Vancouver, British Columbia (AP) – Thomas Muller scored a hat-trick on his 36th birthday, while Seymour Reed became the youngest player in Vancouver history, scoring a regular-season goal in 193 days, and the White Caps defeated the Philadelphia Union 7-0 on Saturday night.
Vancouver (15-6-7) became the seventh team in MLS history, winning a regular season game with seven goals. Seven goals were also the club’s records.
Philadelphia (17-7-6) took part in a game sitting in league rankings.
Whitecaps is the first to score four first-half goals in MLS history.
Playing in his third MLS game, Muller converted a pair of penalty kicks in the first half, scoring with headers in the second half. He added his first MLS assist midway through the second half with a pass to Emmanuel Sabi at the top of the penalty area.
Cruss scored twice for the White Caps, securing the postseason berth for the third consecutive year. Mathias Laborda and Rayan Elloumi have added goals each.
Yohei Takaoka stopped two shots and recorded the 12th clean sheet leading the MLS.
Vancouver played without star striker Brian White, recovering from a hamstring injury.
Muller signed with Bayern Munich last month with the Whitecaps following 17 renowned seasons.
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