Saturday night in Seattle, the Vancouver Whitecaps fought their way to a 1-1 draw with the Seattle Sounders. It wasn’t a pretty match for either side, but sometimes when you’re in a slump, you just need something to go your way, and the Whitecaps certainly caught a break at Lumen Field in the late stages.

With an important week ahead in both the Canadian Championship and MLS play, Vancouver will be looking to build some momentum off the back of their late equalizer in Seattle. However, before we take a look ahead, we still need to look back at the individual performances from Saturday in Seattle.

Yohei Takaoka – 6.0

Not a super busy night for Yohei, who only had to make one save. I think there are some questions if he could have done better on the Seattle goal, and he was certainly caught out by de la Vega in the late stages. He was lucky the ball went off the woodwork.

Tristan Blackmon – 6.5

I thought this back three was going to be chaotic but they actually settled in decently after the goal. Blackmon was solid and good with the ball at his feet, especially on those long passes.

Mathias Laborda – 6.5

It was interesting to see someone other than Ranko in the middle of the back three. Again, I thought the defensive group really settled in after the goal and was good after that.

Javain Brown – 7.0

The Jamaican was certainly the highest event of Vancouver’s defenders, winning a number of fouls and also being the centre of handball controversy in the second half. His physicality is a notable asset, as he won all six of his ground duels and also notched four clearances. Still though, Brown seems to invite chaos wherever he is on the pitch and I’m not sure that’s what the Whitecaps need in that back three long term.

Andres Cubas – 7.0

Paulo, Roldan, and Rusnak did not have much joy in the middle of the park despite their considerable quality, and that’s a huge credit to Cubas, who will be missed on Tuesday against Cavalry.

Pedro Vite – 6.5

Vite had one loose moment in possession right near the end of the first half but otherwise, I really liked what I saw from him. Vancouver needs a second do-it-all midfielder to pair alongside Cubas and even if it takes some time for Vite to figure out how to use his attacking flair from a deeper role, I think the Whitecaps just have to commit to it. His quality on the ball in tight quarters and in transition moments is above and beyond anyone else who plays in that position.

Alessandro Schopf – 6.0

A pretty quiet night from the Austrian, which is a bit disappointing as I thought this might have been a good matchup for him, with Seattle content to sit back in their shape when Vancouver had the ball.

Ryan Raposo – 6.5 

I thought Raposo made some good plays from his wide position, and he backed that up with two key passes. That said, I do think both he and Schopf struggled to make much of a consistent connection with the front three, which was frustrating to watch at times.

Fafa Picault – 6.5

Picault covered a lot of ground in this match but nothing he did felt terribly effective. I think that’s indicative of two things: Seattle is pretty good defensively, and when Gauld and White are reasonably well contained, it limits what Picault can do.

Brian White – 6.0

Most of the time White makes his presence felt even when he’s not getting touches. This felt like the rare match where he had very little impact, and I wonder if fatigue and a possible knock from the last match played a factor.

Ryan Gauld – 6.5

The captain converted from the spot at the death, but up until that point, it was a frustrating one for the Scotsman. He did have four key passes (which is pretty much standard fare for Gauld), but like the rest of his team, his offensive efforts did not feel that impactful. If Vancouver wants to truly be near the top of the West this year, they’re going to need Gauld to reach the level he was at near the end of 2023, and while he’s still been very good, we’re not seeing that right now.

Substitutes – 6.5

It was nice to see Berhalter come in and look comfortable, as his form had been slipping lately. He’s always a threat to shoot from outside the area, and that helped lead to Vancouver’s equalizer. Neither Ali Ahmed nor Levonte Johnson looked particularly effective when they came off the bench, but that’s just the way the evening went for the Whitecaps.

Ok, those were my thoughts, let me know yours in the comments as always. Are you looking forward to Tuesday night at BC Place?