The Vancouver Whitecaps meet the LA Galaxy on Wednesday at BC Place, just days after a 3-1 home loss to St. Louis that ended with the home side chasing the game before halftime. Emmanuel Sabbi put Vancouver ahead in less than two minutes, but St. Louis answered with three unanswered first-half goals and left the Whitecaps with little room to dwell before the next test.
That is why Jesper Sørensen sounded focused on the schedule as much as the opponent on Tuesday. The Whitecaps are finishing a four-game homestand, and Sørensen said the team does not have much time to prepare because the games come fast right now. Wednesday is not only another match, it is the first chance to reset after a result that exposed how quickly a strong start can unravel when the pressure turns.
The matchup also carries some recent history. The Whitecaps drew 1-1 with the Galaxy in Carson in May, when Mathias Laborda scored an 82nd-minute equalizer, and Vancouver has taken all three points in three of the Galaxy's last four visits to BC Place. That helps explain why the Whitecaps enter as the more settled side at home, where they are 8-3-1 this season and have outscored opponents 49-21 through 22 MLS matches, a pace that has given them a Western Conference-best plus-28 goal differential.
The contrast, though, is that Vancouver is carrying the memory of Saturday into a match it is expected to control. Sørensen said the Whitecaps would not forget what happened, and that matters because the last result was not a narrow miss but a collapse after an early lead. The Galaxy arrive having beaten New England 2-1 on Saturday, with Marco Reus scoring from the penalty spot for his fourth MLS goal of the season, but they are still 2-4-3 since the World Cup break and sit 12th in the West.
Vancouver may also use the week to start folding in new faces without rushing them. Guinean international Yadaly Diaby already made his MLS debut with a cameo against St. Louis, Sebastian Ramirez has joined the club on loan from Fortaleza, and Rui Modesto could make his Whitecaps debut on Wednesday. Sørensen sounded open to getting them minutes, but he also made clear that he does not want to throw everyone in at once. Austin FC visit BC Place on Sunday, so the next four days will show whether the Whitecaps can turn a damaging loss into the kind of home stretch that keeps them in command.
