VANCOUVER, B.C. – The Vancouver Whitecaps still need to wait to find out their Western Conference semifinal opponents. The one thing they do know right now is that it will be a Cascadian rival following Seattle’s win over LA on Wednesday.
Whether Vancouver find themselves heading to Portland or Seattle on Sunday, there will be no surprises in store.
“We know each other inside out,” said ‘Caps coach Carl Robinson. “We know what they’re good at and what their weaknesses are, they know what we’re good at and what our weaknesses are. It’ll strictly comes down to who plays better, who performs better on the day.”
Although the extra time off afforded to them by clinching a first round bye gives more recovery time to their injured players, the Whitecaps are itching to get on the field and get their Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs campaign underway.
It will be the ‘Caps third playoff appearance in their five years in MLS, but the first time they have made it to the semifinal stage of the postseason. After two previous first round exits, to LA in 2012 and to Dallas in 2014, Vancouver are looking to rack up their first playoff victory and make their first Western Conference Championship, adding to an already history-making season for the club.
“We’ll go into this series, with whoever, and we’ll embrace it,” Robinson added. “We’ll go and look forward to it.
“The players should be proud of themselves, the coaches should be proud of themselves and the club should be proud of themselves. When you see the money spent around the league, we haven’t done that but we’ve still managed to be in the mix and it’s a lot of credit to us and the club.”
Vancouver came agonizingly close to winning both of their previous playoff games, but the mindset in the ‘Caps camp is that this is a whole different club heading into this playoff series.
Defender Jordan Harvey has been through the previous two playoff experiences and has seen the continued progress at the club.
"This year's felt different from the very beginning,” Harvey told reporters this week. “With Robbo taking over [last season] and starting his process in year one and then kind of see it coming to fruition in year two, and potentially year three, year four blowing up.
“Right now you kind of see all the pieces coming together and I know we still have a young group and a bright future, but right now I think it's very possible to go on a run and win [MLS Cup]."
Despite finishing second in the West, Vancouver are happy to take on any mantle of underdog given to them.
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Confidence is sky high within the group and Robinson admits that he’s used last year’s controversial exit at Dallas, to a controversial penalty, as added motivation.
And he echoed Harvey’s feeling that Vancouver have a real shot at becoming MLS Cup winners for the first time this season.
“Over the course of the season, we thoroughly deserve to be where we are,” Robinson stated. “Now, it’s the fun bit. Anything we do, I look at it as a bonus. We get a playoff game at home, but let’s not just go in there and fight and not scrap and not give it our everything because sometimes in life you get an opportunity and you have to grab it. Why not Vancouver?”
