But, the Whitecaps later found out they would become the first Canadian franchise to qualify for the playoffs after all, as FC Dallas couldn't capitalize on the Whitecaps slip-up, losing 3-1 to Seattle.

Frankly, a team that offers as little offensively as the Whitecaps doesn’t deserve points from matches. On Saturday, the Whitecaps got one shot on the FC Dallas goal. In their last game, a loss two weeks ago to the Los Angeles Galaxy, the Whitecaps got no shots on goal.

Whenever a team can go into the Denver suburbs and steal a road win, it’s a positive. It doesn’t have to be pretty.

Darren Mattocks may be a rookie, but his finishing in the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 win over the Houston Dynamo Sunday evening proved the difference, as he bagged a double.

While Wednesday’s first leg of the Amway Canadian Championship semifinal marks the first time that FC Edmonton and the Whitecaps will face each other competitively, Vancouver coach Martin Rennie is all too familiar with the Eddies.

Then the Caps imploded, giving up three second-half goals to the Quakes thanks to a series of mistakes in the back that’d have you thinking you were watching the 2011 edition of the team.

“I had two big chances where I should’ve scored," admitted Le Toux, after the 2-0-2 Whitecaps held off the 0-3-1 Union’s second half surge to salvage a valuable point on the road. “I’m very disappointed in myself, because my team needed me.

But the game came to life in the second half — and the Whitecaps got goals from Sebastien Le Toux, Canadian youngster Russell Teibert and defender Carlyle Mitchell, as they went on to swamp SKC 3-0 thanks to a 17-minute spell of inspired play.

For the second week in a row, the Vancouver Whitecaps took advantage of a team in a tailspin.

Two of the three Galaxy goals came when men were left completely unmarked in the Whitecaps penalty area to nod crosses home. These were goals you’d expect decent men’s league players to score given that much time and space.