Blemishes on the Whitecaps record have recently become pretty hard to find. Over the last two months, the blue and white have been on a bit of a tear, losing only once since May 4th. That loss – a heartbreaker which saw them lose star centreback Andy O’Brien – came at the hands of the putrid green-sporting Seattle Sounders. Saturday night, they try and take a measure of revenge at BC Place.

I hate bringing out this stat – no really, I do – but it’s getting really annoying, and quite impressive, so here it is. The Vancouver Whitecaps haven’t won a game against MLS opposition in any cup competition since 2009. (For the purposes of this stat, I’m considering Toronto FC “MLS competition.”) The last time they managed the feat was June 2nd, 2009. Vancouver beat TFC 2-0 in front of nearly 6,000 fans at Swangard Stadium. The Caps haven’t managed a Cascadia Cup win against anyone since around the same time. Their victory over Portland, when both teams were in D2 in 2009, was the last win there. Four freaking years. Enough already. Time for Vancouver to get back in the saddle.

Vancouver was, of course, jobbed of their first win back on May 18th, when a missed handball allowed the Portland Timbers to equalize late. Saturday, Vancouver will be nearly out of excuses. Yes, Andy O’Brien is still out, but Johnny Leveron has emerged and looks like a fantastic young talent. June was the best month in the Caps MLS history, and the club continued its good form into July, taking a point from Kansas City, a notoriously tough place to play. YP Lee sat out the trip back east to rest, and should make his return against the Sounders. That will free up Nigel Reo-Coker to return to the midfield where he’s been dominant all season. Gershon Koffie should be approaching full fitness, and could make his first start in some weeks tomorrow. With a once-again solid midfield, an improving back line and an undefeated home record, Vancouver should be favoured in this matchup.

Not that there aren’t question marks. I’m still not sure Cory Hertzog played in the game against Sporting Kansas City, despite his being listed on the official scoresheet. He was replacing Russell Teibert, who’s away on international duty, but Martin Rennie will want to look at other options to replace the Canadian international for the duration of the Gold Cup. I’ll repeat my call here for Kekuta Manneh to get a look in that spot. His speed has been a factor in nearly every game he’s played this year, and he’s had much less of a propensity to turn the ball over than draft-mate Erik Hurtado. (Plus, the songs for Manneh are great… Manneh, Manneh, do doooo do do do… do, do do dooo… Manneh, Manneh…) Rennie also needs to figure out how to get more out of Daigo Kobayashi. We’ve seen great things out of the attacking midfielder, but we’ve also seen him disappear from matches for long stretches of time. Hopefully we’ll soon see more of the Daigo who was scorpion kicking goals and firing 40-yard howitzers into the top corner just a few short months ago.

First place in the Cascadia Cup – now definitely, proudly owned by the fans of the three clubs after an agreement in principle was reached on the trademark battle with MLS – will be on the line at 8pm Saturday. Come out to BC Place, and remember to bring sunglasses so you can look safely at the Seattle players.