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Vancouver Whitecaps fall to Seattle in a loss that hurts from rivalry and playoff perspectives

There's always plenty of intrinsic motivation on the line when the Vancouver Whitecaps and Seattle Sounders meet; the two sides (as well as the Portland Timbers) have been rivals since the old North American Soccer League, and the fans in each city are always fired up for these matches. The Whitecaps' 2-0 loss to the Sounders in front of a massive crowd of 55,718 in Seattle Saturday will be painful for Vancouver fans from more than just a rivalry standpoint, though, and it does more than hurt the team's chances of claiming the Cascadia Cup. It also represents a missed opportunity to grab a point or three, which could become important in the battle for playoff positioning as the MLS season comes down to the wire.

The loss is just another data point in a run of less-than-stellar form from the Whitecaps, who haven't won on the road since July 4, were 3-6-3 away from home overall heading into this and came into Saturday's match off a 2-0 home loss to FC Dallas Wednesday. Of course, there were some other factors at play in this one, including the hostile crowd and MLS' unusual decision to suspend star Vancouver midfielder Barry Robson less than 24 hours before the match. Still, they didn't look particularly impressive Saturday and were decisively outplayed by the Sounders, who earned a 56th-minute goal from Fredy Montero off a scramble in the box in the wake of a free kick and sealed the deal thanks to an 87th-minute tap-in from Eddie Johnson. Seattle had 12 attempts on goal to Vancouver's five and five shots on goal, while the Whitecaps were unable to register a shot on Michael Gspurning's net. This was a tougher-than-usual fixture, of course, but it's hard to view this performance as anything but underwhelming for a club with postseason ambitions, especially when you consider that this directly boosted one of their chief opponents in the battle for playoff positioning.

Of course, the Whitecaps still have a solid shot at making the postseason. They've now played 26 matches out of their 34 scheduled, and their 10-9-7 (win-loss-draw) record is good enough for 37 points, the fifth-highest total in the Western Conference. As five teams from each conference will make the playoffs, Vancouver would be in if the season ended today, and they have a reasonable cushion on both sixth-place FC Dallas (29 points from 26 matches) and seventh-place Chivas USA (26 points from 21 matches). Better seeds are possible, too, as the Whitecaps could catch the fourth-place L.A. Galaxy (also on 37 points from 26 matches) or even the third-place Sounders (40 points from 24 matches). Still, to not only lose in Seattle but to lose in such decisive fashion doesn't bode well for this team, and this result has to be seen as an opportunity squandered at best. At worst, it could combine with their mid-week loss to Dallas as evidence of a poor run of form that might hurt their playoff chances if it continues. A rivalry loss obviously hurts for Whitecaps' supporters, but the missed chance to make up ground in the standings may be even more painful in the long run.