VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Brian White scored twice in the second half to polish off a hat trick and rally the Vancouver Whitecaps from a two-goal deficit to a 4-3 victory over St. Louis City on Saturday night.
It was the second career hat trick for White, who accounted for all three goals in the Whitecaps’ 3-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Oct. 2, 2021. He is the first player to have multiple hat tricks in franchise history. It was the fifth three-goal effort turned in by a Whitecap since Vancouver (8-7-4) joined the league in 2011.
Njabulo Blom opened the scoring in the 7th minute for St. Louis City (3-7-10), using an assist from Chris Durkin to net his first goal of the season and the second of his career. Blom had one goal in 21 starts and 26 appearances last season as a rookie. The assist was the third this season for Durkin.
St. Louis City took a two-goal lead when Eduard Löwen scored for a second time this season, unassisted in the 12th minute.
Vancouver pulled within 2-1 by halftime after an unassisted score by White in the 37th minute.
White scored again early in the second half, using an assist from defender Mathias Laborda in the 54th minute to knot the score. It was the first career assist for Laborda, who was making his 30th start and 37th appearance in his two seasons in the league.
White gave the Whitecaps a 3-2 lead in the 61st minute with his eighth goal of the campaign, using Ryan Raposo’s fourth assist to score. White had not scored since a 1-1 draw with the New York Red Bulls on April 27. It was his first multi-goal match since scoring twice in a 3-2 victory over Minnesota United on May 6 of last season.
Fafà Picault finished the scoring for Vancouver in the 90th minute with his fourth goal of the season. Luís Martins notched his first assist.
The goal turned out to be necessary when Nökkvi Thórisson took a pass from Indiana Vassilev and scored in the third minute of stoppage time for St. Louis City. It was the first goal this season and the second of Thórisson’s career. Vassilev’s assist was his second.
Benjamin Lundt finished with four saves in his first appearance of the season and the second of his career for St. Louis City. Lundt made his only other start last season, surrendering three goals in a loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Yohei Takaoka saved two shots for the Whitecaps.
St. Louis City entered play 12th in the standings after winning the Western Conference regular season as an expansion team last season.
Both teams posted victories at home in a pair of previous matchups.
Vancouver won for the first time since beating the Colorado Rapids on the first day of the month.
St. Louis City returns home to host the San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday. The Whitecaps travel to play Minnesota United on Wednesday.
____
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sport
