Brian White's positive omeback continues as Whitecaps face Sounders

Vancouver Whitecaps star Brian White missed slightly more than a month with a hamstring injury and returned in style.

White helped Vancouver salvage a tie in its last match and he now craves a victory when the Whitecaps visit the Seattle Sounders on Saturday night.

The Whitecaps (16-6-8, 56 points) were dominated in the first half of Wednesday's 1-1 home draw against the Portland Timbers.

Then White entered the game in the 60th minute for his first appearance since Aug. 23 and the entire flow of the match changed.

A Vancouver team that was outshot 14-2 in the first half and trailed 1-0 upon White's entrance controlled the rest of the match.

In the 88th minute, White got his leg on a corner kick to knock in the equalizer to keep the Whitecaps from sustaining a painful setback. It was his 15th goal in MLS play this season.

"The first half wasn't our best half of soccer," White said. "For me coming in, I just wanted to help the team and get in dangerous positions and try to score and I was fortunate enough to get in a good spot."

White nearly had a game-winner in the second minute of second-half stoppage time, but the shot went just wide of the net.

Vancouver coach Jesper Sorensen wasn't surprised with White's impact.

"He possesses a goal-scoring threat," Sorensen said. "He's a good player and has been for years. He's a guy who has been one of the biggest stars of this club. He's been out for a while and it was nice to have him back."

The Whitecaps are in second place in the Western Conference, one point behind San Diego FC.

Seattle (12-9-9, 45 points) is in fifth place in the West and looking to halt a two-game slide. The Sounders have earned just one point over their past three matches.

The Sounders were red-hot most of the summer as they lost just once in 16 matches across all competitions and won the Leagues Cup crown.

So the club certainly doesn't want to see the momentum fully evaporate.

"I think it's a moment of testing our resilience right now and testing our mindset," Seattle midfielder Paul Rothrock said, "but everyone needs to step it up just a little bit more."

Danny Musovski leads the Sounders with 14 goals.

A victory or tie against Seattle will give Vancouver its record-breaking eighth Cascadia Cup title -- the annual three-team competition involving the Whitecaps, the Timbers and the Sounders. Vancouver notched a 3-0 home win over Seattle on June 8.