By Alex Rickman
The Whitecaps made their long-awaited return to BC Place on the evening of February 21st, welcoming Western Conference opponents Real Salt Lake for their first MLS match of 2026. Following a 0-0 draw in Costa Rica, the Caps were looking for their first triumph of the new year, and would hope to find it on home turf this evening.
This match did not get off to the fastest of starts, with the first half being a largely uneventful one, saved for a disallowed Salt Lake goal in the 38th minute. Chances on either side were few and far between, with neither side looking particularly sharp in the final third. Coming just a few short days after the low-event draw in Costa Rica, this was not the most encouraging of signs in the early goings.
In the second half, however, things improved. A great run by Tate Johnson resulted in a ball winding up on the foot of AZ Jackson, who sent a strike cross-goal into the bottom right corner to open up his Caps account and make it a 1-0 game. The contest remained more or less incident-free from that point, as the Whitecaps were able to see things out and complete the 1-0 victory in their first home match of the year.
It’s been far from a scintillating start to the year for the Whitecaps, but they’ve been able to get the job done so far. With several key offseason departures and new signings adapting to the team and, in the cases of Bruno Caicedo and Cheikh Sabaly, yet to arrive, things were never going to be easy out of the gates. Still, the Whitecaps have shown promise, and with plenty of home matches in the early stages of the year, have an ideal environment in which to settle into what will be a huge year for the club.
As well, after a rough debut against Cartaginés, AZ Jackson put on a much stronger show in this match. In addition to scoring the only goal of the contest, Jackson looked like a constant danger for defenders, picking intelligent runs, drawing fouls, and showing why the Whitecaps brought him on board. It’s only one game, but it was a promising showing from the American.
The Whitecaps will next be in action on Wednesday for the home leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup tie, after which they will host Canadian rival Toronto FC on Saturday the 28th.
Play Mr. Brightside!
