Vancouver Whitecaps embracing pressure ahead of Western Conference final

VANCOUVER — Pressure is nothing new for the Vancouver Whitecaps.

The team has stunned some onlookers this season, mounting come-from-behind victories, upsetting top opponents, and scoring jaw-dropping goals as time ticks down.

Now the ‘Caps are leaning on those moments as they head into their biggest game of the season — the Western Conference final.

Even when they’ve been down this year, the Whitecaps have continued to battle, said head coach Jesper Sorensen.

“The team has just always kept focused and tried to pull back. Sometimes we have not been able to, but many times we have succeeded, also, late in games,” he said.

“I think that’s because people really have a strong belief in what we’re doing and the way we play and also in their teammates. That we have done it before means so much. So we have the belief that we can always do it again.”

A spot in the MLS Cup championship game will be on the line Saturday when Vancouver battles expansion side San Diego FC in California.

The Whitecaps finished the season second in the West with an 18-7-9 record, while San Diego took top spot after going 19-9-6.

The way the ‘Caps advanced to the conference final shows they are prepared for big games, Sorensen said.

After going up 2-0 in the first half against Los Angeles FC last weekend, Vancouver faltered.

Star defender Tristan Blackmon was sent off in the 95th minute with his second yellow card of the night and L.A.’s Son Heung-min scored on the ensuing free kick to level the score at 2-2 and force extra time. The ‘Caps lost another piece of their back line when Belal Halbouni went down with a knee injury, and were forced to finish down two bodies. In front of a sold-out crowd of nearly 54,000 at B.C. Place, the team beat LAFC 4-3 on penalty kicks.

“A lot of stuff can happen through the course of two and a half hours. We are prepared for most of it,” Sorensen said.

“I think we showed (last week) we have the mentality to go through a lot. And we will have to go through a lot to go on to the MLS final. And we are ready to suffer on the pitch.”

Vancouver has already played big games this year, including the final of the CONCACAF Champions Cup, where the team fell to Cruz Azul, and the Canadian Championship final, where they beat Canadian Premier League club Vancouver FC to hoist the Voyageurs Cup for the fourth year in a row.

Whitecaps superstar Thomas Muller loves to perform when expectations are the highest.

“To get the job done when everybody’s watching, ‘Can they do it?’ I want to be with my group and sustain this pressure and get to the next round and get through it. Just show up,” said the Bayern Munich legend and FIFA World Cup champion. “That’s what I want to do again and again and again.”

Expectations will be high for the Whitecaps on Saturday, Muller said, and that’s something he wants his teammates to embrace.

“They should feel it. They should feel the pressure. But they should feel it in the right way. It’s not about not getting distracted by these kind of emotions. It’s more about how can you use it,” he said.

The group has done well at sticking to their game in tense situations, Muller added. And they’re ready to repeat the feat.

“We are well prepared. But we have to play a Vancouver Whitecaps game. That’s what I’m focused on,” he said.

Saturday marks Vancouver’s first ever trip to a MLS conference final.

Midfielder Sebastian Berhalter, though, isn’t thinking about where the game fits in history.

“In my opinion, it’s just another soccer game,” he said. “For us, we’ve dealt with that really well this year, not making it more than it is.

“We’re playing a soccer game alongside a bunch of best friends, just going out there and having a good time. Yeah, it’s a big moment. But I think we’ve done really well at being ourselves, not being more than we are.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 27, 2025.