St. Louis CITY chase the MLS unbeaten record and the West lead against Vancouver

The hottest team in MLS gets its biggest test of the season Wednesday night.

St. Louis CITY SC hosts the Vancouver Whitecaps at 7:30 PM Central at Energizer Park with first place in the Western Conference on the line. Vancouver leads the West with 51 points. St. Louis is one point back with 50.

The streak

St. Louis is unbeaten in 18 straight league games and 20 across all competitions, which ties the MLS record for an unbeaten run in all competitions. A win or a draw would give the club that record outright and tie the league-only mark of 19. It would also clinch a playoff spot for St. Louis, which has not been to the postseason since its first season in 2023.

The run hit 20 on Sunday with a 6-2 rout of the LA Galaxy. Summer signing Carlo Holse scored a hat trick inside the first 21 minutes and striker Rafael Navarro added two goals and two assists. Navarro has seven goals and three assists in five starts since arriving from Colorado in a club-record $12 million trade.

Vancouver's answer

Vancouver clinched its fourth straight playoff berth with a 1-1 draw at LAFC on Saturday after playing almost the whole game with 10 men. Brian White leads the club with 17 goals. The Whitecaps have allowed just 30 goals, second fewest in the league.

Around the league

It is a full Wednesday slate of 15 games. Along with St. Louis, seven other teams can clinch playoff spots: Miami, Chicago, New England, Charlotte, Dallas, San Jose and Houston.

Nashville can lock up the top seed in the East with a win over Sporting Kansas City plus a Chicago loss or draw against Philadelphia and a Miami loss or draw against New York City. Kansas City can be eliminated with the wrong mix of results.

St. Louis has a trophy shot coming too. It plays at the Columbus Crew in the U.S. Open Cup final on Oct. 21 with the first title in club history on the line.