The duo of Kei Kamara and Alphonso Davies both scored their first MLS Whitecaps goals in the season opener.
(Photo courtesy the Vancouver Whitecaps)

The Vancouver Whitecaps started the season with a win to help us fall in love again with a team that has changed its face.

Last year, an injury to the as-of-yet unheralded Yordy Reyna in the preseason made the Caps’ potential a promise that wasn’t fulfilled until halfway through the campaign. So Kei Kamara taking first blood in the 2-1 win over the Montreal Impact sped up the process of endearing the city to its new crop of stars. Kamara arrived in what was a whirlwind offseason of comings and goings, with the Caps bidding adieu to at least 16 players — enough to stock an XI and most of a subs bench — including Fredy Montero, Matias Laba and franchise talisman David Ousted. The most recent, Tim Parker, who emerged in Vancouver as a stalwart and underpaid centreback, was locked in a will-they-or-won’t they contract battle, shipped just three days ago to New York for Felipe Martins. While the team’s branding for its new Unity jersey emphasized togetherness between the club, players and fans, having to photoshop Parker out of the advertisements was an admission that this is a team in the midst of change. The new recruits are interesting, but unproven. When the team posted Valentines Day memes for Stefen Marinovic and “Effy” Juarez, I was almost taken aback. It’s too soon, I thought dramatically. The wounds haven’t healed.

But on game day, things felt almost familiar. Kamara, Juarez, Felipe and Anthony Blondell made their debuts, with Aaron Maund playing at home for the first time, but the backline was otherwise intact, with Waston holding the armband. Alphonso Davies started the season in the starting lineup, and when his long, loping ball crossed in for Kamara to nudge home on 63′ this seemed like a team that, despite the fact that it came in so many pieces, could assemble easily. And it was fun to watch, Kamara and Davies dancing and performing the Wakandan salute from Black Panther. Seven minutes later, Davies finally got his own, a goal in MLS to validate a slow, patient approach to nursing his stardom. Screaming towards the goal, he waved with both hands, knowing that it was his moment, and Montreal goalkeeper Evan Bush was so turned around that he could only watch it bounce off him into the side netting. For Davies, this was a journey that stretched over 34 league games and two years; for Kamara, it was his first game as a teammate. But he was the first in to pounce with a hug as Davies was mobbed. They looked like they had playing together for years. Suddenly the tension of the offseason was gone: the focus was on the bright future in the season to come.

Maybe a bit too much, in hindsight. Montreal got a goal back when Matteo Mancosu headed in with ten minutes left, bringing the celebration high to a screeching halt for the 27,837 in attendance. What had been a raucous atmosphere in BC Place changed to a stunned murmur as fans and players alike seemed to remember that there was another team on the pitch, and a game still going that could still be lost. That the Impact was itself almost an afterthought in the midst of all this hullabaloo speaks to the significance of each goal, and the fact that that team is also undergoing a moment of transition as younger players are introduced. But despite the fact that Mancosu very nearly earned a second goal, Vancouver held on to start the season with a win for the first time since 2014. The start of the season is a clean slate, and the new-look Caps have started it with a great bonding moment. Where will it take us?

Check out episode 18 of the That’s So MLS podcast, a season preview where Nick Thornton and I lay out options for neutrals looking for a new team, at thatssomls.com or iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.