St. Louis City SC set the St. Louis City unbeaten streak record at 21 matches across all competitions on Wednesday night, playing to a scoreless draw with the Vancouver Whitecaps at Energizer Park.
The result broke the previous MLS mark of 20 straight games without a loss, set by the New York Red Bulls in 2016, and clinched St. Louis City a berth in the 2026 MLS Cup Playoffs.
The club had tied the Red Bulls’ record three days earlier with a 6-2 win over the LA Galaxy, then pushed past it against a Vancouver side that entered the match atop the Western Conference.
The Main Development
St. Louis City is now unbeaten in 19 straight regular-season games, tying the MLS mark held by Columbus and Dallas. The club’s record over its last 18 regular-season matches stands at 13-0-5, and it improved to 14-6-9 overall following the draw with Vancouver.
Vancouver controlled much of the play at Energizer Park, outshooting St. Louis City 17-8. Whitecaps goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka made three saves to help preserve the shutout.
Takaoka’s 13 clean sheets this season are tied for the most in MLS, matching LAFC’s Hugo Lloris and Nashville’s Brian Schwake. Vancouver’s Conrad Wallem left the match in the 40th minute following a head-to-head collision with teammate Tate Johnson.
What It Means
St. Louis City’s streak traces back to a sluggish start to the season, when the club managed just one win in its first 10 games, according to MLSsoccer.com. The turnaround has been built on defensive steadiness paired with scoring bursts, a formula on display three days before the Vancouver draw.
Against the Galaxy on Sunday, forward Carlo Holse scored a hat trick in the first 21 minutes, the second-fastest in MLS history behind Nashville’s Hany Mukhtar, who scored three goals in 16 minutes on July 17, 2021. Holse’s hat trick was also the second in club history. Rafael Navarro added two goals and two assists in that same match, pushing his tally since a club-record $12 million trade from the Colorado Rapids to seven goals and three assists in six games.
Head coach Yoann Damet credited the squad’s consistency for the run. “All the credit goes to the players, showing that level of consistency and the way they’ve worked, the way they’ve reflected on each game, and the way they showed up the next one. It’s been outstanding,” Damet said, according to MLSsoccer.com.
Navarro, who arrived midseason, called the achievement striking. “For me, it’s crazy. A 20-game unbeaten streak is just a crazy thought,” he said.
He also pointed to the team’s larger ambitions. “We’re fighting for special things here. We’re fighting for trophies.
So I think you know if we can keep going in this way, I think good things will happen,” Navarro said.
Context And Playoff Standing
The Vancouver draw left St. Louis City one point behind the Whitecaps, who lead the Western Conference with 52 points. St. Louis City had sat one point back of Vancouver even before the draw, having reached 50 points with the win over the Galaxy, according to ESPN.
Goalkeeper Roman Bürki has anchored the defense during the run, recording five saves in the win over the Galaxy and four shutouts on the season. In that match, Lukas MacNaughton opened the scoring with a diving header in the seventh minute of first-half stoppage time, while LA Galaxy got goals from Robert Taylor in the 31st minute and João Klauss in the 71st. Klauss, who scored St.
Louis City’s first-ever hat trick against the Galaxy in a 3-3 draw on June 14, 2025, now plays for LA Galaxy. Galaxy forward Kyōgo Furuhashi left that match in the 10th minute with an apparent hamstring injury.
What’s Next
St. Louis City travels to face Minnesota on Saturday, looking to extend its unbeaten streak further while chasing the top spot in the Western Conference. Vancouver visits Austin the same day. With the playoff berth already secured, the final stretch of the regular season will determine seeding for both clubs atop the West.
For more on the club’s rise, see the earlier look at St. Louis’ climb in the MLS West standings and the breakdown of the 17-game unbeaten streak that set the stage for this record run.
Don't stop here
Every Score. Every Story. One Home.
Breaking sports, entertainment and news from across the Total Apex network, updated all day.
Get the Full Story →
