If you like to be entertained watching The Beautiful Game, you should probably stay up late on Saturday nights more often to watch the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Vancouver held off Minnesota United Saturday night at BC Place, defeating the Loons 3-2, extending their unbeaten run to a league-best eight games.

Not a bad night for two teams coming off scoreless draws last weekend, and especially the Caps who hadn’t scored since a Cascadia Derby win over the Portland Timbers on April 8. However, Vancouver did see their club-record MLS shutout streak come to an end at 443 minutes.

Despite the Simon Becher headlines this season, goals have been harder to come by for the Whitecaps than they would like. But Brian White opened the faucet for both teams in the 17th minute and in the end, it was surprising that only five goals were scored.

Minnesota would level the game 16 minutes later when a corner kick bounced around in the box and fell to former Whitecap Michael Boxall in the box, who poked it across the line in the 33rd minute, snapping Vancouver goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka’s sublime shutout streak.

The Whitecaps retook the lead six minutes into the second half courtesy of White again, who netted his team-leading sixth goal of the season and the 50th of his professional career. But it came with a cost.

White was subbed off moments after the restart for Becher. There was no update on the extent of White’s injury at the time of writing.

It could have been a three-goal night for White who had a short-range shot on target that would have taken the Caps into the halftime break with a 2-1 lead, but Canadian international goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair made a spectacular stretching save with his foot to stun White.

It wouldn’t be an exciting Caps game if Becher didn’t put his name on the scoresheet. The 24 year-old American watched the first 56 minutes on the bench but needed just seconds on the pitch to score his fourth goal of the season.

Just after the hour mark, Sang Bin Jeong scored his first goal in Major League Soccer to give Minnesota belief, and despite a few defensive turnovers that sprung Vancouver counter-attacks, the Loons looked more than capable of finding a third goal and it was a nervy finish for the few Whitecaps fans in attendance.

Minnesota wasted two glorious chances to tie the match. Just before the 70th minute when DJ Taylor sent in an absolutely pin perfect ball from the far right side of the pitch to Ménder Garcia in the six yard-box but the Loons frontman completely got his feet wrong — perhaps expecting Caps defender Ranko Veselinović to intercept the pass — and the ball bounced off the back of Garcia’s outside foot for an easy Vancouver clearance. Then in stoppage time Kemar Lawrence blew a tire in the box, missing a opportunity to put the ball past Takaoka and earn Minnesota a deserved point.

Takaoka is making a real case to be MLS goalkeeper of the season. The offseason acquisition made some crucial saves again Saturday night, perhaps none more important than sticking out his right foot to deny Garcia his make-up goal just minutes after missing the sitter.

The Whitecaps now head east to face Canadian Premier League side York United in the Canadian Championship on Wednesday. The Caps will then hit the road to face the Portland Timbers on Saturday, May 13 before heading down to Texas for a Wednesday, May 17 date with FC Dallas.