Whitecaps vie to regroup vs. visiting Sporting Kansas City
The Vancouver Whitecaps endured a stretch of five straight MLS road matches and now look to focus on their pursuit of first place when they host Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night.
The Whitecaps (12-5-6, 42 points) are one point behind first-place San Diego FC in the Western Conference. The two foes played to a 1-1 draw in San Diego last Saturday.
Vancouver went 2-2-1 during the road stretch, and the roughest night came against San Diego FC. Not just because a 1-0 lead got away, but because defensive stalwart Ranko Veselinovic was lost for the season with an ACL tear in his left knee.
The 26-year-old Whitecaps' captain has six goals in 161 MLS matches over six seasons in Vancouver.
'It's genuinely heartbreaking for Ranko,' Whitecaps sporting director Axel Schuster said in a news release. 'He has not only been an extremely consistent and high performer on the field, but also a compassionate and supportive presence in the locker room.
'He's been a true cornerstone for us this season, and it's incredibly difficult to see his year cut short. The entire organization is behind him as he begins his recovery.'
Veselinovic's defense has been part of the reason behind Vancouver's surprise stellar season.
The Whitecaps had four players in Wednesday's All-Star Game, with star Brian White scoring one of the goals as the MLS All-Stars recorded a 3-1 win over the LIGA MX All-Stars in Austin, Texas.
White has a team-leading 11 goals. The squad's other representatives were goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka (MLS-best 10 shutouts), defender Tristan Blackmon (two goals) and midfielder Sebastian Berhalter (two goals, four assists).
'Everyone is making us better,' Berhalter said after the All-Star Game. 'We could have honestly had 11 guys here.'
Sporting Kansas City (6-11-6, 24 points) sits in 13th place in the West but is just five points shy of the conference's final playoff spot.
Second-leading goal scorer Daniel Salloi (six goals) said Kansas City can make a run.
'In this league, anything can happen,' he said. 'Anyone can beat anybody. But it really doesn't matter who we beat. We have to win half our games to make the playoffs.'
Goalkeeper John Pulskamp touched on the campaign being a 'transition season' for the club. However, he is bullish that a strong finish could be in store.
'We want to keep climbing that table this year, not just next year,' Pulskamp said. 'That's all our focus in the locker room is making the most of it this year.'
Star striker Dejan Joveljic leads Sporting KC with 13 goals.
Salloi scored the tying goal in the second half last Saturday as Sporting KC played to a 1-1 tie against visiting New York City FC.
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