MATCH RECAP: Sounders FC Falls 2-0 to Vancouver Whitecaps FC Saturday Evening at BC Place

VANCOUVER, B.C. – Sounders FC (7-5-2, 23 points) fell 2-0 on the road to Vancouver Whitecaps FC (4-4-5, 17 points) on Saturday evening at BC Place. It marked the second consecutive loss for Seattle, as the club now falls to second in the Western Conference with 23 points, two points behind LAFC.

Vancouver scored right before halftime courtesy of Pedro Vite. The midfielder received a cross inside the area, muscled his way through the Seattle defense and finished from close range. The home side doubled its lead in the 59^th minute, with Ryan Gauld firing a shot from just inside the area that deflected off the post and Stefan Frei for the goal.

Following tonight’s match, the Rave Green return home to face the New York Red Bulls on Saturday, May 27 on the Emerald Queen Casino Pitch at Lumen Field (7:30 p.m. PT / Apple TV, iHeartMedia, El Rey 1360 AM).

MATCH NOTES

• Still on 23 points, Seattle falls to second in the Western Conference following tonight’s loss, two points behind LAFC (7-1-4), who has two games in hand.

• Sounders FC is now 16-9-8 against Whitecaps FC in MLS regular-season play. Dating back to 1974, Seattle and Vancouver have met 149 times across all competitions, with Seattle leading the series 72-52-25.

• Sounders FC is last in the 2023 Cascadia Cup standings with zero points through two matches. Vancouver and Portland are tied with six points through three matches each.

• Head Coach Brian Schmetzer made five changes to his starting XI from Wednesday’s home loss to Austin: Xavier Arreaga, Nouhou, Josh Atencio, Léo Chú and Fredy Montero replaced Jackson Ragen, Cody Baker, João Paulo, Dylan Teves and Héber.

• Tonight marked Alex Roldan’s 100^th career start for Sounders FC across all competitions.

• Tacoma Defiance midfielder Paul Rothrock was available on the bench this evening via short-term agreement, but did not play.

MATCH SUMMARY

Seattle Sounders FC 0 – Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2

Saturday, May 20, 2023

Venue: BC Place Stadium

Referee: Joe Dickerson

Assistants: Felisha Mariscal, Gerard-Kader Lebuis

Fourth Official: Jeremy Hanson

VAR: Kevin Terry Jr.

Attendance: 19,108

Weather: 66 degrees and clear

SCORING SUMMARY

VAN – Pedro Vite 44’

VAN – Own Goal (Stefan Frei) 58’

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

VAN – Pedro Vite (caution) 10’

VAN – Ali Ahmed (caution) 34’

SEA – Léo Chú (caution) 41’

SEA – Albert Rusnák (caution) 49’

SEA – Josh Atencio (caution) 70’

VAN – Sergio Córdova (caution) 90’+3’

LINEUPS & STATS

Seattle Sounders FC – Stefan Frei; Alex Roldan (Reed Baker-Whiting 65’) , Yeimar, Xavier Arreaga, Nouhou (Cody Baker 46’); Josh Atencio (João Paulo 80’), Albert Rusnák, Jordan Morris (Héber 64’), Nico Lodeiro, Léo Chú (Dylan Teves 46’); Fredy Montero

Substitutes not used: Stefan Cleveland, Jackson Ragen, Paul Rothrock*

*Tacoma Defiance player on short-term agreement

Total shots: 8

Shots on goal: 1

Fouls: 11

Offside: 2

Corner-Kicks: 9

Saves: 4

Vancouver Whitecaps FC – Yohei Takaoka; Mathias Laborda, Tristan Blackmon, Luis Martins, Ali Ahmed (Alessandro Schöpf 64’), Javain Brown; Sebastian Berhalter, Andres Cubas (Karifa Yao 90’+1’), Ryan Gauld (Simon Becher 83’), Pedro Vite (Julian Gressel 64’); Brian White (Sergio Córdova 83’)

Substitutes not used: Thomas Hasal, Deiber Caicedo, Ryan Raposo, Russell Teibert

Total shots: 17

Shots on goal: 5

Fouls: 16

Offside: 0

Corner-kicks: 6

Saves: 1

- SOUNDERS FC -