Defender Mathías Laborda opened the scoring with a goal in the first half and later converted the decisive penalty kick as the Vancouver Whitecaps triumphed over LAFC 6-5 in a dramatic penalty shootout during the Western Conference semifinal on Saturday night, witnessed by a record crowd of 53,957 at BC Place.
With this victory, the second-seeded Whitecaps advance to their first Western Conference final after a thrilling match that ended 2-2 at the end of regulation and 30 minutes of extra time.
Son Heung-Min equalized for LAFC with two goals in the second half, but his attempt to start the penalty shootout hit the post. Meanwhile, Sebastian Berhalter scored the Whitecaps’ first penalty. After goals from LAFC’s Denis Bouanga and Vancouver’s Jayden Nelson, Mark Delgado’s penalty shot went over the bar for LAFC. Ryan Gauld then scored for the Whitecaps, giving them a 3-1 lead before LAFC leveled again, only for Laborda to net the final goal.
This marks the first time Vancouver has reached the conference final since joining the league in 2011. They will face the winner of the upcoming match between top-seed San Diego FC and fourth-seeded Minnesota United on Monday.
Vancouver took the lead in the 39th minute when goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka‘s long kick found Emmanuel Sabbi, who scored his first postseason goal in his third game.
Laborda doubled the lead just before halftime with an unassisted goal in stoppage time, marking his first postseason goal in seven playoff appearances over the last three seasons.
In the second half, LAFC responded quickly, cutting the deficit to 2-1 with an unassisted goal from Son in the 60th minute, marking his first playoff goal this season after a regular season tally of nine goals in 10 appearances.
Vancouver’s Tristan Blackmon received a red card, leaving the team with 10 players in the second minute of stoppage time. Son then capitalized on a free kick three minutes later, leveling the match.
Despite having the numerical advantage in extra time, LAFC failed to capitalize, leading to the penalty shootout.
The Whitecaps had previously faced elimination in the semifinals during their runs in 2015 and 2017.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.