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Vancouver Whitecaps are heading to the Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup final for the first time in the club’s history after defeating the home team San Diego FC 3-1 in the Western Conference final on Saturday night.
Brian White scored twice and the team also got a goal from San Diego ‘keeper Pablo Sisniega, who was sent off with a red card in the 79th minute for a hard challenge on Whitecaps midfielder Ryan Gauld.
Vancouver will face Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami CF, the winner of the Eastern Conference final, for a chance to claim the MLS Cup title in Florida on Saturday, Dec. 6.
Inter Miami won the Eastern Conference with a 5-1 victory over visiting New York City FC earlier Saturday. Both clubs are playing in the final for the first time.
Vancouver Whitecaps players celebrate after Brian White (24) scored during the first half of the Western Conference final soccer match against San Diego FC Saturday at the Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego. (Denis Poroy/The Associated Press)
White staked Vancouver to a 1-0 lead in the eighth minute. Andrés Cubas and Ali Ahmed collected assists on White’s first netter this postseason.
The Whitecaps took a two-goal lead three minutes later. Ahmed sent a shot on goal that Sisniega saved, but Manu Duah tried to clear it and instead sent the ball off Sisniega’s back and into the net for the 2-0 lead.
White again used assists from Cubas and Ahmed to score two minutes into stoppage time for a three-goal advantage at halftime.
Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Ryan Gauld, left, collides with San Diego FC defender Luca Bombino, right, during the second half of the game. (Denis Poroy/The Associated Press)
White has five career goals in 12 playoff appearances. Cubas collected his first two postseason assists in his 10th appearance. All three of Ahmed’s assists in nine career playoff appearances have come this season.
Hirving (Chucky) Lozano subbed in to begin the second half for San Diego and used an assist from Jeppe Tverskov to score in the 60th minute when his shot deflected over the head of Yohei Takaoka to cut it to 3-1. It was Lozano’s first goal in his first MLS postseason. Tverskov earned his second assist in his first postseason.
San Diego was forced to play a man down from the 79th minute on after Sisniega picked up a red card for the foul on Gauld.
Takaoka finished with three saves in his 10th postseason start in the last three seasons for the Whitecaps.
Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Ryan Gauld (25) shoots past San Diego FC defender Luca Bombino (27) during the second half of the game. (Denis Poroy/The Associated Press)
Sisniega saved four shots in his third postseason start for San Diego. He had clean sheets in his first two.
Mikey Varas’ San Diego squad became the second expansion team to advance to a conference final, joining the 1998 Chicago Fire. Chicago went on to beat two-time defending champion D.C. United 2-0 to win the MLS Cup before 50,000 fans at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
Whitecaps fans at B.C. Place in downtown Vancouver watch as their team competes with San Diego FC on Saturday night. (Nav Rahi/CBC)
In Vancouver, fans packed the stands at B.C. Place during a Whitecaps FC viewing party, where supporters gathered to watch the club compete in its first-ever MLS Cup western final.
The ‘Caps finished the regular season second in the West with an 18-7-9 record, and eliminated FC Dallas and Los Angeles FC before taking on San Diego for the conference title.
Vancouver topped Miami 3-1 in the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinal in April.
