The top two teams in Major League Soccer are set to continue their historic campaigns when the Vancouver Whitecaps visit the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday night.
Both the Earthquakes and Whitecaps have won eight of their first nine matches—a feat unmatched in MLS history. Vancouver also boasts a league-best plus-20 goal differential (26-6) through 10 games, while San Jose sits at plus-19 (26-7) after 11 matches.
San Jose (9-1-1, 28 points) leads the Western Conference, thanks in part to a 1-0 road win over the Whitecaps (8-1-1, 25 points) on March 21. Beau Leroux scored the lone goal in second-minute stoppage time of the first half.
“It’s two teams having unbelievable first parts of the season,” Whitecaps coach Jesper Sorensen said. “Combined with two losses for the two teams in 21 games, and one of those losses is because we played each other. It should be an exciting game for the league. We’ll try to make it as exciting as possible.”
Earthquakes coach Bruce Arena is not convinced that the earlier result will carry much weight when the teams meet again.
“I’m not sure it applies to this match a whole lot,” Arena said. “We played really well against a good team. We scored a great goal and held on for a one-goal victory. What I take away from that is we have a better feel for their team than we did going into that game, but that doesn’t mean we’ll be better off this time around.”
San Jose had won six straight MLS matches before drawing 1-1 with host Toronto FC last Saturday. Leading scorer Preston Judd netted the equalizer in the 13th minute, his seventh goal of the season.
Judd has taken note of Vancouver’s run to last season’s MLS Cup final, where they lost to Inter Miami, and believes the Earthquakes can mount a similar challenge.
“Yeah, I think at this point in the season, it’s a big game for us,” Judd said. “We’ve shown that we’ve exceeded the expectations others set for us, and this is another opportunity to make a statement and show that we’re a real contender. We’re going to challenge for the Cup this year.”
Vancouver saw its four-match MLS winning streak end last Saturday with a 1-1 draw at the Los Angeles Galaxy. Mathias Laborda scored the equalizer in the 81st minute. Now, the Whitecaps are eager to even the score against the Earthquakes.
“It’s going to be tough, but it’s supposed to be tough,” Sorensen said. “That’s how it is. We’re ready to go there and play the way we always try to play.”
Brian White leads the Whitecaps with eight goals this season.
