First-place Vancouver Whitecaps settle for 0-0 draw vs. punchless St. Louis City FC

The visiting Vancouver Whitecaps maintained their lead for the Supporters' Shield and in the Western Conference on Saturday night despite finishing with a 0-0 draw against host St. Louis City SC.

Vancouver (6-1-2, 20 points) outshot St. Louis 15-8 but had seven shots blocked and managed to get just one shot through to goalie Ben Lundt, who was able to stop Pedro Vite's left-footed attempt from just outside the box in the 47th minute.

Whitecaps goalie Yohei Takaoka needed to make just two saves for the clean sheet, including one on Conrad Wallem's shot in the 87th minute. St. Louis finished the match with a slight edge in possession time but failed to score for the fourth time in five matches.

St. Louis (2-4-3, 9 points) hasn't won since a 1-0 blanking of Seattle on March 15. It has just five goals in nine matches, three of them in a 3-0 rout of the Los Angeles Galaxy on March 9. It has managed just one goal in the last 525 minutes of game action.

The result marked just the second time this year Vancouver has been blanked. It nearly got on the board in the 84th minute, but Brian White, who tallied four goals last week in a 5-1 rout of Austin, pushed his attempt wide right from the box's right side.

The pregame storylines were whether St. Louis could find a way to attack more often against a team that entered the night leading MLS in goals (17) and standings points. A lack of offensive punch has been a defining factor in its recent losing streak.

During a scoreless first half, St. Louis actually held a slight advantage in possession time and squeezed off the only shot on net, although Joao Klauss' header from the center of the box in the 44th minute was turned back by Takaoka.

Vancouver outshot St. Louis in the half, but most of its attempts were low-percentage tries that either missed the goal entirely or were blocked. That led to a scoreless half, trending in favor of the defensive-minded home team.

--Field Level Media