Playoff positioning on the line as Vancouver Whitecaps host Seattle Sounders
With four games left in their regular-season campaign, Vanni Sartini is challenging his Vancouver Whitecaps to adjust their mindset.
The club clinched its post-season spot last weekend. Now the head coach wants every game from here on out to be treated like a playoff matchup, starting Wednesday when the 'Caps (13-9-8) host their regional rivals, the Seattle Sounders (14-9-8).
“We try to win the game. We have the luck to be already qualified, so even though it's not like a do or die, we can't be scared," Sartini said. "Now it's all about the prize that is in front of us. And the prize will hopefully make us perform in a way that is with no restraint, with no fear, with a lot of confidence and going there to try to win.”
Vancouver has made the playoffs in three of the last four seasons, but hasn't made it out of the first round. Getting into post-season mode now, while the regular season is still going, could help, the coach said.
“It's all about trying to get into that kind of mentality and habits of being a team that can play and win games (in the post-season). Finally," he said. "Because it's good that we are consistent playoff participants. We want to try to become playoff winners.”
The final games will also determine who faces whom — and where — when the playoffs begin.
Seattle currently sits in fifth spot in Major League Soccer's Western Conference standings, three points up on seventh-place Vancouver.
The top four teams in the table will have home-field advantage for the post-season, while the clubs sitting in fifth through seventh position will skip the play-in round the eighth- and ninth-place teams must endure.
With just seven points separating the second-place and ninth-place team, positioning is still very much up for grabs.
“Obviously a couple teams are still battling for the top four," said Whitecaps striker Brian White. "We could easily finish ninth if we don't perform and we lose games and other teams do well. So there's still a lot of things to play for on the table. And it's important that we do our best to win all three points.”
The 'Caps and Sounders have already met twice this season, with Vancouver taking a 2-0 win on April 20 and settling for a 1-1 draw on May 18.
There's little love lost between the two clubs, said Whitecaps left back Sam Adekugbe.
“We've played them so many times over the years, and we probably know that they have it out for us as well, seeing that we won away early in the season," he said. "So we're just looking forward to it.”
While Seattle struggled to start the 2024 campaign, they've rounded into form in recent weeks and head north for Wednesday's matchup unbeaten in their last four Major League Soccer games (3-0-1). The Sounders have outscored opponents 9-2 across the stretch.
"They're a big, physical team. Offensively, they have a lot of weapons, so it's going to be a tough test at home," White said. "But these are the kind of games that we need to win in the playoffs. So it's good to have tough challenges going into that.”
SEATTLE SOUNDERS (14-9-8) AT VANCOUVER WHITECAPS (13-9-8)
Wednesday, BC Place
INS AND OUTS: The Whitecaps could once again be without captain Ryan Gauld (knee) and midfielder Ali Ahmed (quad). Both players missed Saturday's matchup and did not participate in full training with the team on Monday.
GIMME A BREAK: Wednesday will mark Vancouver's sixth game in 18 days. The club will wrap a stretch of seven games in four weeks Saturday when it hosts Minnesota United FC.
ANOTHER CASCADIA CLASH: After posting a 1-1 draw against the Timbers on Saturday, the 'Caps sit atop the Cascadia Cup leaderboard with a 2-1-2 against their regional rivals, Portland and Seattle. A win on Wednesday would clinch Vancouver's second-straight title as best in the Pacific Northwest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 1, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Iran fires dozens of missiles into Israel as retaliation for killing of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders
Iran said it fired dozens of missiles into Israel on Tuesday, a sharp escalation of the monthslong conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed militias Hezbollah and Hamas.
Canada to impose 25 per cent surtax on select Chinese-made steel and aluminum products
Canada will be imposing a 25 per cent surtax on select imports of steel and aluminum from China, after unveiling its final list of impacted products on Tuesday.
At least 6 dead in suspected terror attack in Tel Aviv
At least six people were killed and nine wounded in a suspected shooting and stabbing terror attack in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, Israeli police said.
Protection against RSV coming soon for all infants in Ontario, Quebec, Nunavut
This fall and winter, Ontario, Quebec and Nunavut will offer the newer monoclonal antibody nirsevimab — approved by Health Canada in the spring of 2023 — to all babies going through their first RSV season.
Hoggard takes stand in sex assault trial, denies that he raped complainant
Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard denies that he raped the woman who is accusing him of sexual assault, or that he touched her sexually in any way without her consent.
Boris Johnson claims in memoir Queen Elizabeth II had bone cancer
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has controversially broken royal protocol and claimed in his upcoming memoir that Queen Elizabeth II was suffering from bone cancer before her death.
W5 Investigates Riding Mexico's notorious 'Train of Death': A migrant lifeline and a death trap
In the second part of a five-part series, W5's Avery Haines follows the journeys of migrants who risk life and limb to ride atop Mexican freight trains, desperate to avoid narco territory as they make their way towards the U.S. border.
A cruise ship bound on a round-the-world voyage leaves Belfast after a 4-month delay
A cruise ship taking passengers on a 3-and-a-half-year around-the-world voyage finally sailed from Belfast's dockside, after spending four months stuck in the Northern Ireland capital.
Minimum wage in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, P.E.I. increases
The minimum wage in four provinces is going up today.