VANCOUVER, BC – It was a night of missed opportunities for Vancouver Whitecaps FC, as they fell 3-0 to rivals Seattle Sounders FC in the First Leg of the Round of 16 in the Concacaf Champions Cup at BC Place.
The two sides will play the Second Leg next Wednesday, March 18 at ONE Spokane Stadium in Spokane, Washington.Â
Rayan Elloumi nearly ignited the crowd in the third minute, darting through the Sounders half before having his shot blocked out for a corner kick.Â
Seattle’s first real threat arrived in the 14th minute via a quick transition. Yohei Takaoka was called into action, rushing off his line to smother a dangerous chance from Paul Arriola at the far post.
 The 'Caps responded with pressure of their own, as Oliver Larraz dragged a low strike wide in the 31st minute and Cabrera saw a goal-bound effort blocked just a minute later.
Against the run of play, Seattle struck just before the interval. In the 45th minute, Jesús Ferreira found space on the right flank and whipped a low ball into the box for Arriola, who finished calmly to give the visitors a 1–0 lead.
Seattle found their second in the 58th minute. Kalani Kossa-Rienzi broke free down the right wing and centered to Arriola, who bundled home his second of the night.
Vancouver nearly clawed one back in the 69th minute during a frantic sequence. A Berhalter corner kick found the head of MathÃas Laborda, but Stefan Frei produced a massive save to deny the initial effort. Ralph Priso looked to pounce on the rebound, but his effort cleared the bar.
Moments later, Seattle broke away on a clinical counter-attack. A ball skipped across the face of the goal to the far post, where Paul Rothrock was waiting to tap it home for the 3–0 advantage.
The 'Caps continued to push late, with AZ providing energy off the bench. Deep in stoppage time, Thomas Müller almost got the 'Caps on the board, as he turned and fired a shot off the crossbar.
Whitecaps FC now get set to return to MLS action this coming Sunday, March 15 when they host Minnesota United FC at BC Place. Kickoff will be at 1:30 p.m. PT, with tickets available at whitecapsfc.com/tickets.
MATCH DETAILS
Referee: César RamosÂ
Attendance: 12,446
Scoring Summary
45' – SEA – Paul Arriola (Jesús Ferreira)
58' – SEA – Paul Arriola
70' – SEA – Paul Rothrock (Cristian Roldan)
Statistics
Possession: VAN 64% – SEA 36%
Shots: VAN 17 – SEA 10
Shots on Goal: VAN 3 – SEA 5
Saves: VAN 3 – SEA 2
Fouls: VAN 14 – SEA 7
Offsides: VAN 0 – SEA 1
Corners: VAN 11 – SEA 2
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
1.Yohei Takaoka; 18.Édier Ocampo, 2.MathÃas Laborda, 33.Tristan Blackmon (6.Ralph Priso HT), 28.Tate Johnson; 16.Sebastian Berhalter, 20.Oliver Larraz (59.Jeevan Badwal 75’); 11.Emmanuel Sabbi (7.Cheikh Sabaly 62’), 13.Thomas Müller ©, 19.Rayan Elloumi (24.Brian White 62’); 26.Kenji Cabrera (AZ 82’)
Substitutes not used
30.AdrÃan Zendejas, 32.Isaac Boehmer, 29.Mihail Gherasimencov, 41.Nikola Djordjevic
Seattle Sounders FC
24.Stefan Frei ©; 5.Nouhou Tolo, 16.Alexander Roldan (35.Antino Lopez 89’), 25.Jackson Ragen, 85.Kalani Kossa-Rienzi; 7.Cristian Roldan, 37.Snyder Brunell; 17.Paul Arriola (14.Paul Rothrock 62’), 11.Albert Rusnák (44.Nikola Petković 77’), 9.Jesús Ferreira (45.Peter Kingston 77’); 95.Osaze De Rosario (19.Daniel Musovski 62’)
Substitutes not used
26.Andrew Thomas, 50.Max Anchor, 33.Cody Baker, 36.Yu Tsukanome, 90.Sebastián Gómez