Good Friday morning Caps fans, hope you have had a good week and that summer has officially given way to fall in your neck of the woods.

Vancouver earned a big point on Wednesday night, notching a deserved 1-1 draw with Houston on the road in East Texas. This is no small thing given the good form the Dynamo have been in lately — this is a team firmly in the mix for a top four finish and getting a result here on short rest is significant.

The Caps were good value for the result, bouncing back with a strong second half after Pedro Vite conceded a penalty on the stroke of halftime, an opportunity Ezequiel Ponce converted to put the home side up 1-0.

Brian White, however, made his triumphant return off the bench, poking home a well worked move by Fafa Picault. Vancouver elected to rest bodies, park the bus and take their point.

This is the type of result the Caps have struggled to get this season. You only have to look as far as the return fixture, when the Caps came back from a two goal deficit, only to throw the lead (and a dominating performance) away.

I think the Caps were the better side in this one as well, though a draw is probably a more apropos result. But this is not a team that has always been good at seeing out results and the fact that they had no problem doing so in this one is a good sign.

Maybe the biggest takeaway from the match is how immense Ranko Veselinovic has become. Rating him in report cards is challenging because he just hums along in the background, cleaning things up and putting in solid displays almost every match.

But his impact on the Wednesday game was much clearer: he made a couple of vital interventions to deny Houston massive goal scoring opportunities and he was pinging passes around, with something like a 98% pass completion rate. He has quietly become one of the best centerbacks in the league and should be considered as such when the Defender of the Year voting comes around.

The Caps shouldn’t get ahead of themselves with a big match against LA Galaxy looming and there is also a risk of overlooking Saturday’s match in favor of the Voyageurs Cup final next week.

But one of this team’s shortcomings has been tightening up and ensuring they get results against good teams, particularly in matches where they have played well enough to earn one. I’m choosing to take Wednesday’s performance against Houston as a sign that the tide might be turning on that.

Shameless Self Promotion

More on a solid performance deep in the heart of Texas, with our post match recap and report cards giving you everything you need to know from the midweek.

Best of the Rest

Hear from Stuart Armstrong on why he decided to sign from Vancouver.

Fafa Picault has brought a flair on and off the pitch this season — a nice profile on the Caps’ Haitian star.

A paean to Atiba Hutchinson’s contributions to the Canadian Men’s National Team.

A preview of the MLS end of season awards and why the MVP will probably come from Ohio.