Saturday, Nov. 22 | 6:30 p.m. PT
🏟 | BC Place - Vancouver, Canada
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With an eye on its third Conference Final in four years, LAFC travels to BC Place in Vancouver to face the Whitecaps in the Western Conference Semifinal on Saturday night.
The matchup pits the two most statistically dominant teams in the Western Conference against one another. Third-seeded LAFC and second-seeded Vancouver ranked in the top three in the West this year not only in points and wins, but in goals scored, fewest goals allowed, goal differential, expected goals allowed (xGA), and expected goal differential (xGD). These two clubs rank first and second in all of MLS in xGA and xGD — numbers that reflect defensive security and just plain knowing how to win, no matter how many goals are scored.
Not that scoring goals has been a problem. Vancouver leads the West and is third in MLS with 66 tallies, while LAFC is second in the conference and fourth in MLS with 65.
SEEING STARS
Individually, the match features arguably the most dangerous open-field attacker in MLS, Denis Bouanga, the Western Conference leader in goals scored and xG (24 goals, 21.92 xG). Bouanga is also the league leader in shots on target (73)—none of which is surprising for the man who this year became the first player in MLS history to score 20 or more goals in three straight seasons and who surpassed 100 goals scored for the Black & Gold in all competitions, in barely more than three years of service.
Over the last three months Bouanga’s form has been elevated by the arrival of forward Son Heung-Min, one of the most prolific goal creators in world football over the last decade. The South Korean international has recorded 10 goals and four assists since joining LAFC in early August, including his first MLS Cup playoff goal and assist in LAFC’s Round One Game 2 win over Austin FC on November 2.
ALL CAPS
Vancouver gets goals from an array of sources, having tied a league record this year for most different scorers in a regular season, with 20.
At the top of that list is forward Brian White (16g/1a), who is expected to return from a hamstring injury that has kept him out of action since late September. The ‘Caps 2025 Player of the Year, midfielder Sebastian Berhalter (4g/11a), has partnered with summer transfer Thomas Müller (7g/3a) to drive Vancouver’s attack and provide support for willing runners like Emmanuel Sabbi (7g/3a), Ali Ahmed (0g/8a), and Mathías Laborda (5g/2a). The best season in Whitecaps history has been a testament to first-year head coach Jesper Sørensen, who gets something from all 16 players he sends onto the pitch in a given match.
Sørensen has “a deeper bench than a Vancouver team has ever had,” LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo said after training on Thursday. “They're subbing in three, four really quality players on the offensive end to change the trajectory of games if the game is not going according to their game plan. I think it's certainly the most competitive LAFC-Vancouver [matchup] we've seen yet if you break it down by player to player.”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTORS
LAFC’s other top contributors to a fourth straight season in the conference semifinal (which no other MLS side has done over the last four seasons) have been goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who in 32 regular-season appearances compiled 12 clean sheets (second-most in MLS behind Vancouver keeper Yohei Takaoka’s 13), and midfielder Mark Delgado (below), who tied Bouanga with a team-high nine assists in regular-season play, and added an assist in each of LAFC’s two playoff wins.
Defender Sergi Palencia trails only Lloris in minutes played for the club in '25, and ranks among the top right backs in the league in tackles and interceptions.
THERE’S HISTORY HERE
No two MLS teams have played each other more often over the last three years than these two — 14 matches across all competitions.
From the beginning of 2023 to the present, LAFC has a record of 8W-3L-3D in those 14 matches, with a goal differential of +11 (27 goals scored, 16 conceded). LAFC eliminated the ‘Caps from the MLS Cup Playoffs in each of the last two seasons and bounced them from the 2023 Concacaf Champions League as well.
This year, Vancouver outscored LAFC 3-2 in their two regular-season meetings, a 2-2 draw at BC Place in May, and a 1-0 Whitecaps win at BMO Stadium in June.
At BC Place, which is expected to contain a sold-out crowd of more than 50,000 fans on Saturday, the Black & Gold has gone 3W-1L-2D over the last three years in all comps. The ‘Caps lone home win in that span was a 3-0 result in Game 2 of last year’s Round One playoff series.
“We don't talk about what happened [in previous years] because it's a long time ago,” said Sørensen, the Caps’ head coach. “If we talk about this season, we played LAFC twice and we've done OK. Yet it's still a different team because Son came in for them since we played them last time, and Thomas [Müller] also came in for us. Both players made a mark on both teams. So it's always new and we're not talking about what happened [previously]. I was not part of it, a lot of players were not part of it, and we just prepare for a game against a very, very good team.”
ODDS AND ENDS
Seven LAFC players (Bouanga, Son, Mathieu Choinière, David Martínez, Andrew Moran, Nathan Ordaz, and Timmy Tillman) and four Whitecaps (Ahmed, Berhalter, Kenji Cabrera, and Jayden Nelson) were with their respective national teams during the just-ended FIFA international window. Berhalter and Tillman featured for the U.S. Men’s National Team in its two wins over Paraguay and Uruguay. Choinière and Nelson competed against Martínez and Venezuela in the Canadians’ 2-0 win on Nov. 18.
Of the 101 goals Bouanga has scored for LAFC in all competitions, he has scored nine against Vancouver, which trails only the Galaxy and San Jose (10). “I can't really explain it,” Bouanga said in French of his success against the Whitecaps. “I like to play them here or at their stadium with their synthetic grass, but I can't really explain why I'm really effective playing against them. I hope this will continue Saturday.”
Yohei Takaoka is one of five MLS goalkeepers who did not leave the field in MLS play this year, playing every minute of Vancouver's regular season.
‘Caps center back and 2025 MLS Defender of the Year Tristan Blackmon (below, with former teammate Eddie Segura) was LAFC’s first ever draft pick, going third overall in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft before making 64 appearances (46 starts) in black and gold from 2018 through 2021.
LAFC goalie Thomas Hasal made 34 MLS appearances for Vancouver from 2020 to 2023. LAFC midfielder Ryan Raposo played in Vancouver from 2020 to 2024, making 122 appearances. Both were coached at the time by LAFC assistant coach Marc Dos Santos, who managed the ‘Caps from 2019 to 2021.
LAFC Co-President and General Manager John Thorrington was a member of the inaugural Whitecaps MLS side after he was selected in the 2011 MLS Expansion Draft. He appeared in 30 regular-season matches for the ‘Caps.
The last time an LA pro sports team played a playoff elimination game in Canada was November 1 of this year, when the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 7 of the MLB World Series.
VANCOUVER CAN WIN IF
They find the breakthrough goal. Achieving a 1-0 lead in front of a home crowd that is expected to exceed 50,000 would go a long way toward booking Vancouver’s spot in the conference final. Since Steve Cherundolo became LAFC’s head coach in 2022, LAFC has played 74 regular-season games in which it scored first. The Black & Gold lost only four of those games (62W-4L-8D).
LAFC scored first in each of its Round One wins over Austin FC, as well.
LAFC CAN WIN IF
Bouanga, Son, and Delgado are on the ball. When one of these three is in possession in the attacking third, good things tend to happen—specifically, shots on goal. With 26 combined assists in MLS play this year, including five in LAFC’s two playoff wins over Austin, the question of who scores the goal matters less to this attacking trio than the unselfish build-up that precedes the finish.
And with experience that spans Ligue 1, the English Premier League, the Bundesliga, UEFA Champions League, and the World Cup—plus the two MLS Cup trophies on Delgado’s resume—Bouanga, Son, and Delgado are no strangers to big matches and what it takes to win them.
“If we can finish our chances that we get, stay organized throughout the match, communicate really well with one another, and just be really disciplined to the game plan and help each other out throughout the whole match, I think we'll be set up for some good things,” Delgado said.
