In a battle between the West's No. 1 and No. 4 teams on Saturday evening (late afternoon local time) at Vancouver's BC Place, Austin FC lost 5-1 (!), with Brian White scoring two first-half goals and two second-half goals to propel the Whitecaps more firmly into the Supporters' Shield lead as the league's first six-match winner.
After a relatively fun first frame that included Myrto Uzuni going one-v-one with Whitecaps 'keeper Yohei Takaoka (resulting in a less-than-satisfying chip) and what looked like Brad Stuver scooping up a mouse and escorting it off the field in his large padded gloves, things got less fun for Verde in the 13th minute.
Édier Ocampo sent a cross into the heart of the rarely-vulnerable Austin defense, and then Daniel Rios redirected it with a deft backheel to White, who then did what Brian White is very good at doing. Verde then found themselves in an unfamiliar position in its 2025 campaign — looking to equalize.
Then, in the 38th minute, Stuver sent a goal kick right to Ralph Priso, who then found Emmanuel Sabbi with an upfield pass, who then sprung White past the uncharacteristically flat-footed Verde defense for his second goal of the half.
Austin had one fantastic chance before half, with Jon Gallagher finding Vázquez in front of goal with a would-be assist that the striker then flubbed. The Sisyphean ordeal continues.
Within two minutes after the restart, Sabbi scored on a corner kick with defensive positioning that again went wanting. (Verde players were there, to be fair, but didn't move or put up resistance as Sabbi slid forward to receive a pass in a position where Stuver was left unable to keep the shot out.)
And in the 59th minute, White got his third goal running free in the box following a shot off the post that caromed off Brendan Hines-Ike's face on the way in (who, to credit him, did make a valiant effort to defend the goal).
Stuver did staunch the bleeding by saving his first PK goal of 2025 from Daniel Rios, also saving a shot coming in the ensuing post-miss melee. But he couldn't keep White from scoring a fourth goal following that save, making Brian White fantasy owners very happy.
Not that it mattered in the final scoreline, but Dani Pereira scored an outside-the-box banger to ruin Takaoka's clean sheet in the 90th minute.
My seven-year-old daughter, predicting a 2-1 win for a Whitecaps team she inexplicably loves, assessed, "My perfection was wrong."
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
Other than Stuver saving the mouse? We're going to give it to the several would-be assists from Wolff and Gallagher. With better finishing, this would have at least been a closer match.
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
In the 33rd minute, with Austin breaking toward goal but Brandon Vázquez being confused about where to place the ball, Owen Wolff was nevertheless able to salvage the play, getting the ball into a dangerous place in the box and then teeing up a shot with a smart backheel pass to Besard Šabović.
Šabović then skied what should have been the equalizer. Less than five minutes later, things got much worse.
Something you might have missed
Vancouver Whitecaps head coach Jesper Sørensen was very amused by the Stuver mouse rescue.
One nerdy tidbit
Prior to the save on Rios, Stuver has saved four of 25 MLS PKs he's faced, the last coming against Hany Mukhtar last August. Two of his four career saves, awesomely, came against Chicharito. (Take that, Chicharito.)
A question we have heading into the press conference
"So, you've had your first absolute stinker of the year. What do you do to regroup?"
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. You can comment here if you’re a subscriber, or reach out via Bluesky.
In a battle between the West's No. 1 and No. 4 teams on Saturday evening (late afternoon local time) at Vancouver's BC Place, Austin FC lost 5-1 (!), with Brian White scoring two first-half goals and two second-half goals to propel the Whitecaps more firmly into the Supporters' Shield lead as the league's first six-match winner.
After a relatively fun first frame that included Myrto Uzuni going one-v-one with Whitecaps 'keeper Yohei Takaoka (resulting in a less-than-satisfying chip) and what looked like Brad Stuver scooping up a mouse and escorting it off the field in his large padded gloves, things got less fun for Verde in the 13th minute.
Édier Ocampo sent a cross into the heart of the rarely-vulnerable Austin defense, and then Daniel Rios redirected it with a deft backheel to White, who then did what Brian White is very good at doing. Verde then found themselves in an unfamiliar position in its 2025 campaign — looking to equalize.
Then, in the 38th minute, Stuver sent a goal kick right to Ralph Priso, who then found Emmanuel Sabbi with an upfield pass, who then sprung White past the uncharacteristically flat-footed Verde defense for his second goal of the half.
Austin had one fantastic chance before half, with Jon Gallagher finding Vázquez in front of goal with a would-be assist that the striker then flubbed. The Sisyphean ordeal continues.
Within two minutes after the restart, Sabbi scored on a corner kick with defensive positioning that again went wanting. (Verde players were there, to be fair, but didn't move or put up resistance as Sabbi slid forward to receive a pass in a position where Stuver was left unable to keep the shot out.)
And in the 59th minute, White got his third goal running free in the box following a shot off the post that caromed off Brendan Hines-Ike's face on the way in (who, to credit him, did make a valiant effort to defend the goal).
Stuver did staunch the bleeding by saving his first PK goal of 2025 from Daniel Rios, also saving a shot coming in the ensuing post-miss melee. But he couldn't keep White from scoring a fourth goal following that save, making Brian White fantasy owners very happy.
Not that it mattered in the final scoreline, but Dani Pereira scored an outside-the-box banger to ruin Takaoka's clean sheet in the 90th minute.
My seven-year-old daughter, predicting a 2-1 win for a Whitecaps team she inexplicably loves, assessed, "My perfection was wrong."
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
Other than Stuver saving the mouse? We're going to give it to the several would-be assists from Wolff and Gallagher. With better finishing, this would have at least been a closer match.
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
In the 33rd minute, with Austin breaking toward goal but Brandon Vázquez being confused about where to place the ball, Owen Wolff was nevertheless able to salvage the play, getting the ball into a dangerous place in the box and then teeing up a shot with a smart backheel pass to Besard Šabović.
Šabović then skied what should have been the equalizer. Less than five minutes later, things got much worse.
Something you might have missed
Vancouver Whitecaps head coach Jesper Sørensen was very amused by the Stuver mouse rescue.
One nerdy tidbit
Prior to the save on Rios, Stuver has saved four of 25 MLS PKs he's faced, the last coming against Hany Mukhtar last August. Two of his four career saves, awesomely, came against Chicharito. (Take that, Chicharito.)
A question we have heading into the press conference
"So, you've had your first absolute stinker of the year. What do you do to regroup?"
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. You can comment here if you’re a subscriber, or reach out via Bluesky.
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