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Kansas City loss means Caps could clinch first at home on Sunday

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The race for the playoffs in the MLS Western Conference remains a meandering one.

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Wednesday night, Sporting Kansas City burned their game in hand on the Whitecaps by losing 2-1 away to the Houston Dynamo. The teams face off again Sunday in Kansas City.

All four of the West’s top teams — the Whitecaps are first with 51 points, SKC is second on 48, with Seattle and Portland on 47 — have just two games left on the year.

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The Whitecaps can clinch first place with a win Sunday at B.C. Place against the visiting San Jose Earthquakes. (They close the season a week later in Portland, a game which could mean everything — or nothing.)

The Earthquakes sit eighth in the west on 42 points, a point back of sixth-placed Dallas, so it’s not like they’re coming to Vancouver with nothing to play for.

But they’re also the league’s fourth-worst defence, having conceded 57 goals in 32 games.

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If the Whitecaps finish in the top two in the West, they’ll have a bye in the first round of the playoffs and will host the second leg of a Western semifinal series, against the lowest-ranked remaining playoff team.

If everyone loses Sunday, things still won’t quite be settled, though most competition will be eliminated; a single club might still have a chance to win … but hold that thought for a second.

First, if SKC loses on Sunday to the Dynamo, that would end their hopes of catching the Caps: Vancouver holds the first tiebreaker there, as they’re guaranteed to finish the year with more wins (the Caps have 15, SKC just 12). Seattle plays on Sunday at home against Dallas and need to finish the season with more outright points as they also are guaranteed to finish with fewer wins than the Caps: they also have just 12. So, a Sounders loss to Dallas would also knock them from contention.

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The Timbers also play Sunday at home, against woeful DC United. If, by some bolt of lightning — and we’ve seen some of that already this week — Seattle and Kansas City both lose Saturday and Portland loses Sunday, just one team will remain standing with a chance to catch the Caps: Houston.

Yes, the Dynamo, who have lost just once at home but also have won just once on the road, could find themselves gunning for the top of the heap. If they win on Sunday and the Caps lose, they’ll be just two points out of first with a game to play.

But a Caps win against San Jose — that just makes everything easier.

pjohnston@postmedia.com

twitter.com/risingaction

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