Vancouver Whitecaps FC: 2016 Season in Review – Part I

Looking back at the key moments for the Vancouver Whitecaps throughout the 2016 MLS season.

The 2016 season was ultimately a disappointing one for the Vancouver Whitecaps. In 2015, the Whitecaps won the Canadian Championship, finished second in the West, and played their first ever MLS home playoff game. The goal for 2016 was to build on the previous year’s successes. Instead, the Whitecaps defense turned from one of the most solid to one of the worst in the league, while at the other end of the field they struggled to find consistent goalscoring.

Winning the Cascadia Cup and ending the CONCACAF Champions League group stage as the top seed is small comfort in a season when the Whitecaps missed the playoffs for the first time in three years and lost out on the Canadian Championship after being seconds away from retaining it.

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This first part of the season review for the Whitecaps looks back at the highs and lows as the season progressed. The second part will take a more in-depth look at what went wrong and how to fix it for next season.

Season Turning Points:

The Whitecaps played 34 matches in the MLS, four in the Champions League, and four in the Canadian Championship. The following moments were key turning points:

March 6th – Season Opener

In the season opener at BC Place, a miscommunication between goalkeeper David Ousted and defender Kendall Waston in the 42nd minute allowed Dominic Oduro to put the Montreal Impact 2-0 up. Waston and Ousted’s mix-up foreshadowed a season full of defensive miscues, as the Whitecaps eventually lost the game 3-2.

March 19th – First Win

In the season’s first Cascadia Cup clash, Vancouver avoided what would have been a third straight loss to the start the season. With a little help from referee Mark Geiger, two controversial penalties helped the Whitecaps to a 2-1 win in Seattle. A change of formation to 4-4-2 seemed to be helping to get the season on track.

May 7th to May 14th – Three in a Row

The most successful week of the year saw the Whitecaps string together three straight wins at the start of May. First Cascadia rivals Portland were defeated. Then a last-minute Blas Pérez bicycle kick sealed the three points against the Chicago Fire. The Chicago game also proved to be a pivotal moment as offseason signing Masato Kudo was rushed to hospital with a broken jaw following a collision with Matt Lampson. Kudo’s absence would be felt throughout the rest of the season as the Whitecaps struggled to score goals. A 4-3 win away to Toronto FC with ten men rounded out the week.

June 29th – Canadian Championship Disaster

In the fifth minute of four minutes of added time at the end of the second leg of the Canadian Championship final, Ousted and Waston collided while trying to clear a long ball. Will Johnson turned the loose ball into the net and snatched the cup for Toronto FC on away goals. It was a devastating turn after Vancouver had turned around a 1-0 first leg deficit. Psychologically, the Whitecaps players seemed to bear the effects of that result for the rest of the season.

July 9th – Manneh Gone for the Season

Kekuta Manneh limped off in the first half against the Colorado Rapids with what turned out to be a broken metatarsal in his right foot. The Whitecaps then conceded a 95th minute equaliser. Manneh would not play again in 2016 and his speed on the wings and finishing were sorely missed.

July and August – Late Summer Collapse

From July 13th, when Real Salt Lake were defeated 2-0 at BC Place, to September 10th, when Columbus Crew were beaten 3-1 at MAPFRE Stadium, the Whitecaps did not win a single league game. By the time of the win against Columbus, playoff hopes were all but extinct. The biggest game in that stretch, though, was probably on August 12th against the San Jose Earthquakes. At home, against a close Western Conference rival who had never won at BC Place, everything seemed to go wrong for the Whitecaps in a 2-1 loss.

October 2nd – Pull the Plug

A 2-1 home loss to Cascadia rivals Seattle finally pulled the plug on the Whitecaps playoff hopes, which had been on life support since August.

Best Moments:

It was a roller-coaster of a season with more downs than ups. But there were some good moments too:

May 11th, vs Chicago Fire

Blas Pérez scores a last-minute bicycle kick to win the game. Definitely worth mentioning twice!

June 8th, vs Ottawa Fury FC

The Whitecaps overturn a two-goal first leg deficit with a 3-0 dominating win over Ottawa Fury in the Canadian Championship semifinal second leg.

July 16th, vs Orlando City SC

Fifteen-year-old Alphonso Davies (now sixteen-year-old Alphonso Davies) makes his MLS debut, the second youngest player in MLS history, as the Whitecaps draw 2-2 with Orlando City. The Davies story was one of the bright spots of the year.

September 13th, vs Sporting Kansas City

Davies scores a winner in added time as the ‘Caps win 2-1 and clinch their first ever CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal spot.

September 28th, vs Central FC

Whitecaps run out 4-1 winners with their best performance in months in the final game of the CONCACAF Champions League group stage and wrap up a perfect 4-0-0 record that will see them going into the quarterfinals as top seed.

October 23rd, vs Portland Timbers

Whitecaps finally bring their A-game offensively in the league and win 4-1 to lift the Cascadia Cup and eliminate Portland from the playoffs.