Vancouver Whitecaps 2-San Jose Earthquakes 1

When it is all said and done on the Vancouver Whitecaps 2018 season one thing will become immediately clear: Alphonso Davies didn’t let it go without a fight. The soon-to-be departing Cap gave his supporters one more lasting memory in the lead-up to his move to Bayern Munich: a key goal in Vancouver’s 2-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes.

Davies goal came in the 22nd minute when he finished off a pass from Kei Kamara, netting his sixth goal of the season. Nicolas Mezquida made it 2-0 in the second half, hitting a scintillating strike from beyond the eighteen yardbox in the 78th minute. While the Earthquakes did get themselves back into the match thanks to a Vako goal in the 91st minute, it wasn’t enough for the Quakes to earn a point.

With the win and coupled with Portland’s (11-7-8, 41 points) 1-1 draw with the New England Revolution, the Whitecaps (11-9-7, 40 points) move to within a point of their Cascadian foe for the sixth and final playoff spot in the MLS Western Conference standings. They will get the next week off and next play on September 15th when they will host the Seattle Sounders (10pm EST/7PM PST TSN2 and MLS +). It should be noted that the Sounders (12-9-5, 41 points) are also just a point ahead of the Whitecaps in fifth place.

As for San Jose (4-15-8, 20 points) the loss officially knocks the Earthquakes out of the 2018 MLS Cup Playoff race, becoming the first side to bow out of the competition. They will host Sporting Kansas City on September 15 (10:30 PM EST/7:30 PM PST, MLS +) with the hope of getting closer to avoiding the wooden spoon.

On hand to cover the match was Prost Amerika photographer Gerrit te Hennepe. You can check out his shots from the match below and all of his Whitecaps photos from the 2018 season on SmugMug.