I probably haven’t paid as much attention to MLS Soccer as I should have of late, let’s just say the season hasn’t gone quite as well as expected for several of the teams I openly support. Last year’s Cup-winning Los Angeles Galaxy have literally hit rock bottom; winless in their first 12 matches and bottoming out in Harrison, New Jersey last night where the mediocre Red Bulls outright destroyed them by a 7-0 count. It was a shellacking so painful to watch that I flipped tiles to the Red Bulls’ rivals NYCFC. They were toiling in the Yankee Stadium outfield against the team that had held the distinction of MLS cellar dweller prior to last night, but as Field Level Media reported that distinction changed:
Prince Owusu scored the lone goal for visiting CF Montreal in a 1-0 win against New York City FC on Saturday, snapping Montreal’s season-opening winless streak.
Owusu gave Montreal its first lead of the season in the 48th minute. Owusu collected the ball along the right side above the box and cut to the inside, stopping at the top edge before firing a left-foot strike that beat New York goalkeeper Matt Freese to the far side of the net. The goal was the German forward’s team-leading third of the season, half of Montreal’s total on the campaign. For Montreal (1-8-3, 6 points), it’s their first road victory against New York since Aug. 1, 2015.
But for as nice as that story is at a time when Canada could use all the positive news it can get its hands on, it pales in comparison to the one that their West Coast representative has written. And with it they’ve taken some of the wind out of the sails of the MLS team I and many others thought would be kings of this hill at this one-third point of the campaign. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED’ Ben Steiner chronicled that last week:
Under the haze of Miami’s spring moon, music blared long after the final whistle outside Vancouver Whitecaps FC’s buses. Grasping well-earned beverages and rejoicing in the company of partners and children, it’s a jubilant moment the squad and its staff won’t soon forget.
It all came just after the Whitecaps knocked off Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami CF with a 3-1 win in the second leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal at Chase Stadium, securing a 5–1 victory on aggregate and advancing to a continental final for the first time in the club’s 51-year history.
Over the two legs, Vancouver adapted and played to their strengths against Miami’s aging superstars, shutting down the UEFA Champions League-winning likes of Messi, Luis Suárez, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, while relying on a clinical identity forged through a defiant unity.
I gotta admit the ‘Caps were completely off my radar; in all likelihood, they may not have even been on yours. But after I saw the CF Montreal result I clicked onto the MLS regular season standings this morning and saw that they’re now the league’s top dog. And tonight, with the entire league otherwise dark, they’ll have a national spotlight game in two countries which their website is salivating over:
Vancouver Whitecaps FC are expecting the club’s largest crowd for an MLS regular season match so far this year when the ’Caps host rivals Los Angeles FC in the league’s feature match of the week. More than 21,000 fans are expected for this Mother’s Day matinee match-up between the league-leading ’Caps and the perennial contenders from California. Whitecaps FC have played LAFC an incredible 12 times over the previous two seasons. Outside of regular season play, the two sides met in the 2023 Concacaf Champions Cup, the 2024 Leagues Cup, and the past two years in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
And upon uncovering those facts I should have known about today, it brought me back to a time when I was far more conscious of pro soccer–during the expanionist days of the NASL. When just about everyone I knew was watching the game (it was a God-awful year for the Mets and even the Yankees) and the OG Whitecaps made their presence more than known in New York. Per Wikipedia:
In 1979, the team from the “Village of Vancouver” (a reference to ABC TV sportscaster Jim McKay‘s observation that “Vancouver must be like the deserted village right now”, with so many people watching the game on TV) beat the powerhouse New York Cosmos in one of the most thrilling playoff series in NASL history to advance to the 1979 Soccer Bowl. Saturday, September 8, 1979, they triumphed against the Tampa Bay Rowdies at the Giants Stadium before a crowd of 50,699 (66,843 tickets had been sold for the game).[2]
Being in school near the Canadian border, I remembered an awful lot of Whitecaps logos appearing out of nowhere, particularly on the gear bags of the local high schools and college games I was covering. There was a LOT of pride in Canada then, and I guess it helped develop my affinity for those teams. And there’s a good deal to be proud about now, too. The country’s doing more than well enough in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, with 38% of this season’s quarterfinalists being Canadian–something we haven’t see in more than two decades. And let’s not forget the 4 Nations Cup.
Now add to this major league soccer. And, of course, this. 
So it looks like I have a new favorite soccer team. I love LA, to be sure, but I cherish Canada. Deal with it.
Courage…