Caps able to capitalize on Cavalry lapses
MLS side gets goal just before half en route to victory in first leg of quarterfinal
Another big-time match, another big-time goal goes against Cavalry FC.
The worldly by Levonte Johnson was really the difference for the mighty Vancouver Whitecaps in a 2-1 Tuesday win over the hardluck Calgary club on a cold, soggy night at ATCO Field.
“Moments matter in tight games,” said Cavalry general manager and head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. not long after the first of two legs in the Canadian Championship quarterfinal game went into the books before 4,080 fans at Spruce Meadows.
“I don't think he's ever hit a goal like that in his life. But that's football, it happens.”
No excuses, however, say the Cavs.
Despite a solid effort, especially defensively, against a strong Major League Soccer side and the reigning two-time champions of this national tournament, it was a couple of lapses that hurt them.
Johnson's hotshot was arguably the biggest, coming just before the halftime whistle in injury time and on a free kick taken quickly by the Whitecaps from their own half that led to the goal a few seconds later.
It came on a ball struck well from 25 yards out that ripped high over Cavs goalkeeper Marco Carducci off the far post and into the net.
“We were disappointed conceding a long goal on a long-range effort,” Wheeldon said. “What I'm disappointed in is we didn't delay the free kick on that goal — I think we could've played into the space and managed it there — and it was a long ball, and we've got to deal with that better.”
“Ten seconds before halftime makes it look a lot worse,” added Cavalry defender Daan Klomp. “We know what we have to do to prevent those goals. That was our mistake.
“I felt there was a little bit of anxiety — the way we played was not like us,” Klomp said. “We were playing way too much backwards.
“The second half we started playing like ourselves again. A lot more courage, a lot more running forward, a lot more playing forward.”
Indeed, Cavalry came back with a spirited second half, paced by the dangerous chances of Lleyton Brooks up front.
The first-year forward for the Cavs got his head on a few threatening balls in an effort to draw the hosts even. His best came when he made a move inside to get position on Fraser Aird's sublime delivery into the box and directed the ball with his head, forcing Whitecaps goalie Isaac Boehmer to make an athletic save to the short side of the net.
At the other end, Whitecaps midfielder Ali Ahmed, a Canadian international during 2023 Gold Cup play, lifted a ball over Carducci and off the crossbar.
But Johnson didn't miss on his second chance to score in the 79th minute. To complete the brace, the dynamic Whitecaps forward tracked a long-range boomer of an upfield ball from a Whitecaps teammate into free space behind Cavalry defender Callum Montgomery. With a full step on everyone, the striker then made no mistake beating Carducci to the left side of the net from just inside the box.
The two-goal lead didn't dissuade the home side, however, as Wheeldon's charges picked up the pressure to try to get themselves at least a goal from the first leg.
And it finally happened, when veteran CPLER Malcolm Shaw struck for his first with the Calgary side.
It was stoppage time when Shaw made a nifty little redirection of Lucas Dias's brilliant ball through the Whitecaps deep into the box.
“It's huge — we've made a (series) of it,” said Wheeldon of Shaw's first goal in Cavalry colours. “We would've been disappointed at 2-nil, because it wasn't a 2-nil game. They've scored from two direct plays that I think we can defend better, and our lads have put their hands up and said, `Yeah, absolutely, we've got to be better.'”
Shaw nearly got another just before the final whistle, when the forward ran on to a long ball booted by teammate Eryk Kobza into the box.
A goal there would've been brilliant in a comeback.
“I was just delighted we didn't quit,” added Wheeldon. “And that's the courage that I want to keep seeing.
“I'm happy with the lads getting something out of it.”
The second leg of the series goes May 21 at B.C. Place in Vancouver (8:30 p.m., Onesoccer, Onesoccer. ca).
Cavalry returns to league action Saturday against host HFX Wanderers FC in Halifax (noon, Onesoccer, Onesoccer.ca).