Dempsey pass and put his shot post and in. Dempsey would provide again late in the 88^th minute as he ran past Russell Teibert in the box and then passed to an open Obafemi Martins who sealed the deal to make it 3-0.

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Match Recap

The Vancouver Whitecaps played host to the Seattle Sounders Saturday afternoon at BC Place in a Cascadia Cup match that also had implications in the MLS Western Conference playoff chase. Whitecaps Head Coach Carl Robinson was forced into a couple of changes as Steven Beitashour was a late injury concern and Pedro Morales had a hamstring problem. Matias Laba was suspended for the match as well. Robinson went with David Ousted in goal, Jordan Smith, Kendall Waston, Pa-Modou Kah and Jordan Harvey in defense, Gershon Koffie and Russell Teibert in defensive midfield, and Kekuta Manneh, Mauro Rosales and Cristian Techera supporting Octavio Rivero up front.

Seattle would get the first good chance on goal five minutes in as Brad Evans rose to meet a header and send it goalbound but David Ousted tipped over the bar to make the save.

Ten minutes later Octavio Rivero had a chance at the other end as he found himself in open space just inside the box, but his curling shot would go just wide of goal. A few minutes later Cristian Techera would find Rivero behind the Seattle defence but Rivero's shot would be saved by the onrushing Stefan Frei.

In the 22^nd minute Russel Teibert would earn a yellow card for a foul on Clint Dempsey in midfield, Teibert would argue that was only his first challenge but to no avail. The referee would even up the cards a few minutes later as Brad Evans was booked for a challenge on Mauro Rosales in midfield.

Techera would have a chance on goal late in the first half as Pa-Modou Kah found him streaking down the right side but his low shot would be saved by Stefan Frei.

Just before the half Seattle would open the scoring as Obefemi Martins would find Andreas Ivanschitz behind Jordan Smith, and Ivanschitz would go 5-hole on David Ousted to give Seattle the 1-0 lead.

Early in the 2^nd half there was a shout for handball as the Whitecaps went on the offensive. Replays showed that the ball did indeed hit the Seattle player's hand, but his hand was protecting his area.

The Whitecaps would start to pepper more long distance efforts on Stefan Frei, Kekuta Manneh in particular but Frei was able to save from distance.

On 63 minutes Jordan Smith would go into the book for a foul on Obafemi Martins. Seattle would send the resulting wide before pumping it into the box but David Ousted would collect the ball.

A few minutes later Nelson Valdez would come on for Seattle's goal scorer Ivanschitz for the Sounders first substitution.

In the 71^st minute Gonzalo Pineda would make it 2-0 as he took the Clint Dempsey pass and put his shot post and in to double Seattle's advantage. Both teams would make substitutions after that as Brad Evans would come off for Cristian Roldan for Seattle, and Vancouver would bring on Nicolas Mezquida for Mauro Rosales.

In the 80^th minute Osvaldo Alonso had to be taken off after an injury in which the stretcher originally came out but Alsons managed to walk off. In the interim Kendall Waston earned a yellow card for a foul on Clint Dempsey which brought all the players to the center circle as there was some pushing and shoving involved.

Alonso would eventually come off for Leonardo Gonzalez, and the Sounders would eventually put the match to bed in the 87^th minute, as Dempsey ran past Russell Teibert in the box before passing to an open Obafemi Martins to make it 3-0.

Carl Robinson would bring on Sam Adekugbe and Kianz Froese for a cameo appearance as the Whitecaps got it all wrong on this night and lost 3-0. Seattle's win puts the only three points back of the Whitecaps in the MLS Western Conference and Seattle also becomes the 2015 Cascadia Cup Champions.

The Whitecaps will get a chance at redemption Wednesday as they travel down the I-5 to take on the Sounders in a Concacaf Champions League match in which they have a chance to clinch progression to the next round.

Note: For those of you travelling to the match, allow extra travel time as the Chinese President is on an official state visit to the Seattle area Wednesday.

Post Match Quotes

Carl Robinson - Thoughts on the match:

"I can't fault my boys today, they were fantastic, its easy for me to say that but we lost 3-nil. But I'm proud of 'em because of the way they went out, it was a sucker punch, we had two or three good chances and didn't take them and they had one and they took theirs, they're a good team so that happens. In the 2^nd half I thought we played on the front foot, I could throw out how many shots and chances we had in the final third, but we lost."

Jordan Harvey - Match could have gone either way:

"It's difficult man, because I thought we did play well, we were organized that first half, we created some good chances, it's a tale of two games I feel like, whoever scores first had the upper hand, and the other team pushes, then the other team gets three goals, I mean we go into their place we do this to them, so I really feel like it was a game of whomever scores first."

David Ousted - Overall thoughts on the match:

"I thought in periods of the game, we did well, we got at them, but at the end of the day the scoreboard doesn't lie, they were better than us at what's important in this game and that's scoring goals."