Battle of the Berhalters ends in Bust

The Vancouver Whitecaps’ historical start to the season ended on a disappointing loss to Chicago Fire, with positives still showing.

*All pictures courtesy of Jess Sareault, go check her out at @jess.sareault.visuals on IG!*

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March 22nd, 2025. The International break has rolled around in the soccer world, meaning all major leagues around the world would pause play for their players to flourish for nation (including both the US and Canada). Except of course, for the MLS. All 29 REAL MLS teams (Inter Miami is basically a satanic ritual at this point) would have to suffer losses of major players, and one team that felt the cut of the wound deeply was the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Vancouver would suffer the loss of four first team starters; Designated Player Andres Cubas, all-time MLS era leading goal scorer Brian White, as well as prominent midfielders Ali Ahmed and Pedro Vite. Ryan Gauld and Sam Adekugbe were unsurprisingly sidelined due to injury, yet Tristan Blackmon would be out due to personal reasons, speculated to be involved with the unfortunate passing of his grandfather. Our condolences from Cascadia FC.

Although the toll taken on was quieter, the Chicago Fire were dealt with a total of 7 players out, with five being from injury as well as another two due to Int’l duty. 6 of the 7 are current starters: Brian Gutierrez, Omari Glasgow, Kellyn Acosta, Chris Mueller, Jonathan Dean, and Chase Gasper.

Chicago would stun the lost ‘Caps scoring 52 seconds into the match, when Leonardo Barroso would send a through ball in for Phillip Zinckernagel to chase. Zinckernagel unselfishly played the simple pass straight to Hugo Cuypers inside the six yard box and Hugo tapped it in to make it 1-0.

The Whitecaps would respond in the 14th minute through a cheeky pass from Jayden Nelson to set up newly acquired striker Daniel Rios with a thunderous finish, opening his Whitecaps scoring account on his starting debut.

Vancouver would go into halftime looking hopeful, resetting and adapting well enough after the immediate Chicago goal. These hopes would deflate in the 60th minute, as a horrible mistake from Ralph Priso would give Zinckernagel the ball from right outside the 6. The Danish winger wasted no time as he sent a strike through the roof of the net, past Yohei Takaoka’s grasp. 2-1.

After what felt like hours of pressure, the ‘Caps ultimately failed to score again throughout the 90, and with a desperate last-gasp pass in the fifth and last minute of stoppage time, J.C Ngando would give the ball away to Chicago, leading to a 3 on 2 counter. A scuffed dogfight in the box left the ball at the feet of Rominigue Kouamé who iced the ball into the bottom right corner to score Chicago’s 3rd goal and take all 3 points, ending the ‘Caps perfect record in MLS.

Takeaways:

Young talents Mackenzie, Badwal, and Johnson shine

Liam Mackenzie would make his Whitecaps first team debut on Saturday, while Jeevan Badwal would play for 25 minutes, the longest so far for the first team. Both homegrown talents created a spark in their respective areas. Mackenzie had a solid performance before ultimately being subbed off in the 65th. Badwal gave the midfield a sense of urgency as he would fling himself into challenge after challenge, trying to keep momentum alive while adding control towards the defensive side. Tate Johnson would make overlapping runs to keep Chicago on their toes and had a solid performance coming off his great debut against Montreal on the 8th.

Lock Priso in a box and throw the key away

Ralph Priso playing for the Vancouver Whitecaps in 2025 baffles and honestly slightly sickens me. Priso has played a collective 618 minutes for the Whitecaps since signing in 2024 and has not been good for a single one of those. Priso mostly rides the bench, yet what does he do when given the opportunity to start and show his potential to the gaffer? Lose five duels throughout the match (the most out of any player) and gift Chicago their second goal. Ralph honestly isn’t even a good depth piece. Sell him in the summer please, Jesper.

That wraps up this match day’s article for the Whitecaps on Cascadia FC. Thanks for reading, until next time, this has been Adeeb Shir and up the ‘Caps!

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