They first had a play-in round series against Miami FC Blues and Romário before upsetting regular season champion or Commissioner's Cup winner and Canadian rival Montreal Impact with two second half of overtime goals in the second leg away in La belle province.
[3] The Whitecaps FC Women ruthlessly won the 2006 W-League Championship, the club's second, finishing with almost twice as many regular season points as the runner up in the Western Conference before 5 – 0 and 3 – 0 wins achieved the title.
The league was a single table competition although the schedule was not balanced; it was home and away with additional matches against Seattle, Portland, and Minnesota.
[10] The preseason schedule was announced March 14, 2006 including a double header of the men's and women's teams versus the UVic Vikes.
[11][12] Quarterfinals and Semifinals 2-game aggregate Higher seeded team hosted first game Play-in Round Semi-finals Final Prior to 2008, from when it has been awarded to the Canadian Championship winners, the men's title was decided on regular-season matches between Canada's USL First Division sides.
[19][20][21] John Rocha stepped down in August 2006 to focus on the 2007 FIFA U20 World Cup as Vancouver site chairman while continuing to support the Whitecaps in a consulting role.
[22] 2006 marked the most significant changes to the Whitecaps roster in the 20 years of club history with twelve new players signed at the start of the season.
The American coach Bob Lilley expanded the Whitecaps' recruiting more to the US college ranks, MLS, other USL-1 teams, and overseas.
As the profile of the club increased and ambitions for Division 1 grew, coaches had more pressure for immediate results and fewer local connections.
[24][25][26][27] Twelve year Whitecap veteran defender and local Chris Franks retired after a spell with Doncaster Rovers F.C.
[28] Previous starting goalkeeper Five year Whitecap Mike Franks who didn't get any further minutes after recovering from injury in 2005 was also released.
[29] On March 28, the Whitecaps announced the trade of Daniel Antoniuk who was with Portland Timbers in 2005 to Montreal Impact for Eduardo Sebrango.