SANDY, UT – Kendall Waston hit the century mark on Saturday night at Rio Tinto Stadium.
The Costa Rican centre back, who joined Vancouver Whitecaps FC midway through the 2014 season, has now played 100 matches in Major League Soccer, including the playoffs. And aside from Waston’s first appearance, which saw him come on as a striker late in the match, they’ve all been starts.
It’s been an incredible run for Waston, who has twice earned Whitecaps FC BMO Player of the Year and MLS Best XI honours, establishing himself as one of the league’s premier defenders.
The stats certainly speak for themselves.
Since joining MLS, Waston has recorded a league-high 703 clearances, which is remarkably 123 more than the next closest player (Seattle’s Chad Marshall). The ‘Caps captain is also second in blocks, fifth in aerials won, and fifth in interceptions during the same timeframe, in addition to having scored the second most goals among all defenders.
<strong>Number of actions</strong> |
<strong>MLS rank</strong> |
|
<strong>Clearances</strong> |
<p align="center">703</p> |
<p align="center">1st</p> |
<strong>Blocks</strong> |
<p align="center">90</p> |
<p align="center">2nd</p> |
<strong>Aerials won</strong> |
<p align="center">307</p> |
<p align="center">5th</p> |
<strong>Interceptions</strong> |
<p align="center">301</p> |
<p align="center">5th</p> |
<strong>Goals</strong> |
<p align="center">12</p> |
<p align="center">2nd*</p> |
* among MLS defenders
Waston, a Costa Rican international who is expected to represent his country at this summer's FIFA World Cup, is the seventh player to appear in 100 MLS matches for Whitecaps FC, joining Jordon Harvey (184), David Ousted (142), Gershon Koffie (133), Russell Teibert (117), Matias Laba (113) and Kekuta Manneh (101).
Next up for Waston and the ‘Caps is a first-ever meeting with LAFC on Friday, April 13 at BC Place (kickoff at 7:01 p.m. PT sharp on TSN and TSN 1040 radio – tickets still available).
