Vancouver Whitecaps 0-Real Salt Lake 1

Nick Rimando’s career may be winding down but he still has a few tricks up his sleeve. Thanks to an early goal and some second half wizardry from Rimando Real Salt Lake earned the 1-0 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps to secure a top three spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs.

RSL took the lead with a Damir Kreilach with a header in the 28th minute, his sixth of the season. From there it was all Rimando with the 20 year MLS veteran making five saves to earn his 154th and final regular season clean sheet. Vancouver’s best opportunity at goal came in the 56th minute when Michaell Chirinoss hammered a header on target that was parried away by Rimando with just his fingertips.

With the win RSL secured the number three seed (16-13-5, 53 points) and home field advantage in the MLS Cup Western Conference Playoffs. They will face an old rival on October 19th when they host the Portland Timbers (10pm ESPNNEWS).

As for Vancouver while the Whitecaps (8-16-10, 34 points) will obviously not be happy ending the season on a loss they played well enough to earn a point against one of the best teams in the Western Conference. Having finished up a five game stretch in which they want 2-1-1 Marc Dos Santos and the Whitecaps should feel confident that there is something to build on heading into next year.

On hand to cover the match was Prost photographer Gerrit te Hennepe. You can check out more of his work on our SmugMug page.