Whitecaps battle for playoff positioning vs. lowly Earthquakes

The Vancouver Whitecaps continue their pursuit of a playoff spot when they host the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday night in British Columbia.

The Whitecaps (12-8-6, 42 points) are in sixth place in the bunched-up Western Conference. Vancouver is just two points behind the fourth-place Colorado Rapids and two ahead of the eighth-place Portland Timbers.

The Whitecaps are 5-1-2 over their past eight MLS matches and played visiting FC Dallas to a scoreless tie last Saturday.

Vancouver played without its top three goal scorers: Brian White (12), Ryan Gauld (nine) and Fafa Picault (eight). White missed the game with a concussion while Gauld (Scotland) and Picault (Haiti) were away on international duty.

White's status remains unknown. He was reportedly still in concussion protocol on Thursday.

Without the trio, the Whitecaps couldn't score despite taking 20 shots. Alessandro Schopf hit the right goal post in the first half and Tristan Blackmon drilled the crossbar in the second.

"I'm sad," Vancouver defender Ranko Veselinovic said. "We controlled the game for 80 of the 90 minutes. I just feel sorry that we couldn't score and end the game in the most beautiful way possible."

Goals have typically come early and often against MLS-worst San Jose (5-20-2, 17 points) this season.

The Earthquakes have allowed a league-worst 63 goals and also are last with a minus-29 goal differential.

San Jose has lost four of its last five MLS matches. The Earthquakes had a bye last weekend. The previous week, they fell 2-1 at home to Minnesota United. Ousseni Bouda scored San Jose's goal.

On Aug. 24, the Earthquakes posted a stunning 2-0 victory over Real Salt Lake at Sandy, Utah.

Interim coach Ian Russell said after the Minnesota match that the club is making progress.

"I think over the last seven games, we've been pretty good in every game," Russell said. "This is a game that we could have tied at the end, so we're making progress, but it's frustrating to lose."

Amahl Pellegrino leads the Quakes with six goals.

Vancouver defeated San Jose 2-0 on March 9. Schopf and Ali Ahmed scored second-half goals for the Whitecaps.

--Field Level Media