Vancouver Whitecaps have secured their spot in the Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup final for the first time in the club’s history by defeating San Diego FC 3-1 in the Western Conference final on Saturday night.
Brian White netted two goals, with San Diego ‘keeper Pablo Sisniega also scoring an own goal before receiving a red card in the 79th minute for a tough tackle on Whitecaps midfielder Ryan Gauld.
The Whitecaps will now face Inter Miami CF, led by Lionel Messi, the Eastern Conference final winners, for the chance to grab the MLS Cup title in Florida on Dec. 6.
Inter Miami clinched the Eastern Conference title with a 5-1 win over New York City FC earlier on the same Saturday. Both teams are making their first appearance in the final.
White opened the scoring for Vancouver in the eighth minute, followed by another goal three minutes later, courtesy of a deflection off Sisniega by Manu Duah. White struck again in stoppage time, extending the lead to three goals at halftime.
The match saw White adding to his playoff goals tally, Cubas securing his first two postseason assists, and Ahmed contributing all his assists this season during his nine career playoff appearances.
In the second half, San Diego’s Hirving Lozano scored with an assist from Jeppe Tverskov in the 60th minute, reducing the lead to 3-1. It was Lozano’s debut postseason goal in MLS, with Tverskov registering his second assist in his first playoff appearance.
Following Sisniega’s red card, San Diego played with a numerical disadvantage from the 79th minute onwards. Takaoka, the Whitecaps’ goalkeeper, made three saves during the match.
Sisniega, who made four saves in his third playoff start for San Diego, had previously kept clean sheets in his first two postseason appearances.
Mikey Varas’s San Diego team became the second expansion side to reach a conference final, following the 1998 Chicago Fire. Chicago won the MLS Cup that year by defeating D.C. United 2-0 in front of 50,000 fans at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
The Whitecaps’ fans gathered at B.C. Place in Vancouver to witness their team competing in its inaugural MLS Cup Western final. Vancouver finished the regular season in second place in the West with an 18-7-9 record, eliminating FC Dallas and Los Angeles FC before facing San Diego for the conference crown.
In a previous encounter, Vancouver had triumphed over Miami with a 3-1 victory in the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinal held in April.