COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – Consistency has been hard to come by for the Vancouver Whitecaps this season, but following Saturday night’s 2-2 draw at Colorado, the ‘Caps are on a roll with 10 points in their past five matches, including seven on the road.
“I think that’s the most important thing for us,” Whitecaps forward Fredy Montero said of the result. “Being away, we got one point and we’re looking forward for the next one.”
Montero is likewise on a roll, scoring a brace in last weekend’s surprise 4-0 win at Dallas and adding the late equalizer in the 76th minute against Colorado.
“Slowly, I’m getting more opportunities to score,” he continued. “We’re starting to understand each other. That’s good for me and I’m happy we’re able to get some points.”
In earning four points from its two games at Colorado, the Whitecaps have also shown they can fare well at altitude.
“It’s a tough place to come,” explained Whitecaps manager Carl Robinson. “Pablo [Mastroeni] does a great job getting the guys fired up and we knew it would be a totally different game from the one earlier in the season. You have to fight, you have to match their work ethic and we did that today.”
One added wrinkle for both teams (and those around the league) was the introduction of Video Review. With multiple chances to go in front that were called back, Robinson still noted it as an important tool moving forward.
“[Brek Shea] had a goal that was disallowed,” said Robinson. “I think they used the [Video Review] to check that, I think they [used] VAR for two penalty decisions, which made it more emotional. I’m sure they got more right which is a good start.”
With the result, the Whitecaps moved above the playoff line and the sixth spot in the Western Conference standings, level on points with Cascadia Cup rivals Portland (the Timbers face the LA Galaxy on Sunday at 2 pm ET on ESPN). Robinson acknowledged that there’s still a lot of regular season left to be played, but the Whitecaps needn’t look much further than their rivals as a model for postseason success.
“It’s a long way to go,” he said. “We’ve got points on the board, we got big games coming up. We’ve just got to keep ticking away. If you look at the last two years, teams have just sneaked in the playoffs and gone in to win MLS Cup, and that’s our two neighbors up the road.”
