Whitecaps Beat San Diego 4-1 as White Scores His 100th MLS Goal

Vancouver Whitecaps beat San Diego FC 4-1 at BC Place in Vancouver on Wednesday, October 28, 2026. Brian White scored his 100th goal in Major League Soccer, and Vancouver strengthened its hold on first place in the Western Conference. The loss eliminated San Diego from the playoff race.

White reaches 100

White scored in the first half to reach 100 MLS goals. He is the 17th player in MLS history to reach that mark. The goal ended a five game scoring run without a goal for White. He has 98 goals for Vancouver in all competitions since joining the club in a 2021 trade from Red Bull New York.

White was clear about what matters next. "It's a nice achievement, something I've always wanted and had my eyes on, if I'm being honest," he said, according to Canadian Press. "These things are nice, but we want to win the MLS Cup. I want to win the MLS Cup. That's first and foremost on my mind."

Four goals at BC Place

Aleksa Cvetkovic opened the scoring in the 24th minute, directing in a Mathias Laborda ball with his left foot. It was Cvetkovic's first goal as a Whitecap, in his fourth start since joining Vancouver in August after three seasons in the Serbian SuperLiga. White scored next, late in the first half. The Associated Press copy put his goal in the 41st minute and Canadian Press put it in the 42nd minute, a one minute difference between the two reports.

Ryan Gauld scored in the 66th minute and also had an assist. Bruno Caicedo scored on a breakaway in the 76th minute. Onni Valakari scored for San Diego in the 83rd minute. The crowd at BC Place was 21,718.

Head coach Jesper Sorensen liked the start. "We were aggressive and played fast. I think the team was on the front foot from the start. We played optimistic and I was happy with that," he said, according to Canadian Press.

First place, and San Diego out

Vancouver moved to 17-8-7 with 58 points and stayed first in the West with two regular season games left. FC Dallas lost 2-0 to Columbus Crew earlier in the day and fell four points behind Vancouver. Vancouver can clinch the top seed in the West with a home win over Seattle, or with a Dallas loss. Vancouver finished second in the West last year and lost to Miami in the MLS final.

San Diego fell to 8-13-11. Its winless run reached 10 games, at 0-5-5 in that span, and the loss ended its playoff hopes. San Diego was trying to become the first MLS expansion club to reach the playoffs in its first two seasons since Nashville in 2020 and 2021, after San Diego finished first in the West in its first season in 2025.

Thomas Muller came off the bench in the 74th minute for Vancouver, his first appearance since October 6, when he hurt his hamstring against the Chicago Fire. He had missed four matches. Rayan Elloumi was sent off for Vancouver deep in second half stoppage time, after a second caution for delaying a restart. Early in the match, Vancouver goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka stopped a Cedric Bakambu shot in the 14th minute, and Laborda headed Bakambu's rebound away on the goal line. Next, Vancouver hosts Seattle, and San Diego plays at St. Louis.