No, there is not a cup at stake, but the Women have a rivalry with our northern neighbors that is equally intense to the men's. Often, the Western Conference has come down to who wins these Derby match ups and our girls need to get the right foot forward this season.

While our Sounders Women have bounced around the table over the last few years, the Whitecaps have held a consistent spot amongst the top three in the Western Conference. They do this through their very strong and local youth programs. Pairing up with the MLS Whitecaps Men was natural because they were previously paired up with the USL Whitecaps Men and the Caps have benefited strongly from those organizational ties.

In recent years, the Whitecaps have broken away from the traditional bind of a "Home Field" and have taken their travelling road show to the far corners of the Fraser Valley. They will call six different venues in the lower Fraser Valley home this year: from Chilliwack to North Vancouver. In 2010, we even met up with them at Royal Athletic Park in Victoria! Last year, we traveled to Coquitlam. ...So much for home field advantage!

The Aux has a travelling contingency of over 20 members headed across the border to the familiar grounds of Percy Perry Stadium in Coquitlam. This is the second straight year we'll meet them in the city's eastern suburb and its high time we take the ground and rename it something pretty, like That Neat Looking Shed in Starfire's North Parking Lot. The mini-stadium boasts a 1,500 seat capacity... and I'm not sure I believe that it's that big; it is small. Really small. Like 2A High School Football small. However, like Starfire, it is a familiary FieldTurf surface that our girls should feel comfortable on.

One of those girls should be more familiar than most, current Sounder Striker Sydney LeRoux was a dominating force up front for the Caps in 2011.Not knowing which National Teamers will be making the trip north, it's hard to say for sure, but I have a hard time thinking she'll miss this trip. What with all the memories from that storied home pitch...

...well, she did play there twice last season...

And to be fair, LeRoux netted the only goal in a Sounders 0:1 loss on the pitch last season.

Our girls did battle with the Whites three times last season, yet despite strong performances in each game, we took zero points from the Caps. The third matchup was our final game of 2011, where we dropped the W-League Third-Place game to Leroux's former side.

This year, the Caps have been shocked by the Victoria Highlanders 2:3 and again humbled by the young Colorado Rush 0:1. Yes, the famed Whitecaps are winless and will be desperate to get points. It will be vital that we keep them at the bottom of the table, both to keep the Caps at bay and to get our season off on the right foot.

Sunday's game has not been announced for any live video, though a double check at USLive can't hurt come game time if you aren't able to make the trip north.

KICKOFF: 4pm

LOCATION: Percy Perry Stadium, Coquitlam, BC

If you are interested in joining the travelling Support in Coquitlam, see the Vancouver Away Travel Forum online for more details and buy tickets through the WhitecapsFC site.

A big two weeks lie ahead: Caps, Rush, Rapids, & Caps in a span of 9 days.

NEVER SURRENDER!!!

UPDATE: The Caps hosted and drew the Canadian National Team 1:1 in a 3 period game before 500 spectators on Thursday.  Whitecapsfc.com Write-up here:

Whitecaps FC women battle to hard fought 1-1 draw with Canadian women's national team