Whitecaps look to avenge ugly season opener in first home game

VANCOUVER — Heading into the second week of the Major League Soccer season, the Vancouver Whitecaps are already looking for a big bounce back performance.

The 'Caps stumbled into the 2022 campaign last week with an ugly 4-0 road loss to Columbus Crew SC. Now they're eager to put forward a stronger effort come Saturday when they host the reigning MLS Cup champions, New York City FC.

“Losing games, you learn a lot. You learn to figure out what went wrong and sharpen things up a little bit more, make things more clinical for us," said striker Lucas Cavallini. "There’s always revenge in football and this is our revenge for (last week)."

The Whitecaps (0-1-0) coughed up the first goal of the game in the eighth minute last week and went down to 10 men early in the second half when veteran defender Jake Nerwinski was sent off with his second yellow card of the day.

“Obviously it’s a tough match to start off the year," said defender Tristan Blackmon. "But it’s a long season and we have a lot to look forward to, a good group of guys that have a lot of work ethic. And I think, what better way to bounce back than at home?”

The turf at B.C. Place was kind to the 'Caps last season. The club played just nine games in Vancouver due to pandemic border restrictions but boasted a stellar 7-1-1 at its home stadium.

The Whitecaps respect the fact that NYC FC (0-1-0) are the league's defending champions, but the group is confident in its abilities, especially in front of a lively home crowd, said Cavallini.

"Obviously we know it’s going to be a tough rival but if we stick to our game plan, we'll figure things out, especially at home," he said. "Home is a big advantage for us so I think we could come off with three points easily."

NYC FC