VANCOUVER, B.C. - There was no need for late heroics this week. The Vancouver Whitecaps got their job done early against San Jose Earthquakes, and held for to a 3-2 win in front of a fifth consecutive sellout crowd at BC Place on Saturday.
Two first half goals from Pedro Morales and an opener from Kekuta Manneh saw Vancouver jump out to a 3-0 lead by the 20th minute. Chris Wondolowski scored at the end of each half for San Jose to give them some hope, but there was no late equalizer for the Earthquakes this time around.
The win saw Vancouver move to 3-2-4 (13 points) and remain among the top five teams in the West. San Jose fell to 1-3-3 (6 points) and are still looking for their first MLS win in Vancouver, after five attempts.
Festivities started early, with the home side celebrating the 40th anniversary of the original NASL Whitecaps' inaugural match in 1974, also against the Earthquakes, prior to the game.
Vancouver kept the upbeat mood going from kick off and their early pressure was rewarded with the opening goal 10 minutes in when Kekuta Manneh ran into the box and crashed his first effort off the near post before recovering the rebound and sidefooting a curler in off the far post for his third goal of the season.
The home side took control of the game soon after, and Designated Player Pedro Morales scored two more in the space of a minute to give the Whitecaps into a comfortable 3-0 lead.
Morales converted a 19th minute penalty - drawn by Darren Mattocks - and quickly followed that up 54 seconds later with a low 20 yard effort that nestled past Jon Busch into the same bottom left corner.
San Jose pulled one back through a Chris Wondolowski penalty on the stroke of half time after Jay DeMerit was called for a foul against Alan Gordon.
Although the Earthquakes pushed hard at the start of the second half, it was Vancouver who had the better chances but couldn't put the game away.
Wondolowski struck his fifth of the season a minute into stoppage time to give San Jose some hope of more late drama, but Vancouver saw out the rest of time for a vital three points.
Vancouver now being a two game eastern road trip. They will travel to Toronto for their Canadian Championship semi-final first leg before heading down to Columbus in MLS action next Saturday.
San Jose are also in action twice next week, returning home to take on Colorado on Wednesday and Dallas , in the Quakes' own 40th anniversary match.
