Getting around FC Edmonton in the Canadian Championship semifinals was no easy task for Nicolás Mezquida 9 and the Whitecaps five runner-up finishes the 2015 Whitecaps were ready to make history TAKING ON CANADA’S BEST Five teams took part in the 2015 Canadian Championship Vancouver opened against FC Edmonton a minor league team It proved to be no minor task though After drawing at home 6
BC PLACE An older version of the Whitecaps was part of the North American Soccer League NASL They played their home games at BC Place when it opened in 1983 Nearly three decades later the team now in MLS moved back in The stadium underwent major renovations after it was used for the 2010 Winter Olympics The biggest change was replacing the air-supported dome with a retractable roof After starting the 2011 season at Empire Field the Whitecaps have called BC Place home since October of that year The downtown stadium has also played host to major events including the 2015 Women’s World Cup final the Whitecaps needed a dramatic stoppage time goal on the road to secure a berth in the final That set up a home-and-home series against the Montreal Impact for the title Like the Whitecaps the Impact had once been a minor league team They joined MLS in 2012 one year behind the Whitecaps But going into the 2015 final Montreal had won the Voyageurs Cup a record nine times including in the previous two years On an August night in Montreal the Whitecaps made their move Darren Mattocks and Pedro Morales each scored to put Vancouver up 2 0 Then disaster struck The Impact’s Laurent Ciman cut the deficit to one in the 84th minute One minute later Anthony Jackson-Hamel tied it Instead of a big 7
SUPPORTERS GROUPS Fans play a major role at any MLS game and Vancouver is no exception The Whitecaps have four main supporters groups Their sections are often the loudest in the stadium The groups also sometimes get together for away games or other activities outside of soccer The Southsiders are the oldest and biggest of these groups They have been around road victory the Whitecaps were coming home with the series deadlocked and momentum firmly on Montreal’s side GAME TIME Vancouver came out fast in the decisive second game Kekuta Manneh had a chance from close range in the second minute Montreal goalie Eric Kronberg stopped it That was the first of since 1999 when the team was still many big saves for Kronberg in a minor league In the 30th minute the Whitecaps got their break Montreal’s Victor Cabrera tripped Octavio Rivero That earned him a second yellow card which meant he was ejected The Impact were down to just 10 men for the rest of the game And nine minutes after his takedown Rivero got his revenge The Impact tried to play a ball back to Kronberg Instead Vancouver’s Cristian Techera got to it first taking possession right at the top of the box Kronberg scrambling to regain his positioning was able to get a hand on Techera’s shot but he 8
Montreal defender Laurent Ciman 23 can only watch as Octavio Rivero scores in the first half of their Voyageurs Cup showdown 9
