In a thrilling playoff match on Saturday night, Vancouver Whitecaps secured a victory over FC Dallas with Ralph Priso’s equalizing goal in stoppage time and Belal Halbouni’s decisive goal in a penalty shootout. The Whitecaps triumphed in the best-of-three first-round series of the Major League Soccer Cup playoffs after a 1-1 draw in regular time.
As the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, Vancouver will now host the Western Conference semifinal on November 22 at B.C. Place stadium. The team awaits the winner between third-seeded Los Angeles FC and sixth-seeded Austin for the one-game conference semifinals.
FC Dallas forward Petar Musa opened the scoring with his first career MLS Cup playoffs goal in the 25th minute, putting Dallas ahead 1-0. However, Vancouver’s Priso managed to equalize in stoppage time by converting a rebound after his initial header was saved by rookie goalkeeper Michael Collodi.
The match proceeded to a penalty shootout where Vancouver’s Halbouni scored the winning penalty after a series of exchanged goals between both teams. Dallas’ Nolan Norris missed the final kick, sealing the victory for the Whitecaps.
In their previous encounter, Vancouver had dominated with a 3-0 win in Game 1. Goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka played a crucial role, making two saves for Vancouver throughout the match.
