A shorthanded Whitecaps side more than held their own on Saturday night and were unlucky not to walk away with all three points over an FC Dallas team that was largely on their back heels all evening.

The fact that much of the Caps’ starting XI was away on international duty created some chances for depth players to shine — and they largely did. Meanwhile, the match brought intrigue with the debuts of Stuart Armstrong and Edier Ocampo and the return of Deiber Caicedo. What does this all mean for the report card grades? Let’s see …

Yohei Takaoka: 6.5

Looked comfortable keeping the clean sheet here, even though he only once really looked like he might be beaten by the Dallas attack. His service seemed unusually poor, an odd development as the Caps seemingly would have looked for some direct balls given their setup here.

Belal Halbouni: 7.5

Another solid performance from Halbouni, who has quietly grown into a dependable depth option for the Caps and he handled the danger of Petar Musa very well. He was asked to play a slightly more conservative role than Blackmon but still saw lots of action as Vancouver often tried to build out along the right hand side. He chipped in a couple of really lovely diagonal balls as well.

Ranko Veselinovic: 7

Was on mop up duty when Blackmon and Halbouni moved further forward and did what you would expert Ranko to do in those circumstances, putting in a competent display amid an ever-changing backline where he remains the rock.

Tristan Blackmon: 7

It has been a difficult year for Blackmon but I thought he did very well in his first start in awhile, making some nice forays forward, putting in a phenomenal effort to try and nab a set piece goal and looking composed in defense, tracking back to snuff out the rare times Dallas tested the backline.

Mathias Laborda: 6.5

Was the Caps player who looked most likely to score in the first half, missing an open net from range midway through the first half, before having a header cleared off the line later on in the first 45 minutes. Was otherwise a bit quiet at wingback.

Sebastian Berhalter: 7.5

Put in an eye popping 12 crosses and provided some good service but Johnson and Kreilach don’t have the same rapport with Seb as Brian White and Ryan Gauld in terms of making the runs in the box to convert. His ball to find a streaking Caicedo should have been an assist; it was splendid.

Ralph Priso: 7.5

You won’t be mistaking Priso for Andres Cubas anytime soon, but I thought he put in a solid enough showing in the center of the park. He was caught out of position at times but his five total tackles was a sign of the hard work Priso put in here to retrieve and advance the ball. Probably his best showing as a Whitecaps player to date.

Alessandro Schopf: 6.5

Schopf will likely hear footsteps with the arrival of Stuart Armstrong, as he is the most likely player to lose his starting spot. Schopf was solid and, perhaps inspired by the new DP, was more likely than usual to try and look to progress the ball forward.

Ryan Raposo: 6.5

It was a decent match for Raposo, who was one of the most active players in the back end of the first half, when the Caps were really ramping up the pressure on Dallas. His service was often quite good, chipping in two key passes.

Damir Kreilach: 5

Kreilach is probably suffering in comparison to Brian White and by being played as a true out-and-out striker when that was not typically the role he played for Real Salt Lake. But you ultimately need someone who can step up and put the ball in the back of the net and that hasn’t been Kreilach’s strength as of late. Given the volume of crosses and the direct style of play, you would have liked to see him try and take advantage of his size but Kreilach never really got involved in this one.

Levonte Johnson: 5.5

Johnson possibly could have done better on his first touch of the game, when he saw a flicked header fall to him with space in the box. The bigger concern was he never really built on that and, as the Caps held onto the bulk of the possession, was never really in a position to use his pace to test the Dallas backline. He had the fewest touches of any of Vancouver’s starters.

Sam Adekugbe: 5.5

Adekugbe wasn’t overly involved, at least compared to Raposo, who he replaced, but he came on and did his job, mixing it up with some interchanges along the left hand side to create some chances.

Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau: 5

There was some anticipation to see how NFC would do here, as he’s been tearing it up for the MLS Next Pro side. It was largely what you would expect, however, from a guy making his MLS debut, and his lone sight of goal saw him sky a tough chance off a great cross from Sam Adekugbe.

Deiber Caicedo: 6

Looked a bit rusty in his return and will certainly want back the 1v1 chance orchestrated by Berhalter, where his touch let him down as he tried to round the keeper. He was similarly blanked at the death and will also probably want another shot from the doorstep as well. But Caicedo showed he could be a dangerous piece in Vanni Sartini’s system, a good sign long term even if it didn’t help the Caps get all three points here. I have a hard time believing he won’t get a goal once White and Gauld return.

Edier Ocampo: 6

Ocampo had some growing pains but his raw stuff looks promising, asking some questions of the FC Dallas backline and even drawing a yellow card. He wasn’t overly involved but his debut was tantalizing enough to make you want to see more.

Stuart Armstrong: N/A

I don’t typically rate guys who come on after the 80th minute or so but it is worth noting that three Whitecaps had multiple key passes in this one. The difference? Stuart Armstrong racked his up in about 13 minutes with 10 touches. It wasn’t enough to find a victory in this one but the promise here seems very real.