Whitecaps keep their playoff hopes alive

Illustration by Athena Little

Team grabs their eighth win of the season
By Mo Hussain, Sports Reporter

The Vancouver Whitecaps picked up a huge victory over the weekend, as their 2-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes tied them for seventh place in the Western conference—keeping their playoff hopes alive.

The Whitecaps were down 1-0 at halftime, but two goals from defender Ali Adnan and striker Tosaint Ricketts in the 51st and 57th minutes respectively sealed the Whitecaps’ eighth victory of the season. The victory is quite remarkable considering how both teams combined for a total of six shots on target, the Whitecaps picked up 12 more fouls than San Jose, and San Jose managed to possess the ball 62 percent of the game.

“It was a battle, the character that we showed tonight coming from a goal down and the fight we brought the whole game from start to finish was fantastic,” said Ricketts in a post-game interview. “We came in knowing we need three points. We wanted to get one back on San Jose. That second half showed what type of character we have on this team.”

The Whitecaps have now won three of their last four games and have 24 points heading into Tuesday’s matchup against the second-seed Seattle Sounders. It will be interesting to see whether the team can pull off an upset as the Sounders haven’t won their last three games; but if they do, it can definitely help them get one step closer to qualifying for the playoffs.