YOUNG GUNS BLAZING
Fresh-faced Vancouver team earns Canadian Championship win
EDMONTON — Few will remember how it came. It came, and that’s all that mattered Wednesday night.
After 18 games — eight months after last scoring in a competitive match for the Vancouver Whitecaps — Eric Hassli had his goal.
The setup was pretty; Omar Salgado turned his defender, Paul Hamilton, and cut a pass back to the top of the box.
The goalkeeping wasn’t; David Monsalve made a meal of a low shot that was right at him.
But for Hassli, and the Whitecaps, the outcome was perfect.
Hassli’s strike stood up as the winner as Vancouver beat Edmonton 2-0 in the first leg of this Amway Canadian Championship semifinal.
The second leg goes next Wednesday at B.C. Place. The winner faces either Toronto or Montreal for the Voyageurs Cup and Canada’s berth in the CONCACAF Champions League.
Toronto has a slight edge in their semifinal, heading home after a scoreless opener at Olympic Stadium on Wednesday.
Hassli’s 18th-minute goal helped provide the Whitecaps with some breathing room for the return leg. As importantly, it could restore some personal confidence after a long and frustrating drought.
“It’s a good feeling — thanks, Omar,” said Hassli, who scored 10 goals in the Whitecaps’ first 16 games last season, but none until Wednesday.
“He gave me a great ball, and I’m lucky. So, maybe the chances turn for me now.”
While Caps coach Martin Rennie avoided talk this week of needing to get Hassli going — instead diverting attention with a rant about how MLS referees aren’t respecting the big Frenchman — he had to believe a match against second-division Edmonton was the perfect stage for Hassli to bump the slump.
Both the player and coach will welcome a change of subject, and Salgado is as good a topic as any of late.
The left wing was Salgado’s personal playground for stretches of Wednesday’s game.
He made Hamilton, the former CIS player of the year from Trinity Western University, disappear on the opener.
Then he twisted and turned past right-back Jonathan Jo-augustin on the second goal shortly before halftime.
Salgado’s deft chip beat Monsalve but not the far post. Atiba Harris, however, was there for the rebound and a 2-0 lead in front of 2,800 fans at a cavernous Commonwealth Stadium.
“It’s only halftime in the tie, but we’ve put ourselves in a good position,” said Rennie. “To be 2-0 up is a good lead.”
Salgado’s shift from a forward role to the left wing has been a revelation, and Rennie deserves credit for that shrewd decision.
The Texas teenager looks freed from the shackles that came with being the first-overall pick last season. He’s stronger, faster, more agile, more willing to put in the work, and he’s showing bravado.
“Game by game, I’m gaining more confidence,” Salgado said. “And that’s really what I want and what the team wants. Get some assists, get Eric on the ball and try to get him to score.”
With four games in 11 days, including a key MLS matchup with Western Conference-leading San Jose at B.C. Place on Saturday, Rennie had to toy with the lineup that beat Columbus 1-0 on the weekend.
He made seven changes and left a handful of veterans at home: YoungPyo Lee, Jay Demerit, Jun Marques Davidson included.
Rookie right back Greg Klazura and centre back Carlyle Mitchell both played their first minutes outside of MLS reserve league action.
Mitchell partnered Alain Rochat in central defence as the SwissCanadian returned from a knee sprain that’s kept him out six weeks.
Michael Nanchoff also saw his first action as he replaced Harris, who left rubbing his right knee in the 71st minute.
Davide Chiumiento started at the top of a midfield triangle after spending the last two weeks watching from the bench as Rennie has preferred a more defensive, physical midfield.
And goalkeeper Brad Knighton made his first start for the Whitecaps since joining the club from the Carolina Railhawks in the off-season.
He had to be sharp on Ilja van Leerdam’s low drive in the 52nd minute, diving to steer the shot just wide of the far post.
And Knighton was well positioned to deny Yashir Pinto late in the first half when the Chilean U-20 forward stepped inside John Thorrington and tried to pick the corner.
While the Whitecaps dominated possession and enjoyed a stream of corners and free kicks in the opening minutes — Chiumiento struck the crossbar — Edmonton had two great chances in the 10th minute against a scrambling Caps back line.
Rochat made an important block. Canada U-23 Shaun Saiko then wasted a free kick for the home side. And, soon after, Hassli scored and Edmonton lost one of their French imports, Serisay Barthelemy, to injury.
Monsalve’s late saves off Chiumiento and substitute Long Tan kept the score respectable. But Rennie’s side returns home with its seventh clean sheet in nine games, a healthy lead in this semifinal, and a chance to save some legs for MLS play.