Brian White only needed 15 minutes to make Vancouver Whitecaps FC history Saturday night in his return to Red Bull Arena.
Back at his former home for the first time since being traded from RBNY to Vancouver in June 2021, White tapped Ryan Raposo's cross past Carlos Coronel to give his team a 1-0 lead.
In the process, the 28-year-old New Jersey native reached 44 goals across all competitions for Vancouver – surpassing Camilo Sanvezzo as the club's all-time leading scorer in their MLS era (since 2011).
It was also White's fifth goal of the season, extending his team-high total. He led the 'Caps in 2023 with 15 goals.
"I'm really happy he could make history here at home in front of his family, in front of his friends," Vancouver head coach Vanni Sartini said after the match. "It adds a special, special flair to that, so I'm really happy for him."
Lewis Morgan scored the 1-1 equalizer in the 56th minute for the hosts, depriving Vancouver of their second straight win. But the 'Caps stayed with the pack at the top of the Western Conference standings, just one point behind first-place Real Salt Lake. And White was a huge reason for that.
"He's a player so committed that it doesn't matter if he misses a goal, or he scores the first goal, or if he misses the first touch because he's going to adjust," Sartini added. "What he did today was another Brian White performance. Very dependable, very solid, very helpful to the team.
"I think he scored 99 percent of the goals with me as a coach, so I can even tell that maybe that it's [to] my credit," Sartini joked. "Because I put him in the right position."
