Good Monday morning Caps fans, hope you all are enjoying your long weekend and that your short workweek ahead is a good one.

Vancouver took care of business on the road against Austin, dominating the home side but requiring a Pedro Vite scorcher in the second half to take all three points back to British Columbia.

This was a game I was worried about as a trap match — Austin is tepid offensively but, as the reverse fixture at BC Place showed, they are infuriating to play against and have plenty of motivation, as they’re hanging on for dear life on the fringes of the playoff race.

Well, it turns out we needn’t have worried. Vancouver dominated basically from the start, even though they did suffer without a natural striker on the pitch in Brian White’s absence.

Still, this is a team that did a lot well. Ryan Gauld was unlucky to have a beauty chalked off for offsides in the build up (perhaps dubiously) and there were some really nice runs into the midfield from Mathias Laborda and some real quality from the midfield. The end product left something to be desired but overall, Austin made too many mistakes to be competitive.

And credit to Vite for a lovely goal, one of the best you’ll see from this side all year (he’s leading the non-Gauld goal of the year race). For a guy who hasn’t scored in awhile (in part due to a change in role) it was a nice development to see him pop up on the scoresheet.

A win here takes some of the pressure off next week, when basically every quality player will be off on international duty or hurt. Getting anything against FC Dallas would be a win under those circumstances, even as they continue to falter.

Indeed, the Hoops didn’t understand the assignment (taking points off Colorado) but a loss for Seattle did move the Caps into a position where they’re in 5th with two games in hand against most of their rivals. One of those is against LAFC (yikes) but this isn’t a bad position to be in heading into the stretch run.

The Caps could see their position strengthened further, as Glass City is reporting that they’re nearing the signing of Stuart Armstrong as a free agent.

Armstrong, most recently of Southampton, is 32 years old but he would be about as much of a swing for the fences as this club is probaby going to be able to muster in the free agent market.

Looking at FB Ref and this is a good fit in terms of profile. Armstrong fits the mold of another secondary chance creator 97th percentile in progressive passes and 98th in progressive carries) and someone who can create and finish good chances. I’m not quite sure how he will fit in Vanni Sartini’s system but this is probably the most talented non-Ryan Gauld player ever to be in it.

If this is a relatively short term deal (2 years or so) I would be strongly in favor. Obviously Armstrong has the type of experience that the Caps sorely need in big matches and while I was hoping for a younger player, you can’t deny this is exactly the type of profile that could elevate this team from their usual 5th place in the West and first round playoff exit spot.

Shameless Self Promotion

More on the Caps’ triumph on Saturday night and just how vital those three points are.

Best of the Rest

An update on when Edier Ocampo might be joining up with the Whitecaps.

The Whitecaps 2 side were drubbed 4-0 by Sporting Kansas City II and old friend Kam Habibullah.

Inter Miami have consolidated their lead atop the Supporters’ Shield standings. Is a points record inevitable?

In the CPL, Pacific FC’s rocky run of form continues apace with a loss to Forge.