Good Friday morning Caps fans, I hope you’ve been having a lovely week and that you’re ready to go with your weekend festivities.

Well, it was a roller coaster of a midweek for the Whitecaps. Let’s start with the good: the Caps had no issues with their midweek cup tie, summarily dispatching Forge at BC Place in a way we haven’t seen from Vancouver in the Canadian Championship in some time.

The 4-0 rout started just minutes in with a headed goal from Tristan Blackmon and the dominance continued pretty much through to the final whistle. Not bad for what was largely Vancouver’s B side.

There were plenty of standout performers. This was the best we’ve seen from Sebastian Berhalter in some time. It wasn’t just a goal and an assist from Seb but his dozen-plus passes into the final third, breaking lines with ease to tee up J.C. Ngando and the wide players. Ngando made good use of that service and was on fire, mirroring his excellent performance against Sporting KC earlier this season. He is quite intelligent in receiving the ball and making use of space and was smooth in progressing the ball out wide, taking players on off the dribble or firing shots from range, which led to his goal.

The defense was smooth as well and Isaac Boehmer deserves credit for a key save just seconds in that set Vancouver on their way. But the backline is also where the trouble was as well.

With moments left in the match, Blackmon appeared to undergo a serious knee injury and, watching his reaction, it seemed like we were witnessing a Ranko Vesolinovic redux, with a lengthy absence all but certain. The prognosis is actually better than that — the Caps are hoping Blackmon will miss four weeks and be back for the MLS Cup playoffs.

Jesper Sorensen was the object of ridicule for continuing to play Blackmon once the game was won but really this is torturous luck for Vancouver, who are down to two fit centerbacks (though new arrival Joedrick Pupe sounds like he’s back in action). The fact that this avoids the complete worst case scenario is a huge relief, even as it complicated Vancouver’s Shield quest. Then again, the Caps’ season has been defined by a next man up philosophy so maybe this will be more of the same — at this point you wouldn’t doubt Sorensen and Co.

Shameless Self Promotion

We have our post match analysis/report card combo detailing what went well for the Caps against Forge.

Best of the Rest

Despite a 1-0 loss in Ottawa, Vancouver FC advanced to the final as well, teeing up a hugely consequential first Vancouver derby.

An interesting interview with Thomas Mueller on how he is adapting to life in Vancouver, quirks and all.

It sounds like we might be in for a couple more years of Messi-mania in MLS.

Pacific FC is up for sale, though its current owners promise a relocation isn’t in the club’s future.