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'Caps hope to end winless streak vs. Chivas

Oct 2, 2012 - 10:01 PM Vancouver, BC (Sports Network) - Vancouver Whitecaps FC will be looking to improve its playoff chances while snapping a lengthy winless run when the club welcomes Chivas USA to BC Place on Wednesday.

The Whitecaps are in the midst of a seven-game winless streak which has seen the club drop to fifth place in the Western Conference, just two points clear of FC Dallas.

Vancouver is coming off of a 0-0 draw with Seattle Sounders FC. It was the first clean sheet kept by the Canadian club since it played to a scoreless draw with Chivas on July 7.

"The clean sheet comes from the eleven, not just us four at the back," said defender Jay DeMerit. "It's a team effort. If you look at the guys, there were a lot of tired bodies out there [Saturday]. That's because we got behind the ball and did our work and we kept a good Seattle team scoreless. That's the main thing, we have to keep going and now we have to go find the net."

The 'Caps have managed just three goals over their current winless run, but head coach Martin Rennie saw plenty of positives to take away from the club's Cascadia Cup draw with Seattle.

"We defended well [Saturday], we look organized, and we gave up very few chances in the game," said Rennie. "We possessed the ball well, we created good opportunities and we had a chance at the end to win the game, but I definitely saw progress and a lot to build on going forward."

An offensive resurgence could be in the cards for Vancouver as it goes up against a Chivas side that has conceded 23 goals in its last eight games.

The Goats are coming off of a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Real Salt Lake, a match that head coach Robin Fraser believes Chivas handed to the Claret and Cobalt on a silver platter.

"Once again, we shot ourselves in the foot," Fraser told reporters after the match. "It's always difficult to compete when you make critical mistakes and give teams leads."

Goalkeeper Dan Kennedy says a silver lining lies in the fact that Chivas has been unlucky in going up against teams gaining momentum, something that would bode well for the Goats against an idle team like Vancouver.

"Right now it seems like we're getting punished for every small mistake, every little detail we miss, we get punished for it," Kennedy said. "This is a time of year where teams gain momentum for the playoffs or they don't. [Saturday] we ran into a team that's gaining a little bit of momentum."