Whitecaps refocus on being best in the West

VANCOUVER — Now that the Whitecaps have won their first Amway Canadian championship, they are hungry for more titles.

The Whitecaps enter today’s Major League Soccer road game against the Houston Dynamo looking to use Wednesday’s Voyageurs Cup triumph over the Montreal Impact as a catalyst for more success. A victory in Houston will improve the Whitecaps’ bid to place first over- all in the regular season, host a playoff game for the first time and contend for their first MLS Cup.

“We carried the momentum [from recent strong play] into the game on Wednesday, which we won and got a positive result, and we’re looking to do the same [today],” said Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson.

The Whitecaps (14-9-3) sit second overall and in the Western Conference, having won four of their past five games. Houston (8-10-8) is tied for eighth in the West but not far out of a top-six berth and playoff qualification.

Although today’s game is Vancouver’s third in a week, Robinson will go mainly with regulars — as he did in the second leg of the Canadian championship final, when the Whitecaps blanked Montreal 2-0 to take the title 4-2 on aggregate.

“There will be one or two changes, obviously, to the lineup, but the majority of guys want to play again,” said Robinson. “I think we’re in a rhythm at the moment.”