Whitecaps storm back to reach Canadian final
Vancouver shuts out Ottawa 3-0 to take aggregate series 3-2
VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Whitecaps started the game two goals behind but refused to be beaten.
Striker Octavio Rivero put an exclamation point on a Vancouver comeback with a goal in the 52nd minute as the Whitecaps defeated the Ottawa Fury 3-0 Wednesday night to advance to the final of the Amway Canadian Championship.
The Whitecaps won the two-game aggregate semifinal series 3-2 and will face Toronto FC in the final. The Fury are members of the NASL — one tier below MLS, where Vancouver and Toronto play.
Rivero gave Vancouver the victory after taking a pass from midfielder Pedro Morales. He boomed a right-footed shot from about 10 yards out that went off the far post and into the net, bringing a roar from the crowd of 17,863 at B.C. Place Stadium.
Morales, on a penalty kick in the third minute, and Nicolas Mezquida, with a header in the 20th, scored to give Vancouver a 2-0 lead at halftime and tie the series score 2-2.
The Whitecaps dressed a young lineup in last week’s 2-0 loss to the Fury in the opening game of the semifinal played at TD Place Stadium in Ottawa.
Vancouver fielded a more veteran side in the rematch, and it didn’t take the Whitecaps long to cut into Ottawa’s lead.
The game was in the second minute when midfielder Matias Laba put a ball through to Mezquida. He had a clear path to the net until being pushed in the back while in the box by Ottawa defender Rafael Alves. That set up Morales on the penalty kick.
Morales and Mezquida played a role in the Whitecaps’ second goal. Morales sent a long ball toward the net that Rivero headed to Mezquida. He then headed it past the outstretched fingers of Ottawa goalkeeper Romuald Peiser.
Just seconds earlier Peiser had made a pair of brilliant stops off shots from Mezquida and Laba.
Vancouver ’keeper Paolo Tornaghi had to be sharp late in the half when Ottawa midfielder Marcel de Jong broke through the Whitecaps defence. Tornaghi charged out of his net and made a diving save on de Jong’s shot.