BC Place stadium held its breath as Belal Halbouni struggled to get to his feet following a heavy collision.

This was early in the Vancouver Whitecaps’ clash against the Portland Timbers, and with Vancouver under considerable pressure to pick up three points and continue their momentum towards the end of the season, any setback could be a devastating blow to their season.

Ordinarily, as he has been absent for much of his time since he joined the club, an injury to Halbouni would not be viewed as a disaster. However, Jesper Sørensen was quickly running out of centre-back options to chose from.

Starting pair Tristan Blackmon and Ranko Veselinovic had both been ruled out until the end of the regular season, and after the departure of Bjorn Inge Utvik, the Whitecaps elected to bring in Joederik Pupe and Sebastian Schonlau to bolster their ranks.

In a fashion typical of Vancouver’s season, the pair both suffered injuries before they could make their debuts, forcing Mathias Laborda – who started the season at right-back before he was displaced by his own injury woes – to partner Halbouni at the back.

Fortunately for the Whitecaps, Halbouni was able to recover, and a late Brian White goal was enough for his side to snatch a 1-1 draw at the death. Unfortunately, the collision was worse than most realised, meaning Belal was ruled out for the next game, and Vancouver were now without any conventional centre-backs for their critical Cascadia Cup clash with Seattle Sounders.

With his hand forced, in his hour of need Sørensen turned to midfielder Ralph Priso, who up until then had been a fringe player with his only significant MLS minutes during international breaks, to be his saviour.

Embodying Vancouver’s ‘next man up’ mentality, Priso produced a phenomenal display. No player in a blue shirt made more defensive contributions than his 11, while he made the most passes of any player on the pitch as the Whitecaps successfully retained possession for the majority of the game.

Apart from a short spell when they conceded twice in quick succession, Vancouver looked solid defensively despite their makeshift backline, and appeared set to earn a defiant 2-2 draw.

However, their hard work was almost completely undone, as in the final seconds the ball fell to Georgi Minoungou goal with Yohei Takaoka completely out of the picture. With the keeper beaten, the net appeared certain to bulge, before Priso extended his thigh and emphatically blocked the shot.

The save earned the Vancouver Whitecaps a crucial point and the Cascadian Cup trophy, but, more importantly for Priso, it reenforced to himself, his coaches and the Whitecaps faithful that he could fill that defensive void.

He repeated the trick a week later against San Jose Earthquakes, this time denying MLS legend Josef Martinez on the goal line with the scores locked at 0-0, before he helped Vancouver to impose their play style on FC Dallas across the three matches that they played at the end of the season and into the first round of the playoffs – even popping up with his first goal for the club to help them into the conference semi-finals.

The Third Sub caught up with Priso to discuss his rise and his transition into his new role.

We started by discussing his recent performances, as Priso said that despite his lack of experience his skill set was good enough to play in his new role, although he acknowledged that he has surprised many with his performances.

“Yeah, I think I have been better than a lot of people expected. I think I have some good characteristics that allow me to play that position, and so it’s just been about nailing down things like positioning, always being turned on, kind of more on the mental side to help me perform.”

His fine displays were duly rewarded, as Ralph finally took his place in the spotlight by snatching the equaliser in the second match against FC Dallas for his first goal for the club.

That goal sent the game to penalties, allowing Vancouver to clinch the series in two matches and avoid the ignominy of a decisive third game. Priso was obviously very pleased to have got off the mark in such an important game, saying it was ‘a good time to get it,’ before explaining just what that goal meant to him.

“Yeah, it was good! I was just in the box, I’m not a big headers guy, but it happened to fall to my head. My first header was okay, and then it was just kind of reactions to put it in after it bounced back to me.”

“It was a good time to get it, as it allowed us to have a chance to finish the series in two games, which is what you want, and to help the team to the next round, and to be able to contribute, always feels good.”

With the Whitecaps approaching their first conference semifinals in eight seasons, it felt fitting to end the conversation by discussing the daunting prospect of facing LAFC.

The 2022 MLS Cup champions have a squad littered with superstars, and the Whitecaps are very familiar with their Californian foes as they have knocked Vancouver out of the playoffs in both of the last two seasons.

When asked about the prospect of playing against the elite attackers that LAFC boast, Ralph said that should he be selected, he would relish the opportunity.

“I’m excited. I don’t I don’t know who will play yet, but whoever does, I think will relish the challenge of playing against a guy like Son who’s played at the highest level for so many years, and a guy like Bouanga who we know is one of the top players in the league.”

“You work all year to be in these moments, to play against the best players in the biggest games, so it’s an opportunity to take another step in what has been a great season.”

Indeed, Ralph and the rest of the Vancouver Whitecaps will look forward to that test, as they welcome LAFC to a sold-out BC Place on Saturday, 22^nd November in what promises to be a blockbuster affair.