VANCOUVER - The Vancouver Whitecaps thought new striker Octavio Rivero could be good for 15-20 goals this season. They didn’t think he might be their only goal scorer.

The resolute, 23-year-old Uruguayan, who looks as if he’s going to be worth every penny of the $2 million transfer fee the Caps paid to spring him from Chile’s O’Higgins FC, scored another dramatic late winner Saturday in Orlando.

His stunning 96th minute header off a smartly delivered Pedro Morales free kick from near the left sideline gave the Caps a second consecutive 1-0 road win. A week earlier, Rivero tallied in the 86th minute in Chicago as the Caps beat the Fire.

And he scored the only Vancouver goal in a 3-1 regular-season opening loss at home to Toronto FC.

So Rivero, deceptively fast at six-foot-two and 180 pounds and strong and fearless enough to do battle with the most physical of MLS centre backs, is on pace for a league-record 34 goals.

And you can’t knock a 2-1 start to the season, particularly given the travel, which included a missed connection and an overnight stay in Dallas on Thursday. It’s a testament to the grit and maturity of head Carl Robinson’s road warriors.

But the Caps themselves are on pace for just 34 goals, which wouldn’t come close to the 60-65 Robinson believes will be necessary to compete at the top of the Western Conference with the likes of Seattle and the reigning champion Los Angeles Galaxy.

Rivero, who is getting plenty of good looks and gilt-edged chances, could have had two goals in the first half against the Orlando City FC expansion side.

Sent into the clear by a terrific Morales through ball in the 34nd minute, his shot was partially blocked by goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts, who had charged out to the top of the box, and the ball trickled just wide of the goal. A minute later, Rivero blasted a shot off the top of the cross bar from close range.

But young Kekuta Manneh, so dangerous on left wing in the first two games, was stymied by Orlando’s refusal to give the Caps anything on the counter attack. And Nicolas Mezquida was a wash in his first start on right wing for the injured Mauro Rosales. Both were subbed off in the 66th minute in favor of Kianz Froese and Erik Hurtado.

Oh yeah, there was also the obligatory wild miss from designed player Morales, who skied another ball over the bar after being set up perfectly the top of the box.

Getting two wins, albeit against rebuilding bottom-feeder Chicago and expansion Orlando, and two clean sheets off two road games is huge, especially after that disappointing loss to TFC, when the Caps couldn’t adjust in a poor second half.

“It’s massive,” said goalkeeper David Ousted, who, officially, had to make just one save against the Lions. “This was two really tough road trips where we had to come a long way. Then we had that delay in Dallas. It was tough, mentally and physically.

“We’re delighted to come away with six points. It shows the maturity and the fact that we know how to play away.”

Now, though, they’re home for three straight against Cascadia rival Portland (three draws in three games) Los Angeles and the Columbus Crew.

And it’s clearly time for the Three-M midfield – Manneh, Morales and Mezquida – to be complementary of Rivero, not just complimentary. A goal a game against tough Western teams won’t get it done, no matter how solid the Caps are defensively.

While not a single team in the East is averaging more than a goal a game after three weeks, Seattle (2.50 goals per game) Dallas (2.00), Los Angles (1.7), Real Salt Lake (1.5) and San Jose (1.5 before Sunday’s home game with Chicago) are above that mark in the West.

The ever-optimistic Robinson believes it’s just a matter of time before somebody other than Rivero scores. And he’ll take 1-0 wins on the road any day, especially considering the last two games likely would have been draws with last season’s roster.

“I thought we played very well at times in the first half and we probably should have been ahead,” he said on the TSN 1410 post-game. “In the second half we knew they’d put us under pressure and I asked (my players) just to show a little bit of character.

“If you show character, you usually get your rewards and today we did. Every manager will want to win comfortably and 3- or 4-nil, but in this league that doesn’t happen.”

Not for the Caps and an attacking group that is up a Rivero, but without any other paddlers.

GAME ESSENTIALS

THE SKINNY

Possession is 9/10ths of the law, but that doesn’t always mean success in soccer. Orlando City FC, with Brazilian legend Kaka gliding around midfield, had 63 per cent of the possession in the 28-degree heat Saturday, but the Lions were mostly restricted to off-target shots from outside the box. Then with stoppage time running out, Caps’ striker Octavio Rivero got just enough of his head on a low Pedro Morales free kick into the box to send the ball on a one-bounce trajectory into the unguarded far side of the net for the winner.

OUS-TANDING SAVE

Caps’ goalkeeper David Ousted wasn’t tested until the 92nd minute when Cyle Larin, the Canadian who was the first overall draft pick in June by Orlando, got free in the box. As Larin took a quick dribble to his left and prepared to shoot, Ousted rushed off his line and got a big paw down to knock the ball away. “I just tried to get down low and get my right hand on the ball,” said the big Dane. “It was a timely save because then we go down and get the winner shortly after that.”

A SAM BAM

Young Caps’ fullback Sam Adekugbe had to be stretchered off the field after a 75th minute collision with big Orlando goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts. The two slid to ground as they were racing for a ball in the box near the touch line. Ricketts’ knees slammed into Adekugbe’s rib cage. “Well, it’s not a good idea to slide into a six-foot-four goalkeeper,” said Robinson, who was initially worried that his player had fractured a rib. The Caps’ later tweeted that Adekugbe’s ribs were just severely bruised, but he could still miss Canada’s two international friendlies in Orlando later this week.

NEW CB PAIRING

Newcomer Diego Rodriguez, a 24-year-old Uruguayan, got his first MLS start in place of veteran Pa-Modou Kah, who was left back in Vancouver. The central defence partnership of the left-footed Rodriguez with towering Costa Rican Kendall Waston looked strong, with Rodriguez showing good positional awareness and a calm presence with the ball at his feet. “I thought it was a commanding performance,” Robinson said of Rodriguez. But Robinson assured Kah that he will be back in the lineup Saturday against his former team, the Portland Timbers.

NEXT GAME

The Caps, who battled with Portland down the stretch last season for the final playoff spot in the West, face the Timbers at BC Place on Saturday in the first of six games in their defence of the Cascadia Cup.

gkingston@vancouversun.com