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Harjeet Johal ,

March 20, 2015 Twitter

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VANCOUVER, B.C - A pair of Western Conference celler dwellers looked to pick up their first points of the season as the Vancouver Whitecaps paid a visit to Cascadia rival, Seattle Sounders FC. The start of the MLS campaign has not been kind to Vancouver, or Seattle, as both teams came into this match winless. The good luck charm of CenturyLink Field proved to be just what the Whitecaps needed as a pair of converted penalties from Pedro Morales helped Vancouver to a 2-1 win over Seattle in front of 40,012 fans. Pedro Morales scored from the spot in each half as an Andreas Ivanschitz free kick blast had levelled the match 1-1 early in the second half. The Chilean's brace was not without controversy as Christian Bolanos appeared to trip himself in the 10' minute inside the Seattle box. Vancouver found a way to win and earned all three points as Sounders FC fall to 0-3-0 on the season. The Opening 45

The Whitecaps jumped out to an early lead thanks to a questionable penalty awarded by referee Mark Geiger. Christian Bolanos was tripped up in the Seattle box by full-back Joevin Jones. Video replay showed that Bolanos clipped his own heels before falling. Nevertheless, Pedro Morales stepped up and converted the penalty to put Vancouver up 1-0. After opening the scoring, Vancouver played with confidence and composure not yet seen this season. The addition of Blas Perez and the formerly suspended Christian Bolanos gave the Whitecaps more flare, and poise going forward. Vancouver kept the ball and dictated play. The counter-attack of the Whitecaps helped keep Seattle on their toes as they did not want to fall further behind. David Ousted made three first half saves and caught a pair of Sounders crosses. Vancouver's defensive positioning looked solid at the back. After working on communication leading up to this match, Whitecaps defenders weren't scrambling all over the place. After the opening forty-five Vancouver held onto a firm 1-0 lead despite Seattle holding a 63% - 37% possession advantage. Final word on the penalty: Is it the right call? Who knows. It was close. But, certainly not a BAD call. Certainly not. #Sounders #VWFC — Kurtis Larson (@KurtLarSUN) March 20, 2016 A game-high five tackles for ... Fraser Aird. #VWFC — Farhan Devji (@farhandevji) March 20, 2016

The Second Half

It did not take long for Seattle to find an equalizer. Austrian midfielder Andreas Ivanschitz curled a free kick around the Whitecaps wall and scored short-side past David Ousted in the 52'. Pedro Morales clipped Clint Dempsey and Ivanschitz made no mistake with a fantastic free kick for his 2nd career MLS goal. Sigi Schmid's Sounders continued to try to find another goal. MLS rookie Jordan Morris had a terrific opportunity to break the dead-lock. Joevin Jones had a wild effort from distance which did not come close to troubling David Ousted. Vancouver's much improved looking back-line did well not to break as they looked to re-group and find scoring opportunities of their own. Chad Marshall clobbered Blas Perez from behind in the 71' minute and referee Mark Geiger once again awarded the visitors a penalty. While Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei guessed correctly, by diving to the correct side, all he could do was get a finger to the Morales attempt before it found the back of the net. The Whitecaps fortunes from the spot put them ahead 2-1 in the 74'. Time and time again Vancouver has been able to travel down Interstate-5 and come back with an all important win against the Seattle Sounders at CenturyLink Field. Although a pair of penalty decisions influenced the match, Vancouver came out on the right side. The defense held strong, and going forward the Whitecaps looked as dangerous as they've looked all season. Man of the Match



Pedro Morales 2nd Goal and #CapsOnTour reaction. Damn that was fun!! #VWFC pic.twitter.com/1q7b6QxlKx — VancouverSouthsiders (@Southsiders) March 20, 2016

Pedro Morales

Captain Pedro Morales was clutch from the penalty spot, not once, but twice against Seattle. The Chilean spot kicker has now scored three consecutive goals for Vancouver all from the spot. Morales has shown that he is clinical from the spot and MLS goalies don't stand a chance when he steps up for Vancouver. Morales helped lift the Whitecaps to a much-needed victory and did so burying two penalties in hostile territory. Who was your Whitecaps Man of the Match?

Vancouver Whitecaps Starting XI: David Ousted; Frasier Aird, Kendall Waston, Tim Parker, Jordan Harvey; Matias Laba, Pedro Morales(C) 84 (Masato Kudo); Christian Bolaños, Blas Pérez, Kekuta Manneh 81 (Cristian Techera); Octavio Rivero 78 (Andrew Jacobson). 4-2-3-1. Seattle Sounders Starting XI: Stefan Frei; Tyrone Mears, Zach Scott(C), Chad Marshall, Joevin Jones; Osvaldo Alonso, Cristian Roldan, Andreas Ivanschitz 88 (Aaron Kovar); Jordan Morris 71 (Oalex Anderson), Nelson Valdez, Clint Dempsey. 4-3-3 Notes: Jordan Harvey made his 116th regular season start for Vancouver equalling Gershon Koffie for the club's MLS record.