After back-to-back, less-than-stellar outings in the City of Angels, questions abound regarding the Vancouver Whitecaps’ futility in the great state of California. Too much Disneyland? Too much Rodeo Drive shopping? Whatever it may be, Cap struggles in the golden state have become familiar, and farcically legendary.

With the loss this past weekend, they’ve now compiled a 0-7-0 (W-L-T) record versus the Galaxy in LA since joining MLS in 2011. That’s not entirely surprising considering the various assemblies of talent that the Galaxy has been able to trot out year after year, but to be unable to muster a single point in seven games may be considered, ehrm, disheartening.

Unfortunately for the boys from Vancouver, the point drought in California extends beyond the Galaxy.

Consider the following:

Chivas USA also plays out of the StubHub Center and that’s about where the similarities with the Galaxy begin and end. The perennial doormats of the MLS Western Conference for the past four seasons , the Goats have always enjoyed seeing our boys in blue and white come to town.

And why not? The Whitecaps have stumbled to a 1-1-4 record when facing the Goats away from Vancouver. Not altogether bad in soccer terms, but when considering the competition, a single win is certainly not what any sane person would consider satisfactory.

And the futility continues just a little further north in San Jose. The Caps have not been able to secure a win playing in San Jose, although they have drawn on three occasions in their four games at Buck Shaw Stadium.

Add it all up and we are left with this:

1 win. 9 losses. 7 draws.

All told, since their inaugural MLS season in 2011, the Whitecaps have earned but a paltry 10 points out of a possible 51 when playing in California. And that single, solitary win came against possibly the worst team in MLS history.

Contrast those numbers with the results in Vancouver. At BC Place, the Whitecaps have accrued at 7-5-3 record against those same California-based squads, accumulating 26 out of a possible 45 points. A markedly significant improvement overall.

Playing at home in familiar confines and in front of supporters certainly offers a boost to a club – but can it fully account for an increase in efficiency of this scale? If so, take a bow Vancouver, you deserve it.

Another possible explanation is simply that this team prefers playing on their turf. Literally, their turf: BC Place is the only stadium in the MLS that uses a Polytan surface. Surely there is a certain familiarity its tendencies that allow the Whitecaps some specific home-field advantages. A bounce here, a skip there, maybe it translates into an extra goal or two. It’s simple math, really.

More likely though, this points to exactly what we should all know by now. Fire up the chorus, Maestro Robbo: the 2014 edition of the Vancouver Whitecaps are “a work in progress” and “a young club” learning to win. Poor results on the road point to inexperience and insecurity away from the friendly BC Place environment and the Bell Pitch turf.

Carl Robinson and his staff will be the first to tell you that this is a bridge year; a period in which to give his young stars valuable playing time to work through hiccups and iron out kinks. With the mass exodus of veterans over the past few months, there is plenty of playing time available to any and all of his young roster.

The only question that remains is whether or not that playing time will extend into the 2014 postseason.

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• The Portland Timbers visit BC Place this coming Saturday.

• A loss at home on Saturday would see the Timbers leapfrog the Caps into the fifth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

• Hey Jason guess what? It’s still Wednesday. Boom.