VANCOUVER, B.C. - It was all about bouncing back to form for the Vancouver Whitecaps at BC Place on Saturday afternoon and they did that with a dominant 3-0 win over a struggling and weakened Philadelphia Union side.
With eight points already dropped at home this season, one win in their last five matches, and with a tough stretch on the road on the horizon in June, the Whitecaps needed not just a victory but to rediscover the attacking flair that took them to the top of the standings.
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Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson was naturally pleased with the three points and the three goals, Vancouver’s most this season, and while there was still a feeling that his side could have done even better, he was pleased to come out unscathed from what could have been a banana skin for the league leaders.
"To score three is nice because we've only scored eight or nine in 10 games," Robinson told reporters after the match. "I keep getting reminded of that.
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"It was a trap game. I prepared the boys this week [by telling them] this is as difficult a match as we'll have because we were expected to win and there was no expectation from Philly to come out, and that's no disrespect to them. The boys handled it fantastically well."
Pedro Morales opened the scoring in the 32nd minute and Vancouver never looked back after that with additional strikes from Octavio Rivero and Darren Mattocks.
But it David Ousted's huge point blank save off Andrew Wenger six minutes earlier that Robinson pointed to as the defining moment of the game.
"It's an outstanding save," Robinson said. "Sometimes it takes a little moment like that. David's save ignited the crowd. Moments [like that] change games."
The Whitecaps had been a little flat out of the blocks, allowing Philadelphia to successfully play a high line and keep the attack at bay, but Ousted's save injected a spark both on and off the pitch.
"When David saved that chance the team woke up," said Morales about Ousted's big save. "We were more confident and saying on the field ‘c'mon guys, let's do it’. From that incident the game changed for us. [It was] much better. It was a big win for us today."
The shutout was Vancouver and Ousted’s sixth clean sheet of the season and it's not been the first time that the Danish 'keeper has come up with a game defining save.
"He makes saves like that at training. He keeps getting better and better," Robinson said. "Great reaction save and they're as important as Octavio [Rivero] scoring and Pedro [Morales] scoring."
Despite his teammates’ praises, Ousted played down his contribution, but did acknowledge the boost the save seemed to give the Whitecaps.
"I just tried to get as much of my body in front of that as possible," said Ousted. "Luckily I got a hand and then I think a knee to it so I kept it out. It was a good time of the game to get that save.
"It was a little bit of a scare. We saw and we knew that they could hurt us. That was a little bit of a wake up call and then we got going after that. After we got the first goal, everything flowed a lot better."
