LOS ANGELES — Vanni Sartini knows he may have upset some powerful forces in recent weeks.
The Vancouver Whitecaps' head coach may have been repaid Friday with what he called an "unlucky" goal — one that spelled the end of his team's season.
“Maybe God was angry at me because I said I’m an atheist a lot of times and that’s the reason we lost," Sartini said after Los Angeles FC blanked the 'Caps 1-0. "But he can’t be angry because he doesn’t exist.”
Vancouver was never favoured to win its best-of-three matchup against LAFC in the first round of the Major League Soccer playoffs.
The Whitecaps limped into the post-season, sliding down the Western Conference standings to eighth place after losing their last four games of the regular season.
The club then trounced their regional rivals, the Portland Timbers, 5-0 in a wild-card game and earned the right to face top-seeded Los Angeles.
LAFC opened the series with a narrow 2-1 victory in California and Vancouver replied with a decisive 3-0 win at home to set up a do-or-die matchup on Friday.
“It’s always bad to finish the season like this," said 'Caps defender Ranko Veselinovic. "There’s a lot of emotions right now. We really felt before the game and during the game that we had the game under control. But they really showed today … why they’re the top of the MLS.”
The two sides were locked in a defensive stalemate for much of the first half.
Vancouver's back line proved to be an aggressive force, picking balls off the feet of LAFC's stars and limiting shots.
Los Angeles sniper Denis Bouagna had an opportunity in the seventh minute, but sent his shot wide of the post.
Brian White tested LAFC 'keeper Hugo Lloris in the 27th minute with a left-footed blast from the top of the penalty area. The French netminder dived and punched the ball away.
White came tantalizingly close to putting the visitors on the board in the 43rd minute after collecting a ball in behind L.A.'s back line. The American striker chipped a shot over a diving Lloris, but the ball sailed just wide of the post.
Vancouver controlled 59.4 per cent of possession across the first half and outshot the home side 8-4, including the lone on-target shot.
Los Angeles is a dangerous team, but a beatable one, Sartini said.
"The thing is that in the playoffs, the star-studded team, the big players count and the big players score goals," the coach said. "At the end, we need to accept that.”
Los Angeles came into the second half with renewed aggression, pressing hard for a goal.
Olivier Giroud sliced a pass to Bouagna inside the penalty area in the 54th minute and Bouagna fired a shot off, skimming the ball over the crossbar.
LAFC finally capitalized in the 62nd minute when 'Caps defender Andres Cubas didn't get enough on a midfield header.
The ball fell to the feet of Mateusz Bougsz and the Polish midfielder took off, going one-on-one with Vancouver 'keeper Yohei Takaoka. His left-footed shot sailed past Takaoka's outstretched hands to give L.A. a 1-0 lead.
Bougsz ran to the corner and saluted the crowd before being mobbed by his teammates.
Vancouver briefly appeared to level the score in the 74th minute off a free kick. Tristan Blackmon ticked the ball in past Lloris, but the offside flag quickly went up, waving off the goal.
LAFC will host the Seattle Sounders in the Western Conference semifinals on Nov. 23 or 24.
Los Angeles has played in the last two MLS Cup finals. Vancouver has not made the Western Conference semifinals since 2017, when the 'Caps were eliminated by the Sounders.
Friday's loss wraps a campaign that saw the Whitecaps finish with a 13-13-8 regular-season record and win a third straight Canadian Championship title.
The late-season skid proved costly, Sartini said.
“The only regret that we have is the last two games of the regular season because we wouldn't have been eighth, we wouldn’t have had to do the play in and we wouldn’t have played (LAFC). We probably would have played them in the next round," he said.
Los Angeles has now eliminated the Whitecaps from the first round of the playoffs two years in a row.
That doesn't make Friday's loss any easier to take, Veselinovic said.
“I think this year hurts even more. Last year, they were more dominant, I think, in two games. This year, I think it was a different story," he said.
“We’re going to feel this one for awhile now.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
The Canadian Press