5-1 win over Austin FC for the Whitecaps as they celebrate Women and Girls in Sports Night

The Whitecaps hosted their Women and Girls in Sports night on April 12, 2025, when they took on the Austin FC. 

Looking to keep their stellar start to the MLS season going, the Whitecaps worked hard for the win, achieving a  5-1 victory over Austin.

White Performs in the First Half

A huge part of the Whitecaps win over Austin FC was Brian White’s goal contributions. White scored two goals in the first half giving the Whitecaps a 2-0 lead going into halftime.

His first goal came in the 13’ of the game, which he celebrated with the chicken dance. His second goal of the half came at the 38’ mark when he snuck behind the defenders to slip the ball past the goalkeeper.

A Night of Seconds for Sabbi

In Emmanuel Sabbi’s second start for the Whitecaps, he scored his second of the season, his second ever in the MLS, his second consecutive goal, and his second for the team. Which he celebrated with his second backflip of the season, this slowly becoming a Sabbi trademark.

The first half was all about White, but early in the second, in the 47’, Emmanuel Sabbi put the spotlight on himself with his goal. The assist going to Pedro Vite. 

White Performs in the Second Half

White continued his stellar performance in the second, where he scored another two goals, accomplishing a hat-trick. White’s third goal was a rebound off the post that he then put off the face of one of the Austin players.

White capped off his dominant showing with a fourth goal, making him the first-ever Whitecaps player to accomplish this feat in an MLS match.

When talking about White’s performance, head coach Jesper Sørensen said, “It was a great, great performance. You see players have breakout games and extraordinary games, and Brian had such one today. You might see that occasionally, but not very often.”

Chasing History

Before the game against Austin, White sat in fifth place in Whitecaps all-time history across all competitions for goals scored at 60. After his impressive four goal effort, he still sits in fifth with 64 goals, but is now one goal behind fourth place Carl Valentine, who has 65 goals.

When discussing the scoring ranks of the Whitecaps, White commented, “It’s special when you get associated with the Ring of Honour kind of names that have cemented what this club means on and off the field. And on a personal note, it means a lot, and hopefully I can continue to perform well for this club and keep pushing it up to new levels”

White needs one more goal to tie Valentine, and two more goals to take sole possession of fourth place. 

A Team Effort

The five Whitecaps goals lead to a total of six assists, all of which came from different players.

“I think as a team we performed really well. I think there was a lot of good movements, a lot of good interplay, some combination plays in and around the box.” said White when talking about what was clicking to score four goals in the game. “We moved the ball well from one side to the other side of the field to create chances, so I think as a team we performed really well tonight in terms of creating chances and moving the ball so hopefully we continue to perform that way going into next weekend.”

Sørensen and the Whitecaps players consistently talk about team effort and this was highlighted in the game against Austin FC, having a multiple players on the score sheet.

Looking Ahead

The Whitecaps hit the road to take on St. Louis City SC for their first game of a two game MLS road trip.

They finish off the road trip in Minnesota where they take on Minnesota United FC in a Sunday matchup.

This road trip will have a quick home game break in between them as the Whitecaps will host Messi’s Inter Miami CF in leg one of their semi-final CONCACAF matchup in between these two road games.