The Vancouver Whitecaps extended their unbeaten streak to three matches in all competitions after settling for a scoreless draw against the visiting New England Revolution at BC Place on Sunday night. Revolution goalkeeper Djordje Petrović was forced to make six saves, while Cody Cropper had a far quieter night, devoting much of his time to trying to maintain his concentration. Curiously, New England held almost 60% possession, despite only creating two shots on target.
Lucas Cavallini started as the lone target man up front, coming close to breaking the deadlock in the dying minutes of the match. Andrés Cubas put in his first 90-minute shift for Vancouver, having come on as a substitute in Seattle, before starting against York and Dallas. Marcus Godinho, Leonard Owusu, Cristian Dájome, and Brian White each had a chance to separate things, but Petrović stood tall between the sticks.
New England took an impressive sixteen shots, though Cropper only had to worry about two of them. Both sides combined for nine blocks, with the balance of play often getting bogged down in the middle of the middle of the pitch.
With the draw, as Vancouver officially end the first half of the campaign, they sit in 9th place in the Western Conference. They are two points back of the seventh and final play-in spot, though having playing two more games than both the Los Angeles Galaxy and Seattle Sounders, sixth and seventh placed teams, respectively. They are also only two points up on Colorado Rapids, who have a game in hand.
If the Whitecaps are going to be making this year's play-ins, or better yet, the playoffs, they will need to start winning, and start winning now. Vancouver hosts the visiting Los Angeles FC on Saturday, Minnesota United FC next Friday, before heading to Cincinnati and Portland, while also needing to fit an as yet to be scheduled Canadian Championship match in there somewhere.