BIG D-FEAT IN BC PLACE
The Caps appear to have found their mojo at the right time.
With his young soother-sucking daughter in his arms in the post-game locker-room, a smiling David Ousted looked more like a doting father than a WWE villain.
But asked Saturday about the possibility of his Vancouver Whitecaps meeting FC Dallas in a Major League Soccer knockout-round playoff game, the big Danish goalkeeper sounded like a man ready for an uncontrolled melee.
“If these two teams meet, I think it’s going to be a brawl, to say it lightly.”
Excellent! A 22-man battle royal. Get tossed over the top rope, or out the byline, and you’re disqualified.
Last man left standing in the ring wins.
OK, this is soccer and we don’t think he meant brawl in the traditional sense. Or even the John Cena/Hulk Hogan/ Randy Orton sense. But after another scrappy, chirpy affair between the two squads at BC Place Stadium, the rivalry is heating up and the hostility bubbling.
The 10-8-13 Caps got two wonderful early goals from Sebastian Fernandez — his fourth and fifth of the season to snap a prolonged drought — to win 2-0 and retain the fifth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
FC Dallas (14-11-6) holds down fourth place — five points up on Vancouver with three games remaining — and would host that one-game playoff if the two teams finish in their current spots when the regular season ends Oct. 25.
There were only two yellow cards handed out Saturday for harsh fouls, but there were tough tackles made by both sides and some words exchanged.
“Last year and the year before, there have been some interesting games between the two teams and I think it’s continuing to grow as a rivalry,” said Dallas defender Matt Hedges. “It’s good for the league, having rivalries grow organically like this instead of being forced.”
After the game was over, tempers flared. Dallas midfielder Michel confronted Caps forward Kekuta Manneh over a little showboating at the corner flag in stoppage time. And Dallas head coach Oscar Pareja delivered a two-handed shove to the chest of Caps assistant Martyn Pert before the two were separated by players.
That might have been a spillover from a Sept. 13 game in Dallas, which the home side won 2-1. The fiery Pert and a Dallas assistant were sent off for sideline dissent.
“It’s always fun to see Martyn get up there,” said Ousted. “He cares a lot and the players back him up.”
“There can be chatter, a bit naughty at times, but I think testament to us that we stood up to that,” said Caps centre back Andy O’Brien. “Certainly at home, it’s important that you don’t get bullied.”
Pareja insisted that “nothing happened” after the game. But he noted the “intensity, the energy and obviously the urgency” of teams fighting for playoff positioning.
Dallas, which must face redhot, MLS-leading Los Angeles at home on Sunday before closing out with struggling Colorado on the road and Portland at home, can still be caught by the Caps. But the Caps have to be worried that Portland is still nipping at their heels.
Vancouver remains just a point up after the Timbers, who played without key midfielders Will Johnson (injured) and Diego Valeri (suspended) and still erased a 1-0 deficit to beat the Earthquakes 2-1 in San Jose later Saturday.
The Timbers get the woeful ’Quakes, who haven’t won in 11 games, again Wednesday in Portland. So the Caps could be out in a trailing position again when they take to the CenturyLink turf in Seattle on Friday to face the 19-9-3 Sounders.
But Vancouver has enjoyed some success against Seattle, stunning the Sounders 4-1 at CenturyLink late last season and going 1-0-1 at BC Place against their Cascadia rival this season.
And the Caps, after foundering for much of the summer, are suddenly on a two-game win streak, their first back-toback victories since early May.
“It feels fantastic. Good time to get on a streak, isn’t it?” said Ousted, whose 10 shutouts have him tied for the MLS lead with D.C. United’s Bill Hamid.
“So, hopefully, we’ll continue to play this way. I love the intensity. I love the way that we’re going into every tackle. And there’s a belief within the squad that we can win every game.”
Two weeks ago, head coach Carl Robinson said the Caps’ final five games were essentially Cup finals.
“We have two wins now, but we know we have a massive game against Seattle. Those are the games you want to play in. They are big games.”
It isn’t mathematically mustwin time for Vancouver to keep playoff hopes alive.
But the Caps will need to win if they want to retain the Cascadia Cup, the three-team series with Seattle and Portland for Pacific Northwest supremacy.
Friday’s game is the final match in the series and the Caps trail Seattle by one point.
“Obviously the Cascadia Cup is on the line, and we want to win,” said Robinson. “We go there full of confidence, but it will be a tough game.”
As the Caps showed Saturday, though, they might be turning into a tougher team than some expected. And at just the right time.