Vancouver Whitecaps eliminated from playoffs with 1-0 loss to LAFC
Vanni Sartini knows he may have upset some powerful forces in recent weeks.
The Vancouver Whitecaps' head coach may have been repaid Friday with what he called an "unlucky" goal — one that spelled the end of his team's season.
“Maybe God was angry at me because I said I’m an atheist a lot of times and that’s the reason we lost," Sartini said after Los Angeles FC blanked the 'Caps 1-0. "But he can’t be angry because he doesn’t exist.”
Vancouver was never favoured to win its best-of-three matchup against LAFC in the first round of the Major League Soccer playoffs.
The Whitecaps limped into the post-season, sliding down the Western Conference standings to eighth place after losing their last four games of the regular season.
The club then trounced their regional rivals, the Portland Timbers, 5-0 in a wild-card game and earned the right to face top-seeded Los Angeles.
LAFC opened the series with a narrow 2-1 victory in California and Vancouver replied with a decisive 3-0 win at home to set up a do-or-die matchup on Friday.
“It’s always bad to finish the season like this," said 'Caps defender Ranko Veselinovic. "There’s a lot of emotions right now. We really felt before the game and during the game that we had the game under control. But they really showed today … why they’re the top of the MLS.”
The two sides were locked in a defensive stalemate for much of the first half.
Vancouver's back line proved to be an aggressive force, picking balls off the feet of LAFC's stars and limiting shots.
Los Angeles sniper Denis Bouagna had an opportunity in the seventh minute, but sent his shot wide of the post.
Brian White tested LAFC 'keeper Hugo Lloris in the 27th minute with a left-footed blast from the top of the penalty area. The French netminder dived and punched the ball away.
White came tantalizingly close to putting the visitors on the board in the 43rd minute after collecting a ball in behind L.A.'s back line. The American striker chipped a shot over a diving Lloris, but the ball sailed just wide of the post.
Vancouver controlled 59.4 per cent of possession across the first half and outshot the home side 8-4, including the lone on-target shot.
Los Angeles is a dangerous team, but a beatable one, Sartini said.
"The thing is that in the playoffs, the star-studded team, the big players count and the big players score goals," the coach said. "At the end, we need to accept that.”
Los Angeles came into the second half with renewed aggression, pressing hard for a goal.
Olivier Giroud sliced a pass to Bouagna inside the penalty area in the 54th minute and Bouagna fired a shot off, skimming the ball over the crossbar.
LAFC finally capitalized in the 62nd minute when 'Caps defender Andres Cubas didn't get enough on a midfield header.
The ball fell to the feet of Mateusz Bougsz and the Polish midfielder took off, going one-on-one with Vancouver 'keeper Yohei Takaoka. His left-footed shot sailed past Takaoka's outstretched hands to give L.A. a 1-0 lead.
Bougsz ran to the corner and saluted the crowd before being mobbed by his teammates.
Vancouver briefly appeared to level the score in the 74th minute off a free kick. Tristan Blackmon ticked the ball in past Lloris, but the offside flag quickly went up, waving off the goal.
LAFC will host the Seattle Sounders in the Western Conference semifinals on Nov. 23 or 24.
Los Angeles has played in the last two MLS Cup finals. Vancouver has not made the Western Conference semifinals since 2017, when the 'Caps were eliminated by the Sounders.
Friday's loss wraps a campaign that saw the Whitecaps finish with a 13-13-8 regular-season record and win a third straight Canadian Championship title.
The late-season skid proved costly, Sartini said.
“The only regret that we have is the last two games of the regular season because we wouldn't have been eighth, we wouldn’t have had to do the play in and we wouldn’t have played (LAFC). We probably would have played them in the next round," he said.
Los Angeles has now eliminated the Whitecaps from the first round of the playoffs two years in a row.
That doesn't make Friday's loss any easier to take, Veselinovic said.
“I think this year hurts even more. Last year, they were more dominant, I think, in two games. This year, I think it was a different story," he said.
“We’re going to feel this one for awhile now.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
W5 Investigates 'It's a bad look': Calls grow to restrict high-tech car theft devices in wake of W5 investigation
There are new calls to crack down on the sale of high-tech devices that can be used to clone key fobs and steal cars, in the wake of a W5 investigation that found the devices are falling into the hands of thieves.
Cold case that puzzled Toronto-area police for nearly half a century cracked. Here's how they did it
For nearly 45 years, the identity of the human remains found along a rural road north of Toronto remained a mystery. It was on July 16, 1980, when a Markham, Ont. resident made the discovery near a wooded area on Eleventh Concession, between 14th and Steeles avenues. Unbeknownst to them, the remains belonged to William Joseph Pennell, a convict who had escaped a Kingston prison a month earlier.
Jake Paul beats 58-year-old Mike Tyson as the hits don't match the hype
The boos from a crowd wanting more action were growing again when Jake Paul dropped his gloves before the final bell, and bowed toward 58-year-old Mike Tyson.
String of three murders in Nova Scotia raises alarm about intimate partner violence
Groups working to help victims of domestic violence in Nova Scotia say a recent string of murders of women provides just a glimpse of the extent of intimate partner violence in the province, and they say more action is needed to protect victims.
Former ambassador says Canada has become 'laggard,' 'irrelevant' on defence spending
Former Canadian ambassador to the U.S. Derek Burney is calling Canada a 'laggard,' and says the country needs to do 'major work' on its defence spending if it wants to be taken seriously on other issues with the United States.
What the spritz is 'smellmaxxing?' Why so many teen boys smell like a million bucks
It's a growing trend online: fragrance influencers who rave about the beauty, sexiness and notes of vanilla in perfume have caught the attention of Canadian teenagers who are, in turn, flocking to cologne counters across the country.
Anxiety and dismay inside the U.S. Justice Department after Trump taps Gaetz as attorney general
Donald Trump's choice of Matt Gaetz to be attorney general has many U.S. Justice Department employees reeling, worried not only about their own jobs but the future of the agency that the Trump loyalist has railed against.
Video shows shotgun pointed at staff during pawn shop robbery
A Winnipeg pawn shop owner is speaking out after a violent robbery at his McPhillips Street location.
Former soldier 'Canadian Dave' taken by the Taliban: sources
David Lavery, a former Canadian Forces soldier who helped approximately 100 people flee Afghanistan during the fall of Kabul, has been 'picked up' by the Taliban this week, according to multiple sources who spoke to CTV National News on the condition of anonymity.