The Sounders return to the Concacaf Champions Cup after a disappointing campaign in 2025. The Rave Green notably won the previous iteration of the tournament in 2022, becoming the only MLS club to win the modern version of the tournament.
The Vancouver Whitecaps come into the match with an undefeated start to the season in both MLS and CCC. They are perfect in MLS, including a 4-1 win over Portland this past weekend. The Whitecaps advanced to the CCC Round of 16 after defeating CS Cartaginés 2-0 on aggregate.
The Sounders are coming off a 1-0 win over St. Louis CITY on the road, a part of the Sounders 5-game road stretch due to Lumen Field getting grass laid in preparation for the World Cup.
The first leg of this Round of 16 matchup takes place at BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia and the second leg will be hosted by the Sounders at One Spokane Stadium in Spokane, Washington. This is also due to the preparations at Lumen Field.
These Cascadia Cup rivals have faced each other once before in the Concacaf Champions League. The clubs were both slotted into Group F alongside Honduran side CD Olimpia. The Sounders took a point with a 1-1 draw on the road in BC Place before winning 3-0 at home against the Whitecaps. Lamar Neagle scored three of the four goals for the Sounders in those matches. The win over the Whitecaps sent the Sounders through to the knockout stage.
The Sounders lead the all-time series against their rivals up north, and lead with a 20-13-11 record since 2011. The club has not lost to the Whitecaps in a knockout competition since the Canadian side joined MLS.
The modern-day version of the Whitecaps, however, are a tough team to face. They are the reigning Western Conference Champions, and also reached the CCC final last season. They have outscored MLS clubs 8-1 in their first three MLS matches, and have held four cleans sheets in five games across MLS and CCC.
“(Vancouver Whitecaps) are a good team. Ever since Jesper (Sørensen) came on board they’ve changed the way they played. They’ve got guys who know how to win in MLS,” Schmetzer said after Tuesday’s training in regards to the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Head Coach Brian Schmetzer did not have an update on Yeimar’s injury after Tuesday’s training, but did note that the center back had gone to a specialist in England to get further imaging. That alone warrants some concern.
Heading into this Thursday’s match, the Sounders have another couple injuries that will make this match tougher. Hassani Dotson was re-added to concussion protocol after the match against CITY, while Yeimar suffered a hamstring injury in the same match.
Some good news on the injury front is that Paul Rothrock was back in training this week. When asked about Rothrock’s availability, Schmetzer remarked that he would “be on the field in Vancouver.”
Based on the lineups we have seen at training this week. Alex Roldan is more than likely the starting CB next to Ragen against the ‘Caps. Stefan Frei will start in goal during this tournament as noted by Schmetzer last week.
Additionally with Paul Rothrock missing the match against St. Louis, we may see Paul Arriola make his first start for the Sounders since suffering a torn ACL in last season’s CCC match against Cruz Azul.
You can also expect to see some younger players appearing on the bench for both the CCC and MLS games in this next week. Schmetzer was asked about rotation and how the club is preparing to deal with fixture congestion this early in the season. In response, Schmetzer stated that the club will make some call-ups for depth. Some likely faces from the Tacoma Defiance to earn a short-term loan would be defender Antino Lopez or midfielder Peter Kingston, both of whom spent time with the first team in preseason.
The Sounders will head to San Jose following the match against the Whitecaps. The Earthquakes have started their MLS campaign with a perfect 3-0-0 record. Club record signing Timo Werner made an instant impact with an assist in their 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Union.
The tough stretch of road matches for the Sounders continues after their Spokane “home” match with a trip to Minnesota followed by a match in Houston. The Sounders next home match will be on April 12 against Real Salt Lake.
(Cover Photo: Maddy Grassy / Sounders FC Communications)
