Arcahaie shine in SCCL debut with draw vs. Cruz Azul

MIAMI, Florida – Haitian club Arcahaie enjoyed a very positive Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League debut with a 0-0 draw against six-time Concacaf champions Cruz Azul of Mexico in the first leg of the 2021 SCCL Round of 16 on Tuesday night at the Estadio Olimpico Felix Sanchez in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

From the first minute until the final whistle, Arcahaie’s well-organized defense did well to keep Cruz Azul’s high-flying attack at bay.

Arcahaie GK Gooly Elien was a steady hand in goal and came up with a big save in the 20’ to deny Cruz Azul’s Elias Hernandez of an opening goal. 

Cruz Azul were inching closer to goal and a hard hit from Walter Montoya looked destined for the back of the net in the 33’, but instead left the post shaking.

The majority of the scoring chances continued to belong to Cruz Azul, but the Arcahaie back linewas doing a standout job of blocking and intervening so that La Maquina could not get off a clean shot.

Arcahaie also posed a threat going forward and it took a last-second block from a defender to prevent Kervens Jolicoeur from firing at goal with just Cruz Azul GK Andres Gudino to beat.

The final minutes saw Cruz Azul press hard for a winning goal, including a Pedro Pacheco header that flashed wide, but the Arcahaie defense never wavered to secure the clean sheet result.