Vancouver Whitecaps beat San Diego to set up MLS Cup date with Inter Miami

Width from the wings

Ocampo and Sabbi, Johnson and Ahmed. Vancouver's twin wide pairings gave San Diego's defense more grief in 90 minutes than it received in 34 games of regular-season play. No member of the quartet made it onto the scoresheet—striker Brian White finished two goals while San Diego keeper Sisniega accidentally knocked in the third—but every single one of them played a part in making those goals a reality.

Their secret? Width. The full backs (Ocampo and Johnson) paired with their respective wingers (Sabbi and Ahmed) to sprint forward, pull San Diego defenders out of position and create acres of space in the attacking third. When San Diego stopped the fullbacks, their winger partners would converge and advance; when San Diego stopped the wingers, their fullback partners reversed the trick. Their clever interplay left San Diego chasing shadows on both sides of the field...and, crucially, limited San Diego's own play to a narrow central channel.

Vancouver created defensive magic

There's a first-choice defense. There's a second-choice defense. And then there's the eyebrow-raising two-man pairing Vancouver coach Jesper Sorensen was forced to rely on in this match: Mathias Laborda, a right back, and Ralph Priso, a midfielder.

Laborda and Priso are talented players, but they are not central defenders, and they were Sorensen's absolute last option here. Every single one of his starting central defenders was unavailable for selection in this match. But rather than complaining or throwing Laborda and Priso to the wolves, Sorensen built his tactics to accommodate them.

That space-narrowing move Vancouver's wide players pulled off? They did it on purpose to help their backup defenders. By forcing all of San Diego's play into the middle channel, Vancouver gave Laborda and Priso a fighting chance at holding their line. They didn't have to cover too much ground: they just had to hang tight in the center and position themselves thoughtfully. They managed it all just fine—so much so that the average viewer probably didn't even notice they were last-minute backfills. It was a tactical masterstroke, one that aided Vancouver in both phases of play.

Vancouver will face Miami in the 2025 MLS Cup Final on Saturday, Dec. 6, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.