After finishing their final three matches of the regular season with two losses and one draw, the Vancouver Whitecaps were forced to play a single-elimination match Wednesday evening at BC Place. While it being a home match was a positive, they were facing the same San Jose Earthquakes team, who prevented the Caps from locking up first in the West just a week earlier.
There was nervous optimism ahead of the match as the Whitecaps were heavy favourites and were expected to handle the Earthquakes, with a -26 goal differential on the road this season, quite handily.