The Vancouver Whitecaps 2018 Schedule: The Key Matchups

We already knew that the Vancouver Whitecaps would begin their 2018 season with their traditional home match against a Canadian opponent. This year, it is the Montreal Impact on March 4th. Yesterday, we learned the rest of their 2018 regular season schedule.

With the arrival of LAFC to MLS, the 2018 season will see 23 teams compete, with 12 in the West. That means that we will have an unbalanced schedule. More specifically, that means that the Whitecaps will only play home and away against each of their Cascadia rivals, compared to the other two which will face each other three times.

On the plus side, the Whitecaps have a fairly balanced schedule with no more than two road matches in a row. Like last season, the longest home stretch for the Whitecaps will occur in September, when they face San Jose (1st), Seattle (15th), and Dallas (23rd).

March will prove to be the most challenging month for the Whitecaps, as it will be one of two months (May being the other) in which they will play five MLS matches, but will include three away matches. Luckily, their first away match will be to Houston, meaning the club will escape the summer heat. However, they will then travel to Atlanta and then potentially finish out March with another snow bowl match in Colorado.

Much to my disappointment, the Whitecaps will only be traveling down to my neck of the woods once this season; an August 25th date. This is surprising since they also played two home and one away match against San Jose last season.

According to Major League Soccer, Vancouver sits near the bottom in strength of schedule; however, we know that means nothing at this point of the year.

Below is the Vancouver Whitecaps 2018 schedule, broken down by month. What matches stand out the most for you?