The Vancouver Whitecaps are looking to punch their ticket to a third consecutive Voyageurs Cup final but first they will need to finish off Pacific FC on Tuesday at BC Place.

The Caps didn’t leave them a massive margin for error with a 1-0 win at Starlight Stadium, having some shaky moments despite being the better side in the first leg.

Vanni Sartini and company will certainly have flashbacks to seeing an aggregate lead disappear against Cavalry at home in the quarterfinals, needing away goals to sneak through to the next round.

Since then, however, Pacific have been in a bit of a free fall in the Canadian Premier League, managing only one point in the six matches since the first leg. Scoring goals has always been Pacific’s bugaboo and that has only intensified, as they are easily the worst team in the CPL for goals per game and have scored only two goals over the course of those six matches.

Their largely stout defense has gotten some body blows, meanwhile, as they conceded three goals each to Atletico Ottawa and Valour. They still have a shot at the playoffs but this is a team with a lot of questions to answer at the moment.

Pacific did opt to rest some players, including captain Josh Heard, for their match against Cavalry over the weekend and Emil Gazdov turned in a stellar seven-save performance in Calgary, even though Pacific lost on a late goal.

And then there is the biggest risk factor: this is basically Pacific’s cup final. Sure, if they did pull off the upset, they would make it to an actual cup final. But embarrassing a rival and making history means the Caps cannot be as complacent as they were against Cavalry.

The good news is they should be well-rested, with LAFC’s trip to the Leagues Cup final giving them another off week before the match. Sartini will have to worry about fixture congestion down the stretch but I would imagine the Leagues Cup break will mean he will roll out a pretty much full strength starting lineup here, with only a few changes (possibly including Isaac Boehmer in goal) to meet the Canadian quota in the starting lineup.

The long break could cut a couple of different ways for the Caps. It could mean they’re rusty, giving Pacific an opening if they can strike early. Or it could represent a rare chance for Vancouver to get all of its best players on the pitch at the same time and turn in a quality performance.

Toronto’s defeat in the first leg of their match is a sign that nothing about this should be taken for granted and I’d expect that will very clearly be the message. The Caps have been the best team in Canada this season and the Canadian Championship easily represents their best chance to take home silverware this season.

Pacific are a team that is set up well in a cup competition. But given that they haven’t scored multiple goals in a match against June, they will be up against it to turn this tie around, especially on the road. The Caps need to show no mercy and kill this off before anything funky happens but I feel decent enough about this one.