VANCOUVER, B.C. - The Vancouver Whitecap's 3-0 win over the Houston Dynamo was a fitting end to the club's best-ever season in MLS so far.
The victory took Vancouver to 53 points, a three-point improvement on last season's total. Sixteen wins were also a club record, and in the end it was those victories that saw the Whitecaps clinch second place in the Western Conference on a tiebreak from Cascadian rivals the Portland Timbers.
After a season which saw Vancouver as a regular fixture at the top of the table, Whitecaps head coach Carl Robinson feels it's nothing less than his squad deserves.
"It's a great achievement," Robinson enthused to reporters after the match. "I'm really proud of the guys in there and I'm proud of the football club. Sometimes you get opportunities. We had an opportunity this year where I firmly believe we recruited a good group of players that could do something special.
"Over 34 games the league doesn't lie. It evens itself out over the course of the season. We deserve to be where we are."
It was a nervous afternoon at BC Place and one which saw the Whitecaps move up and down the Western Conference standings at an incredible pace, with Decision Day drama and twists and turns happening elsewhere.
Vancouver headed into their game with Houston knowing that they could finish anywhere from second to sixth in the West, but a win would at least guarantee a third-place finish and a home playoff game.
Stuck in a scoreless game at halftime, the 'Caps were sitting fifth, but Robinson made sure that he and his players kept away from results elsewhere and simply concentrated on their own task at hand.
"I actually said before the game, and this is no disrespect to any other club, but it didn't really bother me," Robinson admitted. "If we didn't win, it didn't really matter and we didn't deserve to get to where we are at the moment if we didn't win.
"So I didn't want to lose my focus, because if I lose my focus, my players lose their focus. Someone told me in the 91st minute there was a possibility we could finish second."
A trio of second half goals from Kekuta Manneh, Kendall Waston and Robert Earnshaw saw the Whitecaps win at home and, with LA losing in Kansas City, second place in the West was assured.
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Most importantly for Vancouver, that finish saw them clinch a first-round bye in the playoffs, providing the 'Caps with some much-needed extra time to work on an already-improving injury crisis.
"Hopefully I can get a couple of guys fit and healthy," Robinson said. "It's very important for us. We've never used the injuries as an excuse. I never will because you build a squad for the football club and they get their opportunities.
"You could say, 'Well we lost him and we lost him,' but it doesn't sound right. Is it the difference that we didn't get closer to the Supporters' Shield? Maybe, but football's funny isn't it?"
The focus for the Whitecaps now is fully on the playoffs and making even more club history. Their first ever home playoff game will be against either a Cascadian rival or the defending MLS Cup champs in the Galaxy.
Whoever it ends up being, Robinson delivered a clear message to his euphoric players.
"I said to them, 'We're not there to make up the numbers now,'" Robinson stated. "'We're in the playoffs for the second consecutive year, the third time in our history. Let's not go to make up the numbers. We're there to try and win it. There's going to be eight teams that are going to try and win it. Let's go and have an outright good go.'"
