Davies leads Whitecaps to 2-1 victory over Impact to open Canadian semifinal
VANCOUVER — Alphonso Davies scored one and set up another as the Vancouver Whitecaps downed the Montreal Impact 2-1 in the first leg of their Canadian Championship semifinal on Tuesday.
Nicolas Mezquida had the other goal for Vancouver, while Spencer Richey stopped a second-half penalty.
David Choiniere replied for the Impact, who will feel good about their chances heading home for the second leg of the aggregate series next week in Montreal.
The 16-year-old Davies, who was born in Liberia and raised in Edmonton, had a spring in his step from the start, and opened the scoring in the 13th minute on a bit of a broken play.
Brek Shea’s pass to Mezquida from the right lagged behind his teammate, but rolled right to Davies, who calmly slotted home past onrushing Impact goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau.
The lanky midfielder then went from finisher to creator in the 33rd when he danced past three Montreal players with ease before Mezquida latched onto the loose ball in space and beat a helpless Crepeau.
The Impact looked frustrated and a bit disjointed in the first half, but got one back in the 62nd when a pair of Canadians hooked up for a valuable away goal. Substitute Anthony Jackson-Hamel, a Montreal native, nodded a ball to Choiniere, from Saint-Alexandre, Que., who in turn beat Richey.
Jackson-Hamel then had a golden opportunity to level the match six minutes later, but he flubbed a rebound effort after Chris Duvall’s initial shot hit the post.
Montreal had an even better chance to equalize in the 73rd after Whitecaps defender Cole Seiler handled the ball in the Vancouver penalty area, but Richey stopped Impact sub Patrice Bernier’s poor effort from spot with a dive to his right.