As part of their current 11-day camp at Grande Sports World, Vancouver Whitecaps FC will take on Pacific Northwest rivals Seattle Sounders FC for the first time this year in Casa Grande, Arizona, on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. PT.
After starting their preseason schedule with a 2-1 victory over Major League Soccer rivals Real Salt Lake in an extended 135-minute training match on Tuesday, Teitur Thordarson's side will have the chance to test themselves again when they take on Sigi Schmid's squad at the end of the week.
With both sides still assessing various players in camp, the 'Caps and Sounders will play Friday's 90-minute training match in three periods of 30 minutes each. The Arizona meeting will surely set the tone for the rekindling of this Cascadia rivalry, with Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland Timbers all set to face each other in MLS this season.
Friday's game will also be the second time in less than a year that the Blue and White have met their archrivals from the Emerald City at Grande Sports World. On February 11, 2010, Seattle defeated Vancouver 3-2 at the resort complex.
Whitecaps FC will become very familiar with their foes down Interstate 5 in 2011. In early March, both clubs will be joined by Portland at the Cascadia Summit in Tukwila, Washington. The preseason event will feature the 'Caps playing the Timbers on Saturday, March 5, and Sounders FC on Sunday, March 6. Demand for the event has already seen Seattle's Summit games with Portland on Friday, March 4, as well as Sunday's contest between the 'Caps and Sounders FC sell out.
Meanwhile, the club have also arranged another training match for their second Arizona training camp later this month. Whitecaps FC will meet the United States U-18 national team at the Westside Complex in Avondale, Arizona, on Saturday, February 19, at 10 a.m. PT. The game is one of four friendly contests that Vancouver will play during their Phoenix camp, with the 'Caps to play Chivas USA and two games versus Los Angeles Galaxy on this second trip.
