October 21st, 2012 
Matt Thacker The Vancouver Whitecaps lost to the Portland Timbers 1-0 on Sunday but still became the first Canadian team to reach the Major League Soccer playoffs thanks to the Seattle Sounders’ 3-1 victory over FC Dallas.
Those results and a 2-2 draw between the LA Galaxy and San Jose Earthquakes solidified the playoff matchups in the Western Conference.
The Galaxy will host the Whitecaps in the wild card round. The winner of that match will face the Earthquakes, which locked up the Supporters’ Shield on Saturday. Real Salt Lake will face the Sounders for a second consecutive year in the other conference semifinal.
The only thing that has not been decided is whether Seattle or Salt Lake will have the higher seed and host the second leg. Seattle has the lead based on the tiebreaker of more goals scored.
Wild Card Round (Oct. 31 or Nov. 1)
W4: LA Galaxy
W5: Vancouver Whitecaps
Conference Semifinals (Nov. 3 or 4 and Nov. 7 or 8)
W1: San Jose Earthquakes
W4/W5 Winner
W2: Seattle Sounders or Real Salt Lake
W3: Real Salt Lake or Seattle Sounders
