CONCACAF Champions Cup Round 1 Finale | OneFootball

The final match of Round 1 was played last night at BC Place as the Vancouver Whitecaps hosted San José, Costa Rica’s Deportivo Saprissa in the reverse fixture.

When you talk about the Vancouver Whitecaps offense, one of the first names to pop up is Scotsman Ryan Gauld. And with good reason. With 90 contributions evenly shared between goals and assists in 137 games, his knack for hitting the net in crucial moments far outweighs their simple numeric impact. It was his goal in the first leg of this series last week at Saprissa that jump started Vancouver’s 2025 campaign. He got another in their emphatic 4 – 1 win over rivals Portland Timbers last Saturday.

Which is why his omission from tonight’s reverse fixture line-up was a surprise. After all, the ‘Caps were in the hole after Saprissa’s Ariel Rodríguez scored a late winner in the 95th minute of stoppage time. Nothing short of a 1 – 0 win (or its goal differential equivalent) would knock Vancouver out.

A Nervy Beginning

The first half wasn’t promising. Saprissa pressed early before Vancouver was able to regain possession and momentum. Homegrown prospect Ali Ahmed whiffed a sitter and both teams entered the dressing room bemoaning wasted chances.

Enter Brian “hold-my-beer” White. This New Jersey-born striker holds the Vancouver all-time goal scoring record, and delivered tonight in emphatic fashion. Less than 60 seconds into the start of the second half, he redirected a Jayden Nelson cross into the Saprissa net. This sparked a lively and thoroughly entertaining second half in which both teams struck the woodwork twice. Gauld would sub on in the 63rd minute and deliver some critical passing, but Vancouver’s insurance goal would come from White’s foot after a Sebastian Berhalter free kick would rebound off the post.

Round of 16 Fixtures

With Vancouver’s dramatic win we now have the next round locked in place.

Tuesday, March 4

Wednesday, March 5

Thursday, March 6