Listen to this article
Approximately 3 minutes
The audio version of this article was created using text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.
The Vancouver Whitecaps will head to the Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup final for the first time in the club's history after beating home team San Diego 3-1 in the Western Conference final on Saturday night.
Brian White scored twice and the team also got a goal from San Diego goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega, who was sent off with a red card in the 79th minute for a major challenge on Whitecaps midfielder Ryan Gold.
Vancouver will face Inter Miami by Lionel Messi, winner of the Eastern Conference Finals for a shot at the MLS Cup title in Florida on Saturday, December 6th.
Inter Miami won the Eastern Conference with a 5-1 victory over New York City FC earlier Saturday. Both clubs are playing in the final for the first time.
In the eighth minute, White gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead. Andres Cubas and Ali Ahmed had assists on White's first goal this postseason.
Three minutes later, Whitecaps took a two-goal lead. Ahmed fired a shot at goal that Sisniega saved, but Manu Dua tried to clear the ball and instead sent the ball off Sisniega's back and into the net for a 2–0 lead.
White again capitalized on passes from Cubas and Ahmed to score two minutes into stoppage time to take a three-goal lead at the break.
White has five career goals in 12 playoff games. Cubas recorded his first two assists of the postseason in his 10th game. All three of Ahmed's assists in nine career playoff games came this season.
Hirving (Chucky) Lozano came on as a substitute early in the second half for San Diego and used an assist from Jeppe Tverskov to score in the 60th minute when his shot deflected over the head of Yohei Takaoka to cut the lead to 3–1. It was Lozano's first goal in his first MLS postseason. Tverskov earned his second assist in his first postseason.
San Diego was forced to punt from the 79th minute after Sisniega received a red card for a foul on Gold.
Takaoka finished the game with three saves in his 10th postseason start in the last three seasons with the Whitecaps.
Sisniega stopped four shots in his third postseason start for San Diego. He had clean sheets in his first two matches.
Mikey Varas' San Diego team became the second expansion team to reach the conference finals, joining the Chicago Fire in 1998. Chicago beat two-time defending champion D.C. United 2-0 to win the MLS Cup in front of 50,000 fans at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
In Vancouver, fans filled the stands at BC Place during a Whitecaps FC viewing party, where fans gathered to watch the club compete in their first-ever MLS Cup Western Final.
The Caps finished the regular season second in the West with an 18-7-9 record and eliminated Dallas and Los Angeles before facing San Diego for the conference title.
In April, Vancouver beat Miami 3-1 in the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
