Good Monday morning Caps fans, hope you all had a lovely weekend, capped off with a fantastic Sunday night at BC Place.

While having to wait around all weekend for Vancouver’s playoff opener was frustrating, there was no doubt it was worth the wait. The Caps didn’t play with their food, instead snuffing out any hope of a game one upset by battering FC Dallas 3-0.

Outside of the LA Galaxy/Rapids series last year, this was as one-sided a match as I can remember since MLS went to the best-of-three format a few years ago. Dallas didn’t even manage a shot and Vancouver had … 22. And 64% possession. And an expected goals tally that actually matched the 3-0 scoreline.

I had confidence that Sorensen-ball would hold up well against Dallas but this is one of the hottest teams in the league going up against the Caps’ makeshift backline sans Mathias Laborda — there certainly was risk here. Or there would have been with a different team, with a different mentality. While Philadelphia nearly let a 2-0 lead slip away in their playoff series, the Caps never let Dallas get a foothold and absolutely bullied the lower seed at every turn in this match.

Emmanuel Sabbi was scintillating and his run to win a penalty was marvelous. Ali Ahmed was equally strong on the other wing and Thomas Müller and Sebastian Berhalter constantly fed the wide players to never let Dallas’ wingbacks get any rest. And while the backline never had much to do, both fullbacks were excellent to ensure Dallas couldn’t progress the ball and to provide a dangerous outlet going forward.

The away leg in Frisco will present its own challenges but Laborda will return and this team clearly wants nothing more than to take the initiative and finish this tie off. While I still don’t want to underestimate Dallas, this was probably a good example of why the best-of-three format is unnecessary. Do we really need another match in this series? No matter, Vancouver got their postseason off to a perfect start and, if they keep playing like this, won’t have any problems taking care of business.

Shameless Self Promotion

We have the post-match analysis of a dominant display from the Caps to open their playoff campaign.

Best of the Rest

The packed house at BC Place last night raises a question: Are the Caps surpassing the Canucks (at least temporarily) in terms of desirability?

Congrats to Seb Berhalter, who was named the club’s player of the year, and all the other Whitecaps award winners.

In other playoff news, San Diego saw off a 10-man Portland side even without Chucky Lozano.

A closer look at Supra’s entry into the CPL and how they want their recruitment strategy to stand out.