'Caps try to get back to winning ways against Hoops

Vancouver, BC – Vancouver Whitecaps FC will try to rediscover the form that saw the club claim wins from its first two games when the team plays host to FC Dallas on Saturday.

The Whitecaps drew their next two matches and then sustained back-to-back defeats, with the latest setback coming in a 3-1 defeat against Sporting Kansas City.

"It wasn't a lack of effort or desire but there were a lot of technical breakdowns where it cost us goals, both for us and against us, so it's disappointing from that perspective," said Whitecaps FC head coach Martin Rennie. "Over the course of a season you're going to have games like that but the most important thing for us is to see how much character we have in our team and you're only going to find that out when you have disappointing results."

Vancouver didn't concede a goal in its first four games this season, a shutout streak spanning 426 minutes. However, the last two games have seen the club let in six goals in just 114 minutes.

The 3-1 defeat to Sporting came after a week off for the Whitecaps and goalkeeper Joe Cannon is hoping his team can offer up a strong response.

"We've got a big game Saturday [against FC Dallas]," said Cannon. "Maybe the layoff [during the bye week] was a little bit long for us and we were a little hung over, but now we know what we have to do, and everyone's looking for a response."

Dallas will be aiming to continue its form having claimed wins in its last two matches, including a 2-1 comeback win over the Montreal Impact that saw the Hoops net both goals in the final 15 minutes.

A pair of injuries in the first half forced Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman to move a few players around, and Blas Perez continued his good form after the switch by scoring one goal and assisting on another.

Perez has now scored three goals and assisted on three more to draw plenty of praise from Hyndman.

"Think what the team would've been like if he [Perez] would have been with us last year," Hyndman said. "We worked awfully hard to try to get him, and finally, it worked out. What you see is a very intelligent player. He's giving good balls off. He holds the ball very well. He's strong in the air, and he's got an unbelievable work ethic. When you get all of those qualities together, he's a pretty special player."