Earthquakes-Whitecaps FC preview

There are still about 2 1/2 months remaining in Major League Soccer's regular season but the time has come to separate the wheat from the chaff, the contenders from the pretenders.

Friday's match in Vancouver between the Whitecaps FC and San Jose will either clarify or cloud the playoff picture. The sides are battling for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Vancouver (8-10-6, 30 points) enters the match on the heels of back-to-back losses on the road to FC Dallas and Colorado, the top two teams in the league. The Whitecaps FC are two points in front of San Jose (6-6-10, 28 points) and two points behind Portland in the standings.

San Jose has just eight matches left on the schedule and Vancouver has 10. Both teams understand the need to win - and to do so now.

On Wednesday, the Earthquakes added an offensive threat for the stretch run when they signed forward Henok Goitom, an experienced striker whose had success playing in both Spain and Sweden and scored a goal in Italy's Serie A in his only appearance.

The 31-year old Goitom has an extensive international pedigree, with 78 professional club tallies, one goal as member of the Swedish national team and four with the youth national team.

"It's time for players to step up," Whitecaps FC head coach Carl Robinson said. "(San Jose) is a very physical team and they've got someone who can score goals up top, so we know it's not going to be easy."

San Jose will carry a four-match unbeaten streak to the Pacific Northwest.

San Jose has never won a match at BC Place, a stretch covering seven contests in Vancouver. The Earthquakes forged a 1-1 draw in their first-ever road meeting versus Vancouver in 2011 and have since lost their past six matches by an aggregate score of 14-6.