It was a special return to Swangard Stadium for the Vancouver Whitecaps, who marked their first game back from their World Cup break in style in Burnaby on Wednesday.
Faced off against Cavalry FC in the first leg of their Canadian Championship quarter-final tie, the Whitecaps picked up a 4-1 win at the stadium they had once called home before their MLS era.
For a Whitecaps side looking to become the first team to win five consecutive Canadian Championships, it was a perfect start to their title defence, as they had earned a bye through the preliminary round of this competition.
Cavalry, meanwhile, will feel frustrated that the game got away from them after a good first half, as the score was only 1-1 at the break. They'll still hope that they can turn this around in the second leg, but they face a tough mountain to climb if they're to reach the semi-final.
While the Whitecaps finished the game strongly, they also started the match quite well, too. As a result, they had the ball inside the net after just a minute, as they managed to find an early goal on an attacking throw-in.
After the ball bounced around in the box, it fell to Ranko Veselinovic, and the Whitecaps centre back sliced a shot across the box, one that hit Cavalry defender Adam Pearlman and went into the back of the net for the own goal.
Eager to respond to that bit of bad luck, Cavalry had a few good chances of their own after that, as they looked to immediately tie the game.
Caniggia Elva poked a shot over the bar from just outside of the box in the third minute, before Sergio Camargo forced a nice save out of Whitecaps goalkeeper Isaac Boehmer with a low shot from a tight angle in the 10th minute.
The Whitecaps had another good chance in the 24th minute, as Bruno Caicedo found the late run of Jeevan Badwal with a nice cutback, but Badwal was unable to keep his shot below the crossbar. Then, moments later, Oliver Larraz had a shot from distance, but sent his shot right into the hands of Nathan Ingham.
After a string of off-target shots from the Whitecaps, that opened the door for Cavalry to tie the game right before half-time.
It came on a long throw-in, too, which ended up being a theme of the first half. After the ball bounced around in the box, it fell to Daan Klomp, and the Cavalry centre back made no mistake with his close-range finish to knot the game at 1-1.
From there, the game reached the break, where Cavalry was probably the happier of the two teams given how they finished the half. Because of that, it was expected that the Whitecaps would come out strongly on the other side of the break, as they looked to regain their lead.
Certainly, they started to show that as the half went along, as after a slow start to the second stanza, Brian White had a dangerous chance for the Whitecaps in the 58th minute, but he sent his shot right at Ingham.
Moments later, though, the Whitecaps would retake the lead. This time, White would try another shot from a dangerous position, but after his attempt was blocked, the ball fell to a wide-open Thomas Müller, and the veteran attacker wasn't going to miss from close-range.
Fuelled by the momentum of that goal, the Whitecaps would make it three not long after. After cutting inside from the right, full back Édier Ocampo curled a shot towards the back post, and while his attempt was saved by Ingham, the rebound fell right to White, who headed into an empty net to make it 3-1.
With the wind in their sails, the Whitecaps continued to push for more goals, and found a fourth goal in the 75th minute. After a nice one-two at the edge of the box with White, Rayan Elloumi, who had been away at the World Cup with Tunisia, fired the ball into the bottom corner to make it 4-1.
From there, though, they'd be done scoring, as they slowed down the tempo to finish the game, allowing them to cruise to an eventual victory.
Box Score
Starting XIs
Vancouver Whitecaps FC: Boehmer; Ocampo, Blackmon (Laborda 82'), Veselinovic, Gherisamencov (Johnson 82'); Ngando, Larraz; Badwal, Gauld (Müller 46' (Djordjevic 73')), Caicedo (Elloumi 73'); White
Cavalry FC: Ingham; Pearlman (Laing 78'), Klomp, Didic, Kamdem; Kobza, Baldisimo (Paton 70'); Ntignee, Camargo (Myroniuk 78'), Edwards (Herdman 70'); Elva (Musse 62')
Goals
2' - Adam Pearlman (Cavalry FC) (Own Goal)
45' - Daan Klomp (Cavalry FC)
61' - Thomas Müller (Vancouver Whitecaps FC)
64' - Brian White (Vancouver Whitecaps FC)
75' - Rayan Elloumi (Vancouver Whitecaps FC)
Discipline
45+2' - Yellow: Tristan Blackmon (Vancouver Whitecaps FC)
53' - Yellow: Eryk Kobza (Cavalry FC)
77' - Yellow: Tristan Blackmon (Vancouver Whitecaps FC)
90+3' - Yellow: Goteh Ntignee (Cavalry FC)
CPLsoccer.com Player of the Match
Brian White, Vancouver Whitecaps FC
It was a clinical performance for White, who had a goal and an assist up front for the Whitecaps.
He wasn't his most active up front, as he had just 24 touches in this game, but he made them count, taking six of them in the box, while also generating four shots.
What's Next?
These teams will face off in the second leg of this tie on Monday, July 13th at ATCO Field (6:30 p.m. PT/7:30 p.m. MT), with the winner moving on to the semi-finals.