VANCOUVER — Darren Mattocks will take the headlines and the attention.

That’s what two goals will do. In that respect, Gershon Koffie was almost as equally impressive Sunday in a 3-1 winning effort for the Vancouver Whitecaps.

The 20-year-old midfielder, originally from Koforidua, Ghana, collected one assist in the match, which came on Mattocks’ second goal of the game.

With Mattocks streaking ahead of the play, Koffie laid a perfect ball ahead of his teammate, who, in stride, was able to chip it past Tally Hall to give Vancouver a 2-0 lead in the 66th minute.

“Those are fantastic passes,” said Mattocks.

Koffie unselfishly struck again late in the match.

His cross from the right side found Jordan Harvey, who beat Hall for his first of the season. The goal, which came shortly after Harvey replaced Davide Chiumiento, restored the Whitecaps’ two-goal cushion in the 88th minute.

Koffie wasn’t given an assist on the Harvey goal, however there’s no denying he was the central figure in setting it up.

Consider the single helper he was credited with the reward for what most in the Whitecaps locker room referred to as Koffie’s best game of the season.

“I think he won a lot of second balls, he was good in possession, he was athletic and powerful, but he also played great balls behind,” said Whitecaps head coach Martin Rennie, who offered praise toward the entire team for the win, but singled Koffie out for his individual performance.

“I just thought his overall play was excellent and now what’s important for him and for the whole team is to be consistently good and that’s what we need to keep working on.

“There’s been a couple of other games that I can think of where he played well in spells, but that’s probably the most consistent 90 minutes overall and he wasn’t the only one, but I thought at times he was excellent.”

Now it’s a matter of Koffie realizing his true potential in this just his second year in the MLS.

There have been peaks and valleys with the young midfielder this season - particularly towards the end of May when the Whitecaps as a team struggled mightily at times - as well as the 2011 campaign.

It’s all part of the development process, said the Whitecaps 32-year-old captain Jay DeMerit.

“Gersh has always been a fantastic prospect,” said DeMerit. “He’s shown at certain times how good he can be, but tonight he put together a 90-plus minute performance and we talk about consistency and how players develop and that’s a huge sign of development, when you can perform for 90 minutes and stay consistent.

“The bad thing for him is now that he’s set that standard, so hopefully we can get that every week.”

He showed great chemistry with Mattocks throughout the match, setting the aggressive forward up on a couple of occasions with the long pass that seemed to give the Houston defenders fits.

“I know he can run that fast, so I keep telling him … as soon as he can run, he just keep running and I’ll put the ball there,” said Koffie of Mattocks.

In addition to his superb set-ups, Koffie was credited with two shots in the game.

Koffie missed wide and to the right in the 61st minute, and was denied by Tally Hall in the 71st.

His answers post-game were concise and to the point. He’s feeling better about his game, and Sunday’s effort fully demonstrated that.

“I think my confidence keep growing game after game,” said Koffie, who started in 28 matches for the Whitecaps in their expansion MLS season.

“Last year I was here, so I know most of the players from the opening team, so I know what they can do. I think sometimes, the game I know going way back, the coach would give you confidence the next game to start, so you have to improve that - the game you weren’t good.

“It’s just a game. And it’s gone.”

ctucker@vancouversun.com

Twitter.com/CamTuckerSun